November 14th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
Day 4 – Butterfly Valley to Pingan (48 klms)
The hotel in Butterfly Valley is in a surprisingly beautiful location, next to a Yao minority village some 4 kilometres off the main highway in a gorge filled with luscious foliage and a gushing mountain stream.
For me, today was the big day. Would I make it up [...]
November 13th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
Day 3 – Guilin to Butterfly Valley (82 klms)
An easy ride this morning out of Guilin, we make our way through some wonderful little villages and classic rural China countryside under chilly but glorious blue skies and sunshine. The karst scenery ended not far out of Guilin and for a short time as we cycled [...]
November 12th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
After yesterdays cold and wet weather we find things have deteriorated even further with a top forecast of only 8 degrees today. We decide to postpone our Guilin departure till tomorrow (Friday) and return to Yangshuo to pick up warmer clothes.
This turned out to be a fantastic decision, not only for the respite from [...]
November 11th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
Day 2 – Xingping to Guilin (72 kilometres)
Just the slightest feeling of fatigue and a case of raging saddle soreness were dominating my mind for the first 20 minutes on the bike this morning. This all dissipated quite quickly as we emerged into a valley and cycled directly towards a row of mountains and karsts [...]
November 10th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, on the road, things to do & see
This time of year in Yangshuo is usually a fantastic mixture of warm, dry days that are perfect for cycling. So I decided to head off for a few days on a cycling research trip with one of the Directors over at Bike Asia . For the most part the route we followed was one of [...]
July 13th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, things to do & see
On the road that goes past my house I see packs of bike riders cruising by. Even more so on weekends and public holidays. It is a beautiful ride on a paved road that doesn’t get too much traffic – it is popular for good reason. However you will find that the packs start to [...]
June 7th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, places, things to do & see
Gorgeous Greens
Rain over the past few months has blessed the countryside with a magnificent array of greens, each variation fresh, vivid and lush. As I mentioned last week one of the best ways to experience the magical scenery is to take a bike ride. Over the past couple of months I have been trying to [...]
May 28th, 2009 | by admin | published in latest posts, places, things to do & see
Number 2: Cycling
Cycling is an incredibly popular and rewarding way to experience the magical scenery. Imagine yourself surrounded by towering limestone karsts with rice paddies carpeting the land in seemingly endless shades of vivid green.
Options abound, from easy, flat, tar roads that pass through local villages not too far from town through to unknown trails [...]
April 24th, 2009 | by admin | published in middle kingdom life
A friend recently visited and asked how I got so lucky to be living here? Surely it must be like living in paradise.
Sometimes, I wonder the same thing as many of my days are filled with magical moments. But if there is one thing that I know, is that the so-called “magical moments” are [...]
