Summer Saga: Guizhou, Part II

Here it goes again!! Another tease... another false promise to be a better blogger... but also, another update about yours truly! You may be asking, "Olivia, why have you been gone from here for so long?" And to be perfectly honest, it's mostly because I just haven't felt like writing. So, why am I back now? Because now I DO feel like writing! Who knows how long this feeling will last... but let's take advantage of it while it does!

I left off near the beginning of my two-week summer saga through Western China - which remains one of my fondest memories of my two years there - and so I shall continue.

Quick Recap: I'm traveling around the poorest province in China, Guizhou, with two of my students, Michele and Sharon. We have no reservations, no itinerary, no real plan - instead, we have adventurous spirits, ravenous appetites (oh, how we ate...) and a bag full o' optimism.

My lovely companions, Sharon & Michele

One of my favorite parts of traveling with Sharon and Michele is that we all agreed on allotting ourselves solid chunks of downtime throughout our trip; time spent lying on wooden planks beds, watching Chinese soap operas and game shows, and eating mystery snacks. This downtime gave us all the chance to rest up and recharge our energy and enthusiasm.

On our way to some serious downtime

In the past, spending hours like this would have left me feeling guilty and sullen - I would think about how I could have spent those four hours exploring the city; seeing the sights; seeking more adventure! But, really, how much fun is exploring on tired feet? How many sights can one see before they all start to look the same? And how many adventures can you go on before they stop feeling like adventures and start feeling like work? Leaving yourself some downtime during your travels eliminates (almost) all of these problems - and so I was glad to spend a day doing, well, nothing in preparation for the adventures to come.

Sometimes, the adventures came to us...

My favorite day of the whole trip in Guizhou had to be the third day, which we spent rafting down a river through gorgeous, green karst mountains. The three of us found a local rafting company that provided life-vests, two-person rafts, and large, sturdy sticks (for steering, of course... because who needs oars?). Then, after absolutely zero safety/rafting preparation, they pushed us off for a three-hour adventure down the Wuyang river.

Just before the rafting began...

My raft buddy - Sharon!

Sharon and I ended up rafting together, while Michele joined someone from another group. Sharon and I were fortunate enough to befriend one of the rafting "shifu's" (it means "master") - an adorable, middle-aged Chinese man who could not only navigate the river with absolutely no trouble, but he could do it standing up. We stuck with our shifu for most of the journey, and because of my excellent rafting/steering skills, ended up being the fastest boat in our group (okay, okay - it was more because every time we got stuck on a rock or rapid, we had shifu to help us out - whatever).

I wish my pictures could do these views justice...

Halfway through the journey, we stopped on the bank of the river to eat lunch with some of the "locals." We had such delicacies as rabbit leg, mystery-meatballs, and tiny fish-on-sticks. And, as weird as the food was, it was probably one of my favorite meals in China - the people we ate with were so friendly (and complimentary of my ability to handle their spicy food) that I couldn't help but smile the entire meal.

Look at all that goodness!

On the left is my favorite shifu!! What a guy...

Bamboo Rice. Aka: awesomeness.

After the three-hour journey down the river, navigating rapids, avoiding boulders, and falling out of the boat once or twice, I was exhilarated - yes, I was extremely sun-burnt; and, yes, I had some serious blisters on my hands; but if someone had asked me if I wanted to go for another three hours, I wouldn't have hesitated to say yes. Even now - months later - just thinking about that day makes me feel excited!

This picture only barely captures how I felt

One of my bad-ass blisters from the day. That's right. I killed it.

The end of the day - a sad time indeed.

Oh, China - remembering days like this one make me miss you so much...