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Today is officially the day that Yangshuo wore out its charm. Dan was off with Ice – the rest of us rented bikes from the hotel next door. A good deal – 20 yuan for the day for Specialized mountain bikes. We wandered southeast on Pantao Road, hoping to find a route along the river. We failed. We backtracked & turned southwest on Kangzhau Road toward Moon Hill, a natural arch carved by erosion into the top of one of the karsts.
Once we got out of the crazy traffic, it was pretty nice at first. We went through countryside with limestone karsts sprouting out of farmers’ fields. I got a picture of a farmer plowing the mud a wooden plow drawn by a water buffalo. Also saw a woman pumping water into a field with a paddle mounted on a tripod, basically sweeping water into the proper irrigation channel. As we crossed the Gonguang Bridge over the Yulong River, a flotilla of bamboo rafts were pulling in (see pics at top) & being loaded onto trucks to be dropped upriver for a new batch of tourists.
So far, so good. But as we approached Moon Hill, a peasant woman on a bike going the other way yelled “Hallo!” and crossed the highway to pull up alongside us. Judy muttered, “Oh God, she’s going to ride with us.” After weeks of hard-sell, we could feel a foreshadowing of doom.
She began asking in broken English whether we were going to Moon Hill. She said we should. I pretty much decided at that moment that Moon Hill was a bad idea, and tried to ditch her by saying that we were trying to catch up with others who were ahead of us… which was true. Adam & Chris were well ahead. She smiled brightly and stayed with us, jabbering away. She stopped when we passed the entrance to Moon Hill. Safe!
Not.
The boys were parked 100 meters up the road. They were starving, and Judy had seen that the “Moon Hill Café” was just inside the admission gate. So we backed up, much to the delight of our peasant woman, who was still waiting for us. We coughed up 15 yuan each for admission, plus another yuan to “watch” our bikes (which had locks). Only after we were in did we discover that the “café” was just a cooler full of drinks.
It was then that we were accosted by 3 more peasant women – one for each of us, each carrying a Styrofoam cooler full of beverages as well as a fan, which they assiduously applied to us while hovering like so many gnats. I tried to ignore them and walk away up the hill, but they followed, jabbering “where you from?” & fanning like lunatics. I really wanted to be alone & asked my gnat how much for a water, hoping she’d score her sale and go away. She said, “5 yuan.” I said, “5??!! No, 2.” She replied, “No, 5 yuan.” I walked away. “OK, 4.” I kept walking, and she followed. I wheeled and told her I wanted to walk alone. No drinks, no fanning. She said, “OK, 3 yuan, I no bother you.” Deal.
I thought that got rid of the gnats, but the other 3 kept hovering around Adam, Chris and Judy. Judy had the one from the road and tried to brush her off, but she just smiled and said “No, I follow. Maybe you need water later.” Adam told his gnat that he had no money, but she didn’t believe him. So he took off up the strenuous climb at a brisk pace. His gnat urged him to slow down: “you get tired!” He said he was fine and kept chugging. She kept up. Chris likewise tried to ditch his, likewise to no avail.
So we marched (or in Judy and my case, slogged) toward the arch at the top, fanning gnats at our side. About halfway up, Judy’s gnat invited us to a “farmer’s dinner” at her village, which was just below the park entrance. She also said that she worked the farm 4 days and climbed the mountain to “help” guests on the 5th day.
The trek was long, steep and extremely hot, without a breath of breeze. By the time we reached the top, Judy & I were red-faced, hearts pounding and sweat running in rivers. The gnats were dry and kept fanning.
We sat down under the arch & the gnats produced their coolers. To Chris’ gnat: “How much?” Gnat: “10 yuan.” Me: “TEN??!! I got it for THREE!”
We pushed the bottles back at them. They protested. Me: “I’ll pay you five.” Chris’ gnat: “Two for fifteen.” Me: “no thanks.” Gnat: “OK, two for ten.” We bought. Judy and Adam held out, preferring a heat stroke to caving to the incessant pressure.
