Yangshou (Finally)

Ya, I know that we went to Yangshou like a week ago. But it. was. HEAVEN. Seriously one of my favorite places ever. The town was really clean, and surrounded by mountains (something I miss). Our hostel was right by some really cool shopping (perhaps I will blog about what I got, if anyone is interested) and some good eatin. 

We left Friday right after classes (our train left at one) and got into Guilin around three. Then we went to Pizza Hut. It was marvelous. Then we got on a bus and headed down to Youngshou, which took about an hour. We then checked into our hostel and went out on the town. It was already dark but man that town was alive! We're used to Dong'an were things die as soon as the students go back to class after dinner, so it was weird that so many people were out. It was also weird to see so many white people. I didn't like it. Oh well.   Then we got some magnum bars (real ice cream is so nice after eating their weird frozen milk imitation ice cream) and went to bed.

Saturday we got up and went on a float down the river. It was sooo beautiful, but wouldn't you know that my slr would die as soon as I stepped onto the raft? Typical. Luckily, I had my point and shoot, and I had forgotten how much I like that camera, so I wasn't too upset. The ride was awesome! It was such a gorgeous area, I just couldn't get over it. 

After we got done with the rafts, we went back into town, ate lunch (hand pulled noodles) and shopped for the rest of the afternoon. We found some screamin' deals folks, it was amazing. We found a shop that was going out of business, and so everything was on super clearance (no bartering, happy day!) and it was amazing! Plus, it also gave us a good baseline for what things cost. True Religion jeans, about seven dollars. Armani ties, seventy five cents (granted, these are probably knock-offs, but they look pretty legit to me, and thats all that matters right?) 

After we finished shopping, we had dinner (pizza and a McD's milkshake) and got a movie. Matt found 'The One' with Jet Li, so we crowded six people into our hostel and we watched that. 

Sunday morning we had church, then rented some bikes for the afternoon. We went on a bike ride through the countryside and it was so much fun! Thats when we saw the naked babies. The scenery was pretty much amazing, and it was nice to get away from the more touristy areas for a bit. 

Then we came home! (and we got our first ever seat tickets for a train! Every other time for one reason or another, we have been standing.) Wow, sorry that turned into such a long post. But it was basically one of the best weekends ever!