I woke up at 5am, someones phone alarm was going off and I didn't have my ear plugs in, they were locked in the locker at the head of my bed under all the stuff I'd piled on top. After a few minutes I got up and shook the person who's alarm it was which stopped it and I slept again. At 7 I got up and had a shower and found someones watch in a cubicle so I closed the door so that others wouldn't see it, I came back a bit later and it had been claimed. I left the hostel with an umbrella and a spare pair of socks as my shoes were still wet and I wanted dry feet when trying on shoes. I walked to the bus station as the hostel had told me and a man there led me through a barrier onto a bus. He said it was 30 yuan but I was expecting to buy a ticket from am office so I googled it and the price should be 25. I looked around but couldn't see a ticket office so I got back on the bus we headed off and I ate some of my food leftover from yesterday, mangoes, banana, nuts and cakes. The conductor came round so I gave her 30 and she gave me 5 back. I took my shoes off and caught up a bit on my blog and then I was using wikitravel to look at what to do in Yangshou when we arrived and I had to put my shoes on and go. It was a bit on the outskirts but not bad, I headed in and found a suitcase shop where they were about 150 so I said I'd come back. I carried on and there was a karst hill with a small cave and a door which was locked to a bigger cave. There wasn't anyone around so I carried on walking around the hill until I came to steps which I went up. The rain had stopped so I was getting hot climbing and took my jacket off and wished I'd worn shorts. It wasn't too far to climb before there was a bit of a view but then the path became a mud path with overgrown plants and I checked the map and this wasn't the path I was looking for so I went back down. Round the hill there was a monument and behind it a karst hill that looked way more solitary than the solitary peak back in Guilin. I headed up the right path this time which had a small pagoda half way and was steps all the way up with a pretty good view at the top. I went back down and more people were climbing up but the path was wide rnough and at the bottom I headed to a small lake and along to the road. Wikitravel had said there were 2 nain tourist streets with others between them like rungs on a ladder and looking at the map that could only really be one place which was north of where I was so I headed there and it was pretty quiet. I at least had thought there might be some shops but there wasn't much. I bought a churro thing and at the end of town there was an arch a bit like the ones you see in Chinatown to say here is Chinatown only here it was here is town. I took a right and went down the other street which was emptier and the road became a path. I had planned to take a path a different way but it went up and in between two hills and I decided there wasn't much point so I just went back on a normal road. I headed east to the river where there was a monument and a small bridge I climbed up and could see the waterfall. I climbed down to the waters edge and therewas a boat near me with 2 cormorants on and a man and a woman wanted to move it so I helped them but got my shoes very wet as the water came up onto where we were standing. I went along the river to a shopping street which had funfair games amongst other things to take peoples money. I bought some tofu as it was 2 slices for 5 yuan which seemed ok and nearby was Good view garden which cost 28 yuan to enter so I skipped it. I walked through the shopping area and headed round the hill and saw some shops for shoes and suitcases and also found a measuring tape in another shop but it was bigger than I wanted and cost 10 yuan. I came to green lotus peak as per maps and there was steps but then a muddy path going up. I slipped going up and got my hands dirty which I washed with a bottle of iced green tea someone had left and carried on up. I thought I might be nearly at the top without any further mishaps but I was counting my chickens too early and there was quite a way to go. I finally got to the top fairly hot and sweaty with rocks to the right and then a metal frame to the left. I went up both for the good views, got a few photos was a bit worried about the safety of the frame and decided to do some good and clean up some of the rubbish left here. I found a plastic bag and picked up plastic bottles and headed back down. The bag was soon full but there wasn't much more rubbish. I had an imaginary conversation with 2 girls at the hostel where I was telling them not to climb this hill as it was slippery, even I had slipped and that was when I slipped again and got my trousers, my bag and a hand muddy. I cleaned up a bit and somehow managed to get one more bottle in the bag and made it the rest of the way back down ok although the place where I'd slipped coming up was pretty hairy. I put all the rubbish in the dustbin and then walked east along near the river and found a toilet I could clean myself up a bit in. Along the river I came to an area with bamboo boats which cost 120 yuan and would've been maybe ok to share so I took a couple of photos and carried on the road. I saw a food stall and bought 2 round things for 5 yuan which I'm still not sure what they were. I came to a bookmark on the map which was the Impressions show