5 days in Yangsh-YO!

Chers Amis - this is what happens after spending 5 days with the Frenchies. We have had a wonderful time these past few days in this scenic town (reminiscent of traditional Chinese scroll paintings with the classic pointed mountains)


biking, hiking,


kayaking,

caving (is there such a word - perhaps another side effect of hanging with Paco and Ance)

and mud wrestling (guys - please keep your comments clean as this is a public website:) .

I even visited a Chinese Acrobatics show and had the best seats in the house...my stomach!#$%^! Speaking of which, here are some of the local foods (yes those are frogs next to the chicken).


Although I was "tempted" to try some of the delacacies, I realized that it would have been more for bragging rights and therefore passed. The food in Yangshuo did something to Erin too as she has gained 3 feet in height and will look to pursue a career in the WNBA when we return.

All in all, Yangshuo was a great spot to rest our bags for a few days and recharge the batteries. We ate well (got our fill of Western food), ran into my long lost cousins,

and ironically, stayed in the nicest room yet AT the cheapest price yet (40 Yuan per night or $5). We were sad to leave our new found friends

but will look forward to our next redezvous. Until next time, please be safe France, Italy, Kent, Finland and Canada.

We are currently in Nanning which is the staging grounds for Vietnam. We applied for our Visas on 11/11 and will get them on 11/14. This will be just in time to cross the border on Tuesday, 11/15 when our Chinese Visas expire. In the meantime, we treated ourselves to VIP accommodations at $15 per night and went shopping for necessities at Walmart of all places. We were on the lookout for a Vietnam Lonely Planet guide book but did not have any luck so we are entering "blind" in a sense (the plan is to cross and then make our way to Sappa in the North before heading down to Hanoi-stay tuned...) After that we went to the movies and plan on a big night at Pizza Hut - we're soft backpackers - what can we say?

On a final note - FU T.O.! I always told the boys not to get too excited when you came on board. If I see you in Vietnam over the next month, better watch your back sucka!

FMP