Wake up to the familiar sound of rain. It’s my last day in Yangshuo, so I head out and grab some breakfast, and upload some pictures. Wonder of wonders, at about 11am, it stops raining. I stare at the cafe owners in disbelief, but it appears to be true.
I still have to check out, so I head back to the guesthouse, checkout, and confirm my bus for the evening. As it turns out my bus is leaving at 6:40pm, instead of 8, so my hours are limited. I head over and talk to Christine for a bit, but she gets busy with a customer, so I wander off – running unexpectedly into the Irish lads from Dali, Alan and Wolfey, and their new companion Wade. Aidan is still in Yunnan province, but is apparently on his way.
The boys need a guesthouse, so I show them to Backstreets, and they check in there. They’re having lunch shortly, so I tag along. After lunch they want to do some shopping, so I join them on that too – then they try and arrange for something to do in the evening. Unfortunately there’s been so much rain, that they’re unable to do anything on the water – all the touts that usually try selling boat rides, have nothing to do for the next couple of days. I show them some before and after photos of the river, whose banks are now completely flooded. Here is a before/after look:
Before:
After:
(Note: I talked to Alan a few days later and they had to evacuate, because the town itself flooded)
They manage to book some rock climbing, and we do a bit more wandering. Before long it’s time for me to head back to the guesthouse, so I do – and have a bit of a struggle to get my key deposit back, but finally manage. This has definitely not been my nicest guesthouse experience, but at least I still have my bag and contents at the end of it all.
I hop on the sleeper bus at nearly 7pm, and settle in for the long haul.