For our last full day in the islands, Lee and I joined the elderly Italian couple for a drive to see the Wall of Tears, Flamingo Lagoon and then we took the boat back to Isla Santa Cruz. The rest of our tour got a horseback ride up one of the 5 volcanos on Isla Isabella because their tour was for a full week instead of 5 days. Too bad, as that sounded fun, but it´s definitely something to keep in mind for next time!
The Wall of Tears dated from the mid-20th century when Isabella was used as a penal colony. As punishment, the inmates were forced to build their own prison out of the endemic lava rocks on the island. We drove to the wall for about 20 minutes out of town, passing another beach with lovely sand and waves and about 5 tortoises who were just hanging out on the road. We had to be careful not to run them over! These varieties were smaller than the ones we had seen the day before, maybe only 2 feet in length. They sure were cute, though!
Apparently the prison stopped being used after there was a mass breakout in the 60's when the inmates had enough and stole some boats to sail to the mainland and to Venezuela. But, as our guide pointed out, often news travels faster than boats, so when the inmates sailed into shore there were plenty of policemen waiting for them! Oops!
We then drove to see some flamingos that are native to the Galapagos, but they look exactly like flamingos everywhere else so it was pretty tamada. We did all get a laugh out of the fact that Lee was wearing some swim trunks that were the same color as the flamingos, however!
The boat ride back to Isla Santa Cruz was a bit miserable as I tried to nap but was bumped around a bit by the rough ocean. We were all given the chance to take seasickness medicine before each boat ride and I'm glad I did as nothing stinks more than seasickness!
After two hours we got back to the familiar Red Mangrove lodge in Puerto Ayora and were upgraded to a gorgeous room overlooking the ocean. Bonus! The last part of our tour itinerary included a trip to the Charles Darwin Reasearch Station, which is where tortoise breeding and genetic research is carried out and one can view its most famous inhabitant, Lonesome George, who is the last of his giant tortoise subspecies. George has been alone since 1975 and they have been trying to (unsuccessfully) get him to breed with other lady tortoises. In 2008 a member of his harem did lay eggs but they were, sadly, all unviable. Lee and I were mildly interested in seeing George, but after four full days of tortoises, we decided to skip it and do our own thing. We were also pretty sick of touring around and waiting for slow walkers. As tour groups go our group was pretty good, but sometimes it's nice to do your own thing, you know?
As it was a perfect, sunny day, we decided to revisit Tortuga Bay, which was the beach we boated to on the first day. However, since we didn't have access to a boat, we had to take a taxi to a paved trail entrace and then hike in for 2.5km to access the beach. The taxi was only $1 (love the cabs in Ecuador, they are just so cheap!) so we grabbed our suits and our sunscreen and hopped in. The walk was very pleasant, although hot as it was only partially shaded, and the path was fully paved and walled somewhat remeniscent of the Great Wall of China, although on a much smaller scale. We walked past plenty of small, green lizards who were doing pushups on the path in front of us. Visitors to the beach have to sign in with a guard and we smartly purchased several bottles of ice cold water for the 30 minute walk in.
Since the beach is so remote (you can't even take a bike in on the bath) it explains why the bay was so deserted when we arrived. When we sited the ocean after hoofing it past mangrove thickets and giant prickly pear trees, it was an incredibly welcome site. Even more welcome was the fact that we were the only two people on the beach except for 5 surfers in the water. We picked a spot by the edge and enjoyed the pure majesty of azure water, cloudless sunny sky and powdery white sand. I was so incredibly happy that we blew off the last part of the tour to come to the beach! The water was wonderfully clear and we saw some schools of large fish being pursued by some sea lions (who also surfed in on the waves) as well as some predatory birds scooping fish out of the water. I think Tortuga Bay is probably the nicest beach I have ever been to in my life!
Around 4pm it got cloudy, so the walk out was quite pleasant and cool. We made it back to the hotel and decided to have dinner at an Italian restaurant that looked good and was always crowded when we walked by. The food at Red Mangrove is very tasty, but menus are set so we wanted some variety. Boy, was I glad we ate at Il Giardino... Lee had a beef lasagna and I had Galapagos Lobster and it was AMAZING. The lobster was only $20, too, which is a great price. It was cooked in an orange coconut sauce which is as good as it sounds.
