Day two of rafting

On the back of the 20 yuan denomination of the chinese money is a picture of these mountains in this exact spot so coming here to see this area was high on our priority list. The second day we were in YangShuo we hired a van to drive us out to this other river where there are actually more of these beautfiul, scenic peaks to see. It took about 45 minutes to get there. It was so amazing to drive through the countryside and see more of this amazing country. The road was barely two lanes wide and we drove through lots of small villages and rice paddies and farms and local homes. Very humble and very humbling. Heidi told us it actually reminded her alot of where she lived when she was on her mission in Portugal. Just small cinder block buildings with what looked like several apartments connected. No running water; just a pump outside where the residents can wash their dishes and clothes.

Here is a fisherman pulled over on the side of the river. That long, skinny little raft looks a little treacherous. Alot of these fishermen use cormorants (birds) to help them catch their fish. They put a ring around the bird's neck so when the bird dives in the river and catches a fish it can't swallow it. Then the bird is trained to fly back to the fisherman where the fish is collected from the bird's mouth.

This was a unique business: they were selling honey. You can see the beehives off to the left of the photo. I don't think I'd like to be hanging out in this tent with that many beehives that close! The honey looked really good -- clear, beautiful amber color and a really cheap price. We were tempted to buy some but we just didn't know how sanitary the bottles were before the honey was filled in so we just took a picutre instead. I loved seeing these snippets of daily life.