We arrived in Yangshuo, China, late at night, after a long bus ride from Guilin. Everybody was asleep and exhausted from spending far too much time at the airport as it was the first time on our entire trip that we had lost luggage (both Yve’s and Jones’ bags were missing!) Needless to say, filling out oodles of paperwork in the Guilin Airport proved to be tricky since nobody spoke English and we have yet to learn Mandarin. After a 2 hour car ride, we shuffled to our beds in our hotel/hostel and plunked down the luggage we DID have to be unpacked the following day.
At dawn, I was the first to wake up and went to boil water in the electric tea kettle and take advantage of the few remaining Starbucks VIA packs we had stowed in our bags…(THANKS MOM AND DAD for bringing us so much great coffee in Tanzania!) As I zombie walked to the bathroom to fill the pot, I casually glanced out the window to the landscape that was beginning to illuminate with the morning sun. I stopped dead in my tracks. Breathtaking!! I know they call Yangshuo “The Yosemite of China,” but I still wasn’t prepared for the sheer awesomeness of the view.
Later, after two cups of coffee, I Googled Yangshuo to learn that the peaks I could see in every direction were called Karsts. Then I Googled Karsts so that I could become more knowledgeable and explain to the kids what we were looking at. This is what I found…. needless to say, I still can’t really explain Karsts at all….I will leave that task to my uncle Dana, who is a PhD and has spent his career teaching graduates and undergrads Geology at The University of Oregon ….but I can say that karsts are stunning and that everyone should visit Yangshuo, because, just like Yosemite, pictures do not do them justice.
Here are some of the best pictures I took in an effort to try and capture some of the beauty…
View from our window!!!
View from the bamboo boat!
The view in any direction downtown has the peaks in the background!
The peaks are lit up at nighttime, creating a magical backdrop as you stroll around the city.
Had to add this pic of Cliff and I from our 19th Wedding Anniversary Day….Yippee!
Similar to Yosemite, this topography attracts a ton of climbers and outdoorsy folks from around the world, but that is another blogpost 
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