We also did our souvenier shopping so I got a teeshirt that says ¨I Love Boobies¨ on it and features two blue boobie feet on it. Pretty funny! We then got some gelato for dessert, so it was a really perfect day.
Showing posts with label BOAT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BOAT. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Mistress and Commander: The Far Side of the World on Isla Isabella
The boat ride from Isla Floreana to Isla Isabella was about two hours long, but I slept through a lot of it as I snagged one of the good seats on the stern that was shaded, although got a nice breeze off the water. I woke up just as we were passing Isla de Tortuga, which is a small half-moon shaped island where blue-footed boobies, terns, pelicans and frigatebirds make their home.
The entrance to Puerto Villamil, the only town on Isla Isabella is through a narrow fissure in the lava rocks that surround the bay, forming a very pleasant, calm lagoon. The village is utterly idyllic, with white sandy roads, beautiful beaches, swaying palm trees and friendly locals. The Red Mangrove lodge is literally on the beach, with adorable little casitas arranged in rows with rooftop decks. The best part was that we knew the air conditioning would function all night!
For the afternoon's activities we piled into two smaller boats to cross the lagoon and saw a sea turtle and eagle ray just lazily swimming around. We then walked around a trail by the waves on the edge of the lagoon and saw a boatload of marine iguanas all basking in the sun. They were often piled on top of each other, or lying with one arm around another as if watching a drive in movie. When the boat arrived at the landing for the trail, we had to shoo a big, fat sea lion off the dock. After much clapping and shouting, he shot us all a dirty look and slid off into the clear, blue water. We got a good laugh out of that. We also saw some blue-footed boobies (finally!) and some Galapagos Penguins, which are the only tropical penguins in the world. They look much like the African Penguins that live near the Cape of Good Hope. They are short, chubby and adorable.
After the walk we were hot and sweaty so we were all excited to snorkel. The lagoon outside Puerto Villamil is well known for rocky fissures where sharks sometimes come to rest, so we were all hoping to see a shark. Keep this in mind for later...
The water was wonderfully clear and cool. We swam around the edges of the lagoon marveling at all the marine life. At one point I was innocently paddling around and Lee grabbed my arm to stop me as a giant, 5' diameter blue ray majestically glided about two feet in front of us! The ray was enormous and round, not diamond-shaped like a manta ray. In order to move, rather than flapping ¨wings¨ the ray wiggled its edges and almost looked like a skirt flowing. We also saw enormous parrot fish, angelfish, damselfish and plenty of sea cucumbers.
We then ventured into the rock fissures to look for sharks. Let me try to describe what we were dealing with so you can understand what happened. The rock fissures vary in width from 10 to 3 feet and in depth from perhaps 20 to 4 feet. When we first entered them, there were lots of sea life in the rock walls to observe, but the walls were wide and deep and there were no sharks. As we ventured further, the walls closed in and the floor got shallower. The walls were maybe 4 ft wide and the floor 7 ft deep when the guide stopped and shouted, ¨There's a shark up there, a white-tipped reef shark!¨ Lee was just behind the guide and I was just behind Lee. We followed slowly and I saw the very tip of the shark's tail fin. He was maybe 10 ft ahead of us. Suddenly he turned around and cruised just below all of us but very close to the ocean floor! I was maybe 6 feet away from him! That of course was a huge rush and everyone was quite excited. We continued on and the floor of the fissure began to get even shallower and shallower. Suddenly, the guide stopped again and said he saw another shark! This time I was incredibly nervous as it was so darn shallow! What if my flippers hit the shark? I had a minor panic attack and at one point had lifted most of my body out of the water, bracing myself on the rock walls. The shark glided right below my body, only two feet away. These two sharks were big, too, at least 6 to 7 feet long. As I´m sure you can imagine we were all terrified, exhilarated and amazed.
