On our third day in Yangshou we decided to hire bikes and head to Moon Hill, an aptly named hill with a crescent moon shaped hole in the top. Oliver and William were keen to climb a mountain to the moon!
Our hostel had a collection of about 50 bikes to choose from, after much deliberation we decided to go for ones with child seats rather than child bikes on the back. Oliver managed to squeeze in to the plastic seat on the back of my bike, William had rather more room in the wicker chair strapped with plastic ties to the back of Sam's!
We set off down the dirt track from our guest house and as soon as we hit the tarmac road we realised we had made the right decision over the seats as soon as the first truck loaded with bamboo rafts steamed by blaring it's horn! Luckily a man from our hostel pointed out a quieter route and soon we were cycling on a path through pretty much deserted villages.
We cycled for about 40 minutes before we linked up with the main road again. Here we weaved in and out of other cyclists, pedestrians, coaches and street stalls!
We never would have ridden such bikes, without helmets in such circumstances at home. In fact, we would never have ridden bikes on that road but, strangely, it did feel safe as everyone was doing it!
We eventually reached Moon Hill, locked up our bikes and set off up the 'mountain'. After about 20 minutes we came to a fork in the path and ended up taking a slight detour!
We decided to stop and have our picnic before attempting the summit of what the boys were now calling 'the biggest mountain in the world'.
The climb to the top was a steep 800 steps which were hard going at times. It was worth it for the views and to meet the amazing 70 year old woman who climbs it twice a day with a cool box of cans and bottles.
Other 'sights' were various women who felt that high heeled shoes were suitable attire for climbing a hill ((What would Wainwright think Dad?!).
After looking at the view and having a drink and some snacks we descended. It was almost harder on the legs than the assent. We suggested that William and Oliver might like to ride the bikes home and were told thar they were too tired! No such get out for us!
On the way back we stopped by the river for more snacks and watched several couples having wedding pictures. At first we thought it was for a magazine but after chatting we discovered that 19 couples had married the day before and had been bused in for their wedding photos.
We made it back along the road to our hostel and refreshed with a cold beer, a very satisfactory holiday
habit!
Our hostel had a collection of about 50 bikes to choose from, after much deliberation we decided to go for ones with child seats rather than child bikes on the back. Oliver managed to squeeze in to the plastic seat on the back of my bike, William had rather more room in the wicker chair strapped with plastic ties to the back of Sam's!
We set off down the dirt track from our guest house and as soon as we hit the tarmac road we realised we had made the right decision over the seats as soon as the first truck loaded with bamboo rafts steamed by blaring it's horn! Luckily a man from our hostel pointed out a quieter route and soon we were cycling on a path through pretty much deserted villages.
We cycled for about 40 minutes before we linked up with the main road again. Here we weaved in and out of other cyclists, pedestrians, coaches and street stalls!
We never would have ridden such bikes, without helmets in such circumstances at home. In fact, we would never have ridden bikes on that road but, strangely, it did feel safe as everyone was doing it!
We eventually reached Moon Hill, locked up our bikes and set off up the 'mountain'. After about 20 minutes we came to a fork in the path and ended up taking a slight detour!
We decided to stop and have our picnic before attempting the summit of what the boys were now calling 'the biggest mountain in the world'.
The climb to the top was a steep 800 steps which were hard going at times. It was worth it for the views and to meet the amazing 70 year old woman who climbs it twice a day with a cool box of cans and bottles.
Other 'sights' were various women who felt that high heeled shoes were suitable attire for climbing a hill ((What would Wainwright think Dad?!).
After looking at the view and having a drink and some snacks we descended. It was almost harder on the legs than the assent. We suggested that William and Oliver might like to ride the bikes home and were told thar they were too tired! No such get out for us!
On the way back we stopped by the river for more snacks and watched several couples having wedding pictures. At first we thought it was for a magazine but after chatting we discovered that 19 couples had married the day before and had been bused in for their wedding photos.
We made it back along the road to our hostel and refreshed with a cold beer, a very satisfactory holiday
habit!
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