Yangshuo - July 31 2007

Another busy day here today - I was up at the crack of dawn to go cycling! 6h30 to be exact with the cycling kickng off at 7h when I met Farmer Tang (this was his real name!).

We went for breakfast first, a proper Chinese fare of steamed vegetable dumplings. I'm not usually a big fan of this kind of food, but I have to say it was just the ticket to prepare me for the hours of cycling!

The idea of starting early was to avoid the hottest part of the day, but to be honest it still felt pretty hot! But it was worth it, the scenery had an altogether different hue in the early morning mist and light - it was very spectacular.

Farmer Tang took a lot of time to explain the variety of crops in the region, the rice particularly, and the various harvests they have.

I got to see some of the traditional methods, including the use of water buffalo to pull the plough through the paddies!

We took the long route around somewhere of the local countryside, heading for the Moon Hill: this is an amazing hill with a hole the shape of the moon in its side, hence the name.

It was quite an impressive sight, though I opted out of the walk to the top as I had done my share of mountaineering last weekend!

After the exercise of the bike ride out there, Farmer Tang took me back to his house where his wife had prepared some lunch. They did far too much and I couldn't eat it all - I think his wife may have been put out for a while, but what can you do! After lunch, we took a shorter route back to Yangshuo and having invited Farmer Tang to a cooling beer we said our farewells.

The rest of the day I spent organising the final stage of my trip - Shenzhen and then on to Hong Kong. After some hassle with the train ticket I finally got it delivered today - I'll be travelling in chav class tomorrow evening: me, the locals and probably a chicken or too! Wish me luck! Then plan to meet a work colleague in Shenzhen for lunch on Thursday, Eric, before hopping on the ferry across to HK. There, the plan is to "do" HK on Friday and Sunday, slotting Macau in on the Saturday. I have also realised that the football season kicks off with the Charity Shield on Sunday, should be perfect timing just before my flight back to Belgique! How better planned can a trip be I ask myself! :)

Rob