When we emerged on the other side of the crevasse we all couldn't stop exclaiming how amazing the experience was! The guide tried to tease us because we were all so scared (apparently he heard me repeating, ¨Oh God, oh God, please don't eat me, shark!¨ as the second shark swam beneath me) but jeez, it was scary!
After we got back to the hotel I lay on the beach in the sun and got my heartrate down. The beach was relaxing and pretty, with a nice view of the lagoon and the town pier. For dinner we had a really tasty turkey fillet with mushroom sauce and a really delicious raspberry flan.
Two of the other couples on the trip, an Irish couple and a Luxembourgian couple, walked into town with Lee and I to check out one of the bars in town. We ended up just chatting and drinking beers with them at a local restaurant but it was really fun to get to know each other in more detail. Everyone else had all been on multiple around the world trips, and the Luxembourgians were taking a year off from their jobs to just travel. Pretty good deal, eh?
After the beers we looked at the star some more, as they were almost as clear and perfect as they were on Isla Floreana. I wished we could stay longer on Isabella as Puerto Villamil is just a wonderfully relaxing and idyllic place!
The entrance to Puerto Villamil, the only town on Isla Isabella is through a narrow fissure in the lava rocks that surround the bay, forming a very pleasant, calm lagoon. The village is utterly idyllic, with white sandy roads, beautiful beaches, swaying palm trees and friendly locals. The Red Mangrove lodge is literally on the beach, with adorable little casitas arranged in rows with rooftop decks. The best part was that we knew the air conditioning would function all night!
For the afternoon's activities we piled into two smaller boats to cross the lagoon and saw a sea turtle and eagle ray just lazily swimming around. We then walked around a trail by the waves on the edge of the lagoon and saw a boatload of marine iguanas all basking in the sun. They were often piled on top of each other, or lying with one arm around another as if watching a drive in movie. When the boat arrived at the landing for the trail, we had to shoo a big, fat sea lion off the dock. After much clapping and shouting, he shot us all a dirty look and slid off into the clear, blue water. We got a good laugh out of that. We also saw some blue-footed boobies (finally!) and some Galapagos Penguins, which are the only tropical penguins in the world. They look much like the African Penguins that live near the Cape of Good Hope. They are short, chubby and adorable.
After the walk we were hot and sweaty so we were all excited to snorkel. The lagoon outside Puerto Villamil is well known for rocky fissures where sharks sometimes come to rest, so we were all hoping to see a shark. Keep this in mind for later...
The water was wonderfully clear and cool. We swam around the edges of the lagoon marveling at all the marine life. At one point I was innocently paddling around and Lee grabbed my arm to stop me as a giant, 5' diameter blue ray majestically glided about two feet in front of us! The ray was enormous and round, not diamond-shaped like a manta ray. In order to move, rather than flapping ¨wings¨ the ray wiggled its edges and almost looked like a skirt flowing. We also saw enormous parrot fish, angelfish, damselfish and plenty of sea cucumbers.
We then ventured into the rock fissures to look for sharks. Let me try to describe what we were dealing with so you can understand what happened. The rock fissures vary in width from 10 to 3 feet and in depth from perhaps 20 to 4 feet. When we first entered them, there were lots of sea life in the rock walls to observe, but the walls were wide and deep and there were no sharks. As we ventured further, the walls closed in and the floor got shallower. The walls were maybe 4 ft wide and the floor 7 ft deep when the guide stopped and shouted, ¨There's a shark up there, a white-tipped reef shark!¨ Lee was just behind the guide and I was just behind Lee. We followed slowly and I saw the very tip of the shark's tail fin. He was maybe 10 ft ahead of us. Suddenly he turned around and cruised just below all of us but very close to the ocean floor! I was maybe 6 feet away from him! That of course was a huge rush and everyone was quite excited. We continued on and the floor of the fissure began to get even shallower and shallower. Suddenly, the guide stopped again and said he saw another shark! This time I was incredibly nervous as it was so darn shallow! What if my flippers hit the shark? I had a minor panic attack and at one point had lifted most of my body out of the water, bracing myself on the rock walls. The shark glided right below my body, only two feet away. These two sharks were big, too, at least 6 to 7 feet long. As I´m sure you can imagine we were all terrified, exhilarated and amazed.