I thought that would pay her off, but no: the gnats stayed. Up further, to a scenic overlook beyond the arch. Back down the hill, still chatting & fanning furiously.
“I don’t want you to fan me!”
Once we got out of the crazy traffic, it was pretty nice at first. We went through countryside with limestone karsts sprouting out of farmers’ fields. I got a picture of a farmer plowing the mud a wooden plow drawn by a water buffalo. Also saw a woman pumping water into a field with a paddle mounted on a tripod, basically sweeping water into the proper irrigation channel. As we crossed the Gonguang Bridge over the Yulong River, a flotilla of bamboo rafts were pulling in (see pics at top) & being loaded onto trucks to be dropped upriver for a new batch of tourists.
So far, so good. But as we approached Moon Hill, a peasant woman on a bike going the other way yelled “Hallo!” and crossed the highway to pull up alongside us. Judy muttered, “Oh God, she’s going to ride with us.” After weeks of hard-sell, we could feel a foreshadowing of doom.
She began asking in broken English whether we were going to Moon Hill. She said we should. I pretty much decided at that moment that Moon Hill was a bad idea, and tried to ditch her by saying that we were trying to catch up with others who were ahead of us… which was true. Adam & Chris were well ahead. She smiled brightly and stayed with us, jabbering away. She stopped when we passed the entrance to Moon Hill. Safe!
Not.
The boys were parked 100 meters up the road. They were starving, and Judy had seen that the “Moon Hill Café” was just inside the admission gate. So we backed up, much to the delight of our peasant woman, who was still waiting for us. We coughed up 15 yuan each for admission, plus another yuan to “watch” our bikes (which had locks). Only after we were in did we discover that the “café” was just a cooler full of drinks.
It was then that we were accosted by 3 more peasant women – one for each of us, each carrying a Styrofoam cooler full of beverages as well as a fan, which they assiduously applied to us while hovering like so many gnats. I tried to ignore them and walk away up the hill, but they followed, jabbering “where you from?” & fanning like lunatics. I really wanted to be alone & asked my gnat how much for a water, hoping she’d score her sale and go away. She said, “5 yuan.” I said, “5??!! No, 2.” She replied, “No, 5 yuan.” I walked away. “OK, 4.” I kept walking, and she followed. I wheeled and told her I wanted to walk alone. No drinks, no fanning. She said, “OK, 3 yuan, I no bother you.” Deal.
I thought that got rid of the gnats, but the other 3 kept hovering around Adam, Chris and Judy. Judy had the one from the road and tried to brush her off, but she just smiled and said “No, I follow. Maybe you need water later.” Adam told his gnat that he had no money, but she didn’t believe him. So he took off up the strenuous climb at a brisk pace. His gnat urged him to slow down: “you get tired!” He said he was fine and kept chugging. She kept up. Chris likewise tried to ditch his, likewise to no avail.
So we marched (or in Judy and my case, slogged) toward the arch at the top, fanning gnats at our side. About halfway up, Judy’s gnat invited us to a “farmer’s dinner” at her village, which was just below the park entrance. She also said that she worked the farm 4 days and climbed the mountain to “help” guests on the 5th day.
The trek was long, steep and extremely hot, without a breath of breeze. By the time we reached the top, Judy & I were red-faced, hearts pounding and sweat running in rivers. The gnats were dry and kept fanning.
We sat down under the arch & the gnats produced their coolers. To Chris’ gnat: “How much?” Gnat: “10 yuan.” Me: “TEN??!! I got it for THREE!”
We pushed the bottles back at them. They protested. Me: “I’ll pay you five.” Chris’ gnat: “Two for fifteen.” Me: “no thanks.” Gnat: “OK, two for ten.” We bought. Judy and Adam held out, preferring a heat stroke to caving to the incessant pressure.
I thought that would pay her off, but no: the gnats stayed. Up further, to a scenic overlook beyond the arch. Back down the hill, still chatting & fanning furiously.
“I don’t want you to fan me!”
“No, it’s OK.”
“I’m not going to buy any water.”
“Maybe you need at the bottom.”