area and it was expensive and just did ine evening show a day. I carried on to the cave where the steps were broken and it was dark for a bit so I used my phone torch. I got through to the other side where there was a view of the impressions stage and seating area but no way onwards so I wer back through tge cave and tried without the light but it was too dark so I used it again. I carried on again and there was a brief river view which was nice at a gap in the trees but there was no way along the river with the hill there and it was a deserted area so I went back to the road and went round the hill. There was not a great view of river but maps had climbing the hill bookmarked behind me so I went back and found the path up which was a decent stone path all the way with no charge. I briefly stopped once on the climb so I must have been tired. There was a good view at the top and although the views were all a bit similar they were also all a bit different. I went back down and on to last place, a bamboo cave and turned and followed the map instead of taking what looked like a helpful road. It ended up not being the road I was after and I was going the wrong way so I crossed a field and heard bangs from maybe someone shooting. There were 2 Chinese girls who looked like they might be looking for the cave do I followed them but they gave up and went off and I walked around the hill which had a gap in it or a hole if you like. Round the hill I saw a kid with dynamite things who'd been making the noise and I also saw what might bean entrance so I walked across some grass and found the cave with some bamboo there in the entrance whih might be how someone made up the cave name. I walked through the cave which wasn't big but not so small and on the other side I tried to go down and owards but there was no path. So I went back through and then looked to go to river but after a bit of walking I would see there was no road so I went back and took another route back to the main road area. There was a guy selling fruit which lookedlike a citrus fruit but not the same as any I knew. He showed me how to eat it with the skin on just removing the stalk and it was a bit sour but I still bought a big bag for 10 yuan. It weighed a bit in my bag but I was pretty much done apart from trying to find some trainers and maybe seeing a park. I went in a food shop and gound sone cakes but the shop was busy with a big queue so I left and bought the same thing in next shop although it was a bigger shop it was not cheaper. There were no shoe shops on the way to the bus station and when I arrived the bus was there so I got on although it didn't leave straight away. I took my shoes off to elueve my wet feet and I think the bus had a TV like the earlier one and probably showed China's got talent. It was a bumpy ride back and cost 30 yuan with an unusual route at the end where it came slightly closer to hostel but didn't stop so I still got off at the bus station. I walked back to hostel in a slight rain and bought a rice in bamboo for 3 yyan and then 2 corn circles for 2 yuan each and some more water at a shop. At the hostel I left some things like most of the fruit, tried to clean trousers and headed out to buy shoes. I walked along the lakes and the crystal bridge was lit up with changing coloured lights. I got to the night market area I'd not seen before but it was mainly food and tourist stuff and so I walked on and it started properly raining. I went into the underground market and found a place which had shoes with no grip apart from one pair that was only kids size. There was a suitcases shop with ok prices but I needed to prioritise the shoes so I walked around the whole market which was quite big and there were lots more shoes, so many shoes, fake adidas with 3 different names but none any good. I finished by 8.35 and outside it was raining even more so I found some cover when I could like by walking through a KTV (Karaoke) place and nade it yo the small central underground market where a shop had good shoes for 39 yuan but they were size 42. I especially liked the fur trim on the black probably fake leather. I went back out in rain and walked up the street and crossed for a big department type shop with shoes and other things. They were either more expensive or really crap it seemed the official prices of shoes were quite high but they had a just about wearable pair for 95 yuan. I bought tape measure for 2 yuan and went back to the nearby underground market and got a chicken sandwich for 6 yuan. I went south to the river and went to see the Sun and moon pagodas which were lit up and looked nice. Then I headed back along river, under a bridge and the lakes didn't look so amazing. I took a short cut back to hostel and bought some cakes and biscuits some of which I ate. At the hostel there were Chinese people playing pool and my room seemed wrong as my suitcase wasn't there. I went out and back in and checked again and the suitcase had been moved so some people could stick their backpacks there taking up all the space, not a cool thing to do in backpackers etiquette. I attempted to fix the wheel back on one more time on my suitcase and made it passable then brushed my teeth and went to bed with still loads of the fruit left. The backpacker couple turned up and happened to be French, quel suprise.
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