When we emerged on the other side of the crevasse we all couldn't stop exclaiming how amazing the experience was! The guide tried to tease us because we were all so scared (apparently he heard me repeating, ¨Oh God, oh God, please don't eat me, shark!¨ as the second shark swam beneath me) but jeez, it was scary!
After we got back to the hotel I lay on the beach in the sun and got my heartrate down. The beach was relaxing and pretty, with a nice view of the lagoon and the town pier. For dinner we had a really tasty turkey fillet with mushroom sauce and a really delicious raspberry flan.
Two of the other couples on the trip, an Irish couple and a Luxembourgian couple, walked into town with Lee and I to check out one of the bars in town. We ended up just chatting and drinking beers with them at a local restaurant but it was really fun to get to know each other in more detail. Everyone else had all been on multiple around the world trips, and the Luxembourgians were taking a year off from their jobs to just travel. Pretty good deal, eh?
After the beers we looked at the star some more, as they were almost as clear and perfect as they were on Isla Floreana. I wished we could stay longer on Isabella as Puerto Villamil is just a wonderfully relaxing and idyllic place!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The End of the World: Isla Floreana
Our tour group all piled into a boat with an inner cabin and then seats at the back with dual 200hp twin engines for the trip to Isla Floreana. It took about two hours to get there from Isla Santa Cruz. Floreana was one of the first islands to be inhabited by colonists from the mainland, although now only 150 people live there. It truly feels like the end of the world, like a land that time forgot. The houses are smaller and less prosperous looking than Isla Santa Cruz, although the villages are still well-maintained and not slovenly looking at all. The residents are also similarly friendly and helpful like on Santa Cruz. We arrived in the late afternoon, around 4pm, and it was unfortunately a bit cloudy. We were greeted at the dock by some lazy sea lions lounging around and some marine iguanas basking on the lava rocks by the pier. Our tour group got onto an open-sided truck not unlike those used on safari in Africa and drove to a perfect black sand beach for some snorkeling and relaxing.
The beach is also a nesting area for sea turtles, so we saw some depressions in the sand with some empty egg shells inside. We had to be careful not to disturb the nesting site as apparently the turtles return again and again to the same spots. Some people went in the water to snorkel, but as it was cloudy and a bit cool (maybe only 70 degrees) I opted to lie on the gorgeous black lava sand and take a bit of a nap. Additionally, since Floreana is further west than Santa Cruz, the water was a bit cooler and felt chilly to me. Without the sun I definitely would have been cold! Some people in the water did see a sea turtle and swam with it a bit, but since I had done that in Hawaii before I didn't feel too left out. We enjoyed seeing pelicans and frigatebirds dive bomb the water, and we even saw one frigatebird catch a fish!
After the relaxing time on the beach we drove to the Red Mangrove lodge on the island. It consists of 14 small cabins all with ocean view. There is electricity only until midnight, when it turns off for the whole island, and then turns on again at 6am. The cabins are small, but nice, and reminded me of camping in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Lee and I did have a bit of excitement as we found a HUGE spider in the bathroom, about 2 inches in diameter with thick legs. There was a lot of jumping around, hooting and hollering while we tried to squish it with our sandals. Eventually Lee did get the spider, which disgustingly broke into several pieces rather than smash juicily. Lee then ran out of the cabin and I had to clean up the parts and flush them. I wished I had some thick, arm length gloves for the process! I really detest spiders!
After the spider incident, our group sat on the landing overlooking the ocean and watched the sunset with some nice white wine. We saw the stars come out one by one (starting with Jupiter, I believe, as we were in the Southern Hemisphere) and then were treated to one of the best stellar displays I have seen in my life. The stars were so bright and clear that recognizable constellations were hard to identify, as there were so many stars in the sky. We had an excellent view of the milky way as well.
Around 7:30pm we drove to a local restaurant for dinner. The proprietress is the descendent of one of the first families to move to Isla Floreana. We were served some delicious potatoes with a cream sauce, fried wahoo, grilled chicken, steamed veggies and these yucca cheese fritters that I could have eaten a whole basketful of. Yummy! The group was famished and snarfed everything.
