The Last of ... Beautiful China: Cycling thru Yangshuo

I can't resist finishing up posting some of our pictures from our final China Adventure.  Our last few days of our trip were spent in the amazing Yangshuo.  We spent our time on bikes exploring the beautiful area. 

One of the best things about being in Yangshuo was getting to stay at The Giggling Tree -- an awesome converted farmhouse in the countryside, with a fabulous terrace and only a short walk away from gorgeous sunsets. 

 

Beautiful China: Rafting the Yulong River

Our next stop after Guilin was nearby Yangshuo and to get there we decided to take the scenic route.  It was a blast!  A rafting trip down the Yulong River -- sandwiched on both ends by bus rides :)  The breathtaking landscape followed us the entire way.

 

 

 

Beautiful China: Hiking the Dragon's Backbone (Longji Rice Terraces)

The morning after my camera got stolen in Guilin we weren't really feeling up for much, but we'd previously made transportation arrangements to go to the Longji Rice Terrace villages and spend a day hiking through the hills, spending the night in a local guest house.  So off we went.  The day started pretty rough since I was still really, really sad over losing our pictures from the earlier part of our trip.  Jason caught my attitude perfectly in this first photo!  :)

We were dropped off in Ping An village -- it was beautiful and quaint ... and very touristy!

Our hike began and PingAn and was scheduled to take 4 - 5 hours to DaZhai village along these lovely stone pathways.  It was gorgeous every step of the way.  The sign Jason is standing next to says "no photos while walking."  :)

Unfortunately for us, the path was NOT well marked at all.  We'd been told we could ask for directions in the small villages along the way, but the locals refused to point us in the right direction, insisting instead to be our guide (for a fee of course!).  At one point we were literally running to get away from one of the women who had decided to "guide" us even though we'd refused very directly. 

So .... all that being said, the hike took us 8 - 9 hours and we ended up walking on a desserted highway after dark, in the pouring rain.  Not exactly what we'd imagined!  We eventually stumbled into Dazhai and took the first room offered to us.  The next morning when we awoke, this was the view from our window!  Amazing!

Looking a bit tired, but still enjoying the gorgeous scenery.



Being Careless

We're back in the USA and super, super happy about it.  Being home is always a comforting feeling and we're especially enjoying things like the clean, blue sky and how polite everyone is. 

We had a fantastic trip through Southern China, but had something happen that put a big damper on our spirits which still feels sort of devastating:

I got careless and our camera was taken out of my purse by a pickpocket.  We'd just finished 3 days in Yunnan province, doing the absolute most incredible thing to do in China (hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge) and had not copied/backed-up any of the photos yet...losing the photos was SO SO much worse than just losing our camera. 

We've plagued ourselves with what we could have done differently.  It all boils down to the fact that I got caught up being a tourist and I was comfortable when I shouldn't have been.  Even though I realized within seconds what had happened and we confronted the man who took it, he'd already passed it off to his co-worker and in that moment we didn't know what else we could do.  We sat for an hour, feeling sick and half hoping someone would come back with an offer to resell it to us, then filed a police report (using my limited Chinese & their limited English and a lot of charades - very interesting), then went to a walmart-type store and bought a very "pianyi" (=cheap) camera. Sigh. Not what we'd hoped for from our last trip in China.

We did go back to the scene of the crime for a photo of course ...




























This incident has made me think a lot about being careless. Especially, the quick consequences of carelessness. I was careless for a moment and lost photos of a priceless experience with my husband. Even though we both tried not to let the incident affect us too much, it wasn't easy to move on and enjoy the last days of our vacation to their fullest. Even now, I feel sad and defeated about the whole thing. And that was just a camera. I've been thinking about the consequences of careless words ... how easy it is to toss a careless word out without thinking about the consequences to whoever may hear it. And knowing the devastating effects words can have on a person. I know that I have no control over getting back my photos of our trip, but maybe I can try to keep my tongue from using careless words.

The last things ...

This week has been FULL of last things.  We leave in the morning for 9 days in Southern China and will return to Shanghai for less than a day before we leave for good.  So, we've been trying to soak everything in as much as possible.  Here are a few images of our last things in Shanghai:

Last bike ride (yay for a sunny day Wednesday -- sold our bikes on Thursday)

Last time finding a cute, Shanghai cafe on accident

Last interesting street foods -- I think this is lotus root/flower?

And, also bananas being sold along the road - I love that he has an electronic scale on his cart (most the fruit vendors do!)

Last recycling carts.

Last laundry and teeth brushing on the sidewalks

Last bird-men carrying their birds to the park to visit with other birds.

Last soccer day with teachers & students.

Last morning with our students.

Last amazing foot massage at Dragonfly and last time at our school.

And last of the last things ... I don't know that I'll  ever see a man wearing loafers , slacks and a collared shirt with a blow torch putting on the roof on next door!

Oops, I lied ... one more. The last time we may see our street at night. It looks kind of pretty this way.