Yangshuo - Day 8

Still rainy today, and due to the heavy rains the day before, the biking and bamboo rafting were out.  I was supposed to do an 18 mile run this morning, but with the rain and flooded roads, I skipped it.  I had a massage scheduled after, which did not end up getting cancelled (I tried, honest).  We had breakfast at Cozy as usual, and then Corey and the kids did a calligraphy class while I had my massage.

Ready to go...

Afterwards, wWe hired a driver to visit the markets in Bai Sha and to go to the tea plantations.  Good views of the flooding along the way -- which doesn't compare to the images the staff at Tea Cozy showed us on WeChat of flooded homes with fish swimming along the floors.  Amy, the one showing us the video, declared the family was so lucky because they would be rich from all of the fish!

This lady had her ducks out for a walk.  She was carrying a little stick with a pink ribbon tied to the end to guide them.

The markets were bustling!  They had different lengths of a city block dedicated to every type of food you could imagine.  It was really interesting to watch the locals do their shopping, and to observe their transportation in and out of the markets!

Notice the duck this man is carrying with his shopping.

We picked out a few passion fruit

This little boy was as fascinated as we were by the large fish swimming in the small buckets.

Picking out a chicken

This rack contains dog and cat '_'

Driving out to the tea plantation we passed one of the many gates and hundreds of acres of kumquat farms.  

We also pass many houses like the one below that is in a stage of being built.  As the locals explained, the house gets built "bit by bit", as you get money for more bricks, windows, etc.

At the tea plantation, we each received our own hat and bucket for capturing our tea leaves.  The farm was beautiful!

This is such a scenic place, we passed a few couples out getting photos.

We were not quite as glamorous!

The little tea leaf pickers hard at work.

Afterwards they dried our tea leaves and we participated in a tea ceremony.

The tea lady convinced us to have lunch.  For hours after, we regretted the decision, despite the view!

More chicken soup.  Lesson learned.

Green tea cakes

Love the "warm tips" :)

On our way back, the driver could not pass the gate into Yangshuo, so he escorted us to the other side with a slip of paper directing another drive to take us the rest of the way in this open air vehicle.  Once back, we enjoyed the pool, some lemon tea, and some interesting banana dessert covered in a crystallized sugar.

We decided to get a manicure, since our polish was all chipped off and we had no remover.  It was quite a production.  The choice was gel or gel '_' which requires a special process for removal.  They had many fancy jewels for the nails though.  The girls had a blast!

Weather is supposed to be better tomorrow!