The night in the cabin was interesting as I fell asleep before the air conditioning turned off due to the electricity shutoff at midnight, but woke up feeling overheated and sweaty. Even with the land breeze, the cabin was quite warm. Eventually I fell back asleep again, but I wished for a fan or something to circulate more air inside.
For breakfast we went back to the same restaurant where we had a big breakfast spread with cereals, fresh fruits, passion fruit juice, toast and eggs. One thing that I really like about breakfast in Ecuador is that they give you hot milk to put in your coffee, so the taste is less bitter. Adding cold milk to hot coffee scorches the milk, so the flavor of the mixture is ruined somewhat. I always add milk first if it is cold because then the milk changes temperature slowly as you add the hot coffee. The more you know!!
We had another highlands tour of Isla Floreana where we walked with more giant tortoises. This time it was not muddy and the walk was up on the slopes of the volcano on the island so it was very pleasant. We saw two males ¨fighting¨ and I put it in quotations because the way that giant tortoises fight is that they extend their long necks and whichever tortoise has the longer neck is the winner! We saw at least 8 tortoises during our walk and it was a lot of fun to just sit around on rocks and see these guys in action. We even saw a smaller one, about a foot long, who was just too cute as he was chomping on some greens.
We then walked higher up the volcano slope to see a natural spring, which is the only source of potable water on the islands as well as some unique rock formations and caves which were reportedly used by pirates who originally came to the island to hide out from their pursuers on the mainland. We also heard the mysterious story of some of the first Westerners to live on Floreana, mainly there was a German doctor, an Austrian baroness with two lovers and another german woman. The doctor and two lovers met unfortunate ends and the only two suspects left were the women on the island. Each accused the other of the murders and the culprit has never been found. Historical drama!
After the highlands tour we piled back in the same boat for the two hour journey to Isla Isabella, which is the largest island in the archapelago and made famous by the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
The beach is also a nesting area for sea turtles, so we saw some depressions in the sand with some empty egg shells inside. We had to be careful not to disturb the nesting site as apparently the turtles return again and again to the same spots. Some people went in the water to snorkel, but as it was cloudy and a bit cool (maybe only 70 degrees) I opted to lie on the gorgeous black lava sand and take a bit of a nap. Additionally, since Floreana is further west than Santa Cruz, the water was a bit cooler and felt chilly to me. Without the sun I definitely would have been cold! Some people in the water did see a sea turtle and swam with it a bit, but since I had done that in Hawaii before I didn't feel too left out. We enjoyed seeing pelicans and frigatebirds dive bomb the water, and we even saw one frigatebird catch a fish!
After the relaxing time on the beach we drove to the Red Mangrove lodge on the island. It consists of 14 small cabins all with ocean view. There is electricity only until midnight, when it turns off for the whole island, and then turns on again at 6am. The cabins are small, but nice, and reminded me of camping in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Lee and I did have a bit of excitement as we found a HUGE spider in the bathroom, about 2 inches in diameter with thick legs. There was a lot of jumping around, hooting and hollering while we tried to squish it with our sandals. Eventually Lee did get the spider, which disgustingly broke into several pieces rather than smash juicily. Lee then ran out of the cabin and I had to clean up the parts and flush them. I wished I had some thick, arm length gloves for the process! I really detest spiders!
After the spider incident, our group sat on the landing overlooking the ocean and watched the sunset with some nice white wine. We saw the stars come out one by one (starting with Jupiter, I believe, as we were in the Southern Hemisphere) and then were treated to one of the best stellar displays I have seen in my life. The stars were so bright and clear that recognizable constellations were hard to identify, as there were so many stars in the sky. We had an excellent view of the milky way as well.
Around 7:30pm we drove to a local restaurant for dinner. The proprietress is the descendent of one of the first families to move to Isla Floreana. We were served some delicious potatoes with a cream sauce, fried wahoo, grilled chicken, steamed veggies and these yucca cheese fritters that I could have eaten a whole basketful of. Yummy! The group was famished and snarfed everything.
