Happy holidays

After 4 months of working a 6 day week the opportunity for a break to the mainland was a welcome treat.  The holiday began in H.K with a fun filled day on a junk boat.  As much food and bevies as you wanted and tunes blasting made it a truly memorable day.  Well, the finer details remain a bit hazy as the unlimited supply of liquor was a novelty I took full advantage of! We swam to one of the nearby islands and soaked up the beaming sun which shone as brightly as the memories from this day in my mind :) 

Waking up the next day it became clear that the sea breeze had left me feeling complacent about sun cream application! Anne, my flatmate had finished her teaching contract and we had planned a trip to Yangshuo in Mainland China.  I was so excited about the opportunity to see China in its raw and rural appeal as H.K in some respects is merely a minor shift from western living.  Anne and I packed our cases whilst the sounds of Cilla Black wavered through the apartment.  Holiday anthems indeed! We arrived in Shenzhen and waited for the sleeper bus to arrive, unaware of what to expect.  When the bus arrived we couldn't stop laughing, the concept of being reclined for the entire journey was cracking us up.  We took to our beds with snacks in tow and set off on our voyage into rural China.  The toilet stop proved to be a fine introduction to how things are done in Chi-style.  The wall of the squatting toilet was just about knee height so all privacy went out the window.  I liked this "anything goes" mentality, no need for unnecessary luxuries which in the western world we are so accustomed to. 

As I watched the nights blind drop I gazed in awe at the neon flashing characters adorning the passing landscape.  I wondered how I had come to be here.  As the dazzling brights simmered, my blinking eyes paused.  Resumed by the beckoning of the driver, we had arrived.  Fuzzy eyed Anne and I hurried off the bus and took a tuck tuck to the 'Giggling Tree'.  Darkness was fractured by the light of the new day, birds tweeted in the weaved thicket parted by the mud track.  The sound of frogs in chorus swamping damp paddy fields echoed around the mountainous canvas.  A single red lantern lit the way to our destination.