What's Up Al ? 遊記隨筆 生活點滴

These few nights in Yangshuo (陽朔) as we relaxed over a cup of hot jasmine tea and nursed our aching limbs from our long hikes, we reflected and contemplated the beautiful scenery which we witnessed during the day and wondered almost aloud how our legs just kept going. Of course ! As we set off each morning, we took in a bowl of the well-known Guilin Noodles (桂林米粉) as breakfast and we felt energised to tackle the world. The bowl of nutrients contained yummy ingredients such as fried peanuts, marinated vegetables, roast pork, tasty string beans, a generous sprinkle of spring onions and parsley, topped up with delicious hot chicken broth - all slurped down to our hearts' content ! Having had our customary breakfast, we set off to the upper reaches of the Lijiang River (漓江) to Xing Ping township (興坪), just under an hour's bus drive from Yangshuo. The karst formations in Xing Ping were towering, majestic and intricate; the most well known scenic spot was of course, the 20 RMB Note karst formation - check out your 20 RMB bank note and you would find the famous (黄布倒影) landmark printed for your inspection ! Other stunning and photogenic spots included the Nine Horse Hill (九馬畫山) where one would be hard pushed to identify the heads and tails (and butts) of nine wild horses hidden out of view amongst the rock cliffs, stone edges and green shrubs. Having taken a lunch of fried DUCK eggs and local toufu at the pretty pier of Yangdi (楊堤), we hiked across the town ship of Putao (葡萄鎮) and we climbed the spectacular Lao Zhai (老寨山) and Xianggong (相公山) Mountains for a wonderful all round view of the Lijiang River down below where the tourist motor boats looked tiny from such elevation. We managed to catch a local ferry across Lijiang River (5 minutes) before sunset and headed back to Xing Ping for the bus back - the warm breeze coming through the bus windows made us feel contended in having had such an unforgettable trip, much much more than we had first thought possible - viewing karst formations in all their shapes and sizes, from all angles and all day long !