The night in the cabin was interesting as I fell asleep before the air conditioning turned off due to the electricity shutoff at midnight, but woke up feeling overheated and sweaty. Even with the land breeze, the cabin was quite warm. Eventually I fell back asleep again, but I wished for a fan or something to circulate more air inside.
For breakfast we went back to the same restaurant where we had a big breakfast spread with cereals, fresh fruits, passion fruit juice, toast and eggs. One thing that I really like about breakfast in Ecuador is that they give you hot milk to put in your coffee, so the taste is less bitter. Adding cold milk to hot coffee scorches the milk, so the flavor of the mixture is ruined somewhat. I always add milk first if it is cold because then the milk changes temperature slowly as you add the hot coffee. The more you know!!
We had another highlands tour of Isla Floreana where we walked with more giant tortoises. This time it was not muddy and the walk was up on the slopes of the volcano on the island so it was very pleasant. We saw two males ¨fighting¨ and I put it in quotations because the way that giant tortoises fight is that they extend their long necks and whichever tortoise has the longer neck is the winner! We saw at least 8 tortoises during our walk and it was a lot of fun to just sit around on rocks and see these guys in action. We even saw a smaller one, about a foot long, who was just too cute as he was chomping on some greens.
We then walked higher up the volcano slope to see a natural spring, which is the only source of potable water on the islands as well as some unique rock formations and caves which were reportedly used by pirates who originally came to the island to hide out from their pursuers on the mainland. We also heard the mysterious story of some of the first Westerners to live on Floreana, mainly there was a German doctor, an Austrian baroness with two lovers and another german woman. The doctor and two lovers met unfortunate ends and the only two suspects left were the women on the island. Each accused the other of the murders and the culprit has never been found. Historical drama!
After the highlands tour we piled back in the same boat for the two hour journey to Isla Isabella, which is the largest island in the archapelago and made famous by the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
Monday, May 4, 2009
A Host of Funny-Shaped Mountains
Jess and I had our Lijiang River cruise today and I must say it is spectacular. We caught our bus at 8:30 am and were driven to a location downstream. We were the only two non-Asian people on the bus (there was one Japanese guy as we found out later). In typical Chinese style, there was a guide blabbing into a microphone the whole time. Everyone seemed to ignore it. We got off at the ferry terminal, which of course included a huge jewelry store (because when you go boating, you should get jewelry too) as well as some stalls where I got a cheap bucket hat and a sticky rice steamed thing that had beans and chestnuts. Pretty good.
The tour guide made me explain to the Japanese guy that the boat did not include a return bus to Guilin and that if he wanted to he could take bus #36610 to get back or he could call her. I was not too pleased at being roped into being translator, since the comprehension was slow going. Luckily someone else spoke some Japanese so I got off the hook.
The cruise boats are flat bottomed ferries with a lower deck where you eat lunch, and then an observation deck with no sun shade and no chairs. Some boats (like ours) have a small room up top with a few tables and chairs. The downstairs area kind of sucks because it's crowded, smoking is allowed and of course, Chinese people fear the sun like vampires so a bunch of people immediately closed the window curtains! When I complained that we couldn't see, they opened it slightly but it still sucked.
Jess and I headed up to the observation deck as soon as the boat pushed off. We took some chairs out of the room up top and sat at the front, underneath a roof overhang to get a bit of shade. The weather was sunny and pleasant again but we didn't want to spend 4 hours in the noonday sun. We were having a nice time until one of the boat staff came and kicked us off the chairs. The reason given was that some people were coming up to eat in the room. I argued a bit but they were adamant so we acquiesced and spread out my sarong in the same spot.
The scenery was of course fabulous, with fantastically shaped limestone karst formations lining the river, crowned with leafy green tops. We could see farmers tending the fields, fishing cormorants, grazing water buffalo and smaller boats as well as bamboo rafts. Several enterprising fellows even tied up to the side of the boat and hawked "jade" pigs and cows through the window! Another ferry got a food delivery via small moterboat.
