Ills and hills

Shortly after writing in my last blog about how great the food was, I was struck with a bad dose of China tum. It was right in the middle of learning how to play Mah Jong ( a game which is actually very simple but seems very complex because of a great deal of ritual and the fact that all the characters are in chinese.) A number of other travel blogs I've seen go into excruciating detail about the authors every movement, but I'll spare you that. Suffice it to say, it was not a pleasant night.

So yesterday I spent taking it very easy. Fortunately it was only a 24-hour bug and today I felt wonderful (the advantage of a short sharp illness being that you feel extra good when you recover.)

Today I made up for lost time by having a great day. I started with a Tai Chi lesson on the roof. Then I cycled to the river, where i (and my bike) took a bamboo boat for a couple of hours of punting through more stunning scenery. Then I climbed the amazing Moon Hill (1200 steps but worth every one) before visiting the water cave, a huge complex of passages that can only be accessed by boat.

The chinese seem to take great delight in finding meanings in natural formations. Thus almost every limestone pinnacle in the landscape has a nickname. Some of them make sense once its pointed out, but others are just ridiculous. For instance there's a hill on the map called 'Grandpa eating an apple'. Not surprisingly I could make out neither grandpa or his apple in the landscape. Similarly, the water cave tour consisted in the guide giving a name to almost every stalagtite and stalagmite in this 4km long cavern. The highlight, however, was the mud pool. Who could resist diving into a pool of liquid mud the consistency of rich chocolate sauce? Certainly not me.

Tomorrow I'm tearing myself away from Yangshuo (plenty of travellers get stuck here for weeks - a couple in the Culture House just left after being here 22 days). For the next few days I'll be travelling south so my next entry will probably be in Vietnam.