Day 2: North of Yangshuo along Li River

Day 2: was actually 82 Kms in all, excluding two segments where we took to the river. This was a great days' cycling following the beautiful Li River.

Liugong cafe (Km 15);  Boat to Fuli Town (Km 25); road to Xiangping (Km 42); Ferry to west bank (Km 46); 2nd Ferry ride of the day (Km 55) to Yangdi (Yangdixiang on map); steep hill out of  Yangdi; main Guilin-Yangshou G321 road from Km 70.

Another tasty Breakfast in West Street, Yangshuo

Nearly gone - all good cycling food, I am sure

We set off from Yangshuo heading again southwards on the G321.  Before we left the town however, we took a left fork to the S305 by the Li River.  We followed the river for a short while along a smooth concrete road and then out into the countryside away from the river.  One of the crops we identified were water chestnuts that grew in paddy fields.  Sherman had cycled this once before which was useful because at around the 16 Kms mark we made a left turn down an unmade road to a village called Liugong.  We made our way through the village down narrow passageways and then came out to the Li River.  There was a little cafe there, and so we stopped to rest and enjoy the lovely view across the river.  

Sight of the Li River just leaving Yangshuo

Smooth road to Liugong,
with water chestnut crops behind

View from cafe of the the Li River at Liugong

The clothes would be cleaner afterwards, as the water was very clear

More new friends - cafe owner and staff

Over coffee, Sherman had a discussion about where to go next.  We could get a ride across the river and pick up a road/track on the other side.  Or we could hire the boat and go up river to another drop off point further up on the east bank.  We chose the boat ride on a modern version of the bamboo boats, one with plastics tubes.

Leaving Liugong Old Village

Typical Brompton pose - going upstream on our private hire boat.

A boat collecting river weed

Nice comfortable way to travel

Arriving at Fuli Town on the east bank of the Li River

Fuli Town to Xianping - 17 Kms - at various points this lovely new road surface became rough unmade road (work in progress)

We stopped for lunch at Xiangping, which is a centre for river cruises.  We then carried on along the east bank until we came to a ferry and crossed over to the other side.

Ferry from east to west bank - didn't prove to be a good move

On the west bank, there was just a farm track and the traffic was just terrible!  Please mooooove over!

We got lost and climbed up a long steep hill only to come all the way back down as we thought it was the wrong route.  Back by the river we found a very narrow path which followed the river but there were steps and this was not much fun.  We came to a beach where we spotted a bamboo boat, and Sherman arranged for another boat ride to Yangdi where we knew the road started again.

Back on the river again
- much higher Karsts on this section

This section had spectacular scenery and river traffic was much busier than the morning's tranquil boat ride

Back on the road again at Yangdi to take the road westwards away from the river.  We were greeted by a nice hill for the first 3 Kms, a climb of 120 vertical metres (not too bad)

We cycled hard from Yangdi to the main road, a distance of 15Kms, where we would turn left to get back to Yangshuo - nice early evening light, warm temperature, and still surrounded by karst peaks.  Once on the main road we had another 25 Kms to go to reach Yangshuo. Fortunately there was a side lane for motor cycles and bicycles so it wasn't too bad. It was getting dark by the time we reached Yangshuo, and we again went straight to eat in a local restaurant opposite a British pub - which looked sad because it was empty. I didn't fancy fish and chips!