Sept 4 - Geocaching in Yangshuo

(( Many pictures to come as soon as I remember to bring the camera cord to the internet cafe. ))

Yangshuo must be one of the most touristy towns in China. It seemed to have no other majory industry, and most of the downtown consisted of gift shops, restaurants, travel agents, and small inns. In short, Yangshuo was perfect for our first few days in China–a quaint, easily manageable town that served as a jumping-off point to the wonderful scenery that surrounded it.

Our first adventure was to climb one of the magnificent “karst” peaks that jut out of the city. This particular peak had a geocache at its tip, which we somehow managed to find without a GPS unit. The view was great, but the trail was steep, so we retired to eat another several meals.

Naturally, most of our time in Yangshuo consisted of eating. When you eat up to five meals a day, and have to translate the menu from Chinese to English, this isn’t hard to pull off. The great thing is that food in China is laughably cheap once you learn how to bargain. Luckily Tavi, after several months in Asia, is a master haggler. He whistles, points, jumps up and down, and somehow manages to cut at least 50% off of the price of everything we buy. For instance, a bowl of noodles with meat, veggies, and spices generally costs us about 5 yuan per person: US $0.62 for an enormous meal. Many other street foods, which make for a hearty snack, cost in the neighborhood of .5 yuan, or 6 US cents. After this, living in Palo Alto is going to be very, very painful.