The Li River and Yangshou6 Jun 2006
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Laura looses complete control of her hair
The Li River karst scenery
Local traders paddle like mad to catch our boat
After a couple of days in Guilin, the group headed south by boat along the Li River towards Yangshou. The view all of the way was spectacular and despite a minor incident involving Helen breaking a tooth (and panicking at the thought of some country-side dentist having a go at removing it at the end of the trip!), they had a peaceful few hours on the river.
Once in Yangshou, Warren the enthusiastic guide asked if the group would like to cycle to the attractions he had arranged, rather than take the bus. Of course they thought this was a great idea and thought would use the opportunity to teach Warren some of their own songs. Taking inspiration from the surroundings (hundreds of Yaks), they burst into melody with many variations and made-up verses of "Yakkady-Yak, Don't come back". After hour 3 of the bike ride, they soon had Warren singing this tune out loud and even making up his own verses in his own language, much to everyones amusement.
The second day in Yangshou was extremely wet. Not deterred by the weather, they set out for a day of shopping (much to Danny's chargrin as you can imagine) and decided that they would explore the limitations of different bartering techniques in this town. With a large market with each stall selling almost the same thing, they discovered that the walking off technique is the most succesful of all here and people eventually come running after you agreeing to you price, usually about 10% of the original asking price.
