Yangshuo Moped Tour

We have been so excited for today! While Bailey and I were in Xian last month, our friends Shey, Petro, Rachel, and Spencer went to Yangshuo and booked a moped tour from a guy they found on the ILP blog. And they've been raving about it since! For $36 per person, we were able to book sweet Peter for a whole day of fun.

He showed up right on time this morning and took us (and Mitch and Katey who met up with us for the day!) to the moped rental place, where he taught us girls how to ride.

I think I really stressed him out at first, because he kept telling me maybe it would be better if I switched to an electric bike, which is smaller and easier to handle. But Bailey insisted that I learn the gas powered one (he said I couldn't keep up on an ebike), so I practiced going up and down a narrow street which was pretty hard. I was kind of stressed, but once we officially set out and were able to drive faster, I felt much more comfortable! Turns out riding a moped is only hard when you go slow, because it is hard to keep balanced. Bailey was nervous about me and looked back literally every five seconds, but after a while he stopped and told me that I'm a lot less sketchy on a moped than he thought I'd be, which I took as a compliment!

It was a bit of a struggle getting out of the city center alive, but buses stopped for us and cars swerved, and soon enough we were on the empty, beautiful countryside roads! 

I decided pretty early on today that I probably need a moped of my own someday. I love the feeling of riding through the wind! Even in the sticky heat of Yangshuo, the weather was perfect while on a moped.

I wasn't quite ready for our first stop, I was enjoying riding so much, but I suppose it was good to get off and take some pictures. We rode just a little bit longer and Peter showed us a dam in the river.  A lady was washing her clothes in the river, which I thought was crazy!  But apparently that's what everyone does here.

Soon after, we had to stop when Mitch spotted a water buffalo. I don't know how he spotted it, but Peter said it was okay to go closer and take pictures. What a sight! I don't think I've ever seen a water buffalo before. And it was so cool to see the old farmer and his buffalo, just working as they went about their normal life.

That's the best thing about today - we got to see the normal life of Yangshuo locals. West Street is fun, but touristy. We continued our journey through the fields where tourists never go - we got to see peanut plants and lotus groves, and everything else that the locals farmed to make a living. We got to drive through their neighborhoods and see their humble ways of life; little kids playing in houses that looked nearly abandoned, old men and women cooking and working around their homes, and even a little school out in the middle of seemingly nowhere, where we could hear the kids laughing and singing just like normal kids. It's so crazy to think of how different their lives are from ours! Can they even imagine a world like mine? I definitely couldn't imagine a world like theirs until I saw it! Being on my little moped, I had a lot of time to think about how blessed I am to have the life that I have, and for the opportunities I've had to learn about and respect other cultures.

Another one of our early stops was this circle looking bridge. Leave it to the Chinese to make an inconveniently shaped bridge just for looks! I'm glad they do that stuff though, it was gorgeous.

We got to sit on the bridge and enjoy it for a bit.

Peter bought us some local grown peach things that almost tasted like plums. We took a break on another bridge to enjoy them. Probably the best fruit I've ever eaten! Oh my gosh they were so good. But they're only in that area so I'll probably never eat them again. Sad.

For lunch we stopped in a little old neighborhood where they were actually having their local farmers market! It only happens every three days, so we were pretty lucky to see it. It was quite the sight! The produce looked so delicious, and all the little old ladies selling it were so cute.

Mitch helped out a fish that was flopping all over the ground by throwing it back into one merchant's bucket of water. I don't think the merchant even cared that his fish had escaped! Mom and I were interested in the meat section. It was funny to watch the little ladies with big butcher's knives chopping up pig legs and whatever else they had!

After walking around for a little bit, Peter sat us down for some steamed dumplings and a bowl of local noodles with pickled bamboo shoots on top. Both dishes were delicious! We all ate the food right up, and also the local berries that Peter bought us for dessert. The berries are called "bayberries" and they were delicious! They seriously have some killer fruit here that we probably won't be able to find in the States!

We continued our journey and ended up at the mud caves. Now the mud caves aren't just mud caves, it is actually your normal Chinese cave at first, complete with colorful lights, gift shops, and funny names.

We actually got a whole cave tour before getting to the mud bath. Which the rest of our tour just walked past! Of course we wanted to get the full experience, and were soon in our swimsuits, ready to hop in!

Mom wasn't feeling like getting in, so she was our photographer which was really nice. The mud was kind of creepy at first because sometimes you found mystery items in it (paper, leaves, rocks) and if you slipped there wasn't really anything to hold onto.

One section of the pool had lots of thick mud at the bottom, which I liked a lot more than the rock bottom which hurt my feet. Also painful was the slide! It felt like it was scratching my butt off!

Overall, though, it was a fun experience. It was so crazy how I could just lift up my legs and just sit in the mud, it was so thick. 

We swam around for a bit then decided it was time to rinse off in the shower and jump into the hot spring! No way the hot spring was natural, which was actually kind of nice because then we didn't smell like sulfur or anything. It was hot in Yangshuo, but the cave was cool and the mud was cold, so I was ready for the warm water!

My poor swimsuit! I should have brought a crappier one, but back in February when I was packing, I never would have guessed I'd swim in mud! I'd say the experience was worth it, though. We left the cave feeling well moisturized, exfoliated, and of course, gross.

We hopped back onto our mopeds and sped on over to moon hill. Well, we didn't get that close, we kind of just passed it. It was enough for us though!

We took the long way home and enjoyed every second of it. We stopped two more times for pictures:

Then it was back to West Street for us! What a tour! If you ever find yourself in Yangshuo, get Peter's business card from me. Today was the very best!

We ended the night with some quick dinner off the streets, and an hour and a half bus ride to downtown Guilin to rest up for our next adventure!