We were mostly left alone except periodically, whenever a famous formation came up, a passel of Chinese passengers would rush in and crowd our area, taking the requisite portraits with the V for victory sign. I swear they must have gotten the same photo at least 50 times! They reacted to our presence much like the rest of China, ranging from bemusement to outright blatant staring. We just stare back and that solves the problem. Lunch was served about 2 hours in, so the crowds left after that.
Jess and I agreed that if we had to do it again we'd just take the bus straight to Yangshou, where the ferries terminate, and just hire a small bamboo raft with a roof and a simple outboard motor and take us upstream. The cruise is lovely, but sharing a boat with 30 other passengers who don't appreciate the beauty of nature in the same way is considerably less lovely.
We are spending the night in Yangshou, which is a small village on the bank of the river with gorgeous peaks surrounding it. The air here is fresh and pleasant and Jess and I can't help but feel refreshed after 7 weeks of Beijing pollution and smog. We're staying at a hostel/hotel called Riverview; we have a view of the river, a balcony and air conditioning in our private room. The owners are pleasantly un-pushy.
Yangshow is kind of a westerner hang out so I have promised Jess pizza for dinner. We plan to go for a quick hike and then maybe hit the pub later. We hope to rent bikes and go for a bike ride tomorrow morning before taking the bus back to Guilin.
The tour guide made me explain to the Japanese guy that the boat did not include a return bus to Guilin and that if he wanted to he could take bus #36610 to get back or he could call her. I was not too pleased at being roped into being translator, since the comprehension was slow going. Luckily someone else spoke some Japanese so I got off the hook.
The cruise boats are flat bottomed ferries with a lower deck where you eat lunch, and then an observation deck with no sun shade and no chairs. Some boats (like ours) have a small room up top with a few tables and chairs. The downstairs area kind of sucks because it's crowded, smoking is allowed and of course, Chinese people fear the sun like vampires so a bunch of people immediately closed the window curtains! When I complained that we couldn't see, they opened it slightly but it still sucked.
Jess and I headed up to the observation deck as soon as the boat pushed off. We took some chairs out of the room up top and sat at the front, underneath a roof overhang to get a bit of shade. The weather was sunny and pleasant again but we didn't want to spend 4 hours in the noonday sun. We were having a nice time until one of the boat staff came and kicked us off the chairs. The reason given was that some people were coming up to eat in the room. I argued a bit but they were adamant so we acquiesced and spread out my sarong in the same spot.
The scenery was of course fabulous, with fantastically shaped limestone karst formations lining the river, crowned with leafy green tops. We could see farmers tending the fields, fishing cormorants, grazing water buffalo and smaller boats as well as bamboo rafts. Several enterprising fellows even tied up to the side of the boat and hawked "jade" pigs and cows through the window! Another ferry got a food delivery via small moterboat.
We were mostly left alone except periodically, whenever a famous formation came up, a passel of Chinese passengers would rush in and crowd our area, taking the requisite portraits with the V for victory sign. I swear they must have gotten the same photo at least 50 times! They reacted to our presence much like the rest of China, ranging from bemusement to outright blatant staring. We just stare back and that solves the problem. Lunch was served about 2 hours in, so the crowds left after that.
Jess and I agreed that if we had to do it again we'd just take the bus straight to Yangshou, where the ferries terminate, and just hire a small bamboo raft with a roof and a simple outboard motor and take us upstream. The cruise is lovely, but sharing a boat with 30 other passengers who don't appreciate the beauty of nature in the same way is considerably less lovely.
We are spending the night in Yangshou, which is a small village on the bank of the river with gorgeous peaks surrounding it. The air here is fresh and pleasant and Jess and I can't help but feel refreshed after 7 weeks of Beijing pollution and smog. We're staying at a hostel/hotel called Riverview; we have a view of the river, a balcony and air conditioning in our private room. The owners are pleasantly un-pushy.
Yangshow is kind of a westerner hang out so I have promised Jess pizza for dinner. We plan to go for a quick hike and then maybe hit the pub later. We hope to rent bikes and go for a bike ride tomorrow morning before taking the bus back to Guilin.
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