“I don’t have any money!”
(at this point Adam displayed an empty wallet).
“Maybe you get some money.”
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t begrudge poor, entrepreneurial farm women the right to try to liberate loose change from rich westerners. But when they refuse repeatedly to leave you alone after persistent requests, it’s extortion instead of a sale, and it was really getting to us. By the time we got to the bottom, Adam and Judy’s gnats were whining loudly. Judy’s, giving up on selling water, had produced stacks of postcards. I was ahead of the rest, frantically unlocking bikes in the hopes that if we could just get on our bikes we could outrun them. Judy followed with her gnat in tow, and the pleading in her eyes said “please get me out of here” more eloquently than words ever could.
At this point, I finally cracked. “Judy, you want some water? She did walk all the way up and back…” Judy settled for the postcards, overpaying at 15 yuan in order to be released. Adam stuck to his principles: I’m sure he was dehydrated, but even more pissed. His gnat had suggested that maybe his father would give him some money. When Adam said “no,” she came to me directly and whined, “I walk all way up, all way down. He no buy water!” We hopped on our bikes and high-tailed it away… stopping 100m down the road to buy 2 yuan water. It never tasted better.
We pedaled back to town to meet Dan and Ice for lunch, then split up again. Judy did some more shopping, and the harassment that had marked the morning continued. One vendor followed Judy & Chris all the way back into the hotel lobby, leaving only after Judy went up to our room on the second floor.
Afterwards, we walked along Binjiang Road, following the Lijiang north. About a half-mile up the road, there’s a large stone quay where the Chinese go to swim. The water’s deeper here, and the stones are squared & terraced in a series of large landings all the way to the water. By 6:30PM (when we arrived), the boats had largely stopped & the river was full of swimmers, bathers, and people washing clothes.
We went out for rather unimpressive "happy hour" drinks, then down to the Belleview Café for a hassle-free dinner overlooking the water. Then up to Yangshuo Square, where we hoped we might run into Dan looking for night snacks. We picked up some lamb skewers and beers, then headed back to the room for a quiet evening of Spades.
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t begrudge poor, entrepreneurial farm women the right to try to liberate loose change from rich westerners. But when they refuse repeatedly to leave you alone after persistent requests, it’s extortion instead of a sale, and it was really getting to us. By the time we got to the bottom, Adam and Judy’s gnats were whining loudly. Judy’s, giving up on selling water, had produced stacks of postcards. I was ahead of the rest, frantically unlocking bikes in the hopes that if we could just get on our bikes we could outrun them. Judy followed with her gnat in tow, and the pleading in her eyes said “please get me out of here” more eloquently than words ever could.
At this point, I finally cracked. “Judy, you want some water? She did walk all the way up and back…” Judy settled for the postcards, overpaying at 15 yuan in order to be released. Adam stuck to his principles: I’m sure he was dehydrated, but even more pissed. His gnat had suggested that maybe his father would give him some money. When Adam said “no,” she came to me directly and whined, “I walk all way up, all way down. He no buy water!” We hopped on our bikes and high-tailed it away… stopping 100m down the road to buy 2 yuan water. It never tasted better.
We pedaled back to town to meet Dan and Ice for lunch, then split up again. Judy did some more shopping, and the harassment that had marked the morning continued. One vendor followed Judy & Chris all the way back into the hotel lobby, leaving only after Judy went up to our room on the second floor.
Afterwards, we walked along Binjiang Road, following the Lijiang north. About a half-mile up the road, there’s a large stone quay where the Chinese go to swim. The water’s deeper here, and the stones are squared & terraced in a series of large landings all the way to the water. By 6:30PM (when we arrived), the boats had largely stopped & the river was full of swimmers, bathers, and people washing clothes.
We went out for rather unimpressive "happy hour" drinks, then down to the Belleview Café for a hassle-free dinner overlooking the water. Then up to Yangshuo Square, where we hoped we might run into Dan looking for night snacks. We picked up some lamb skewers and beers, then headed back to the room for a quiet evening of Spades.
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