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A guy jogs along the northern end of Orient Beach as Linda, Lisa, and Meredith make their way across soft sand to the water's edge. It was Sunday morning and we were on our way to have breakfast at a beachfront restaurant.
58047 slogs up to Kirkby summit at Sutton in Ashfield with 7A37, 15:30 Welbeck colliery to Ratcliffe power station on 3rd May 1995.
'Slogger' Rose, 'Saltbox' and Their Son Adam.
At Milton Keynes Museum Victorian Weekend
Members of 'Ragged Victorians' Living History Group.
Ian's on the road again, wearing different shoes again.
Or something.
Yes, have audit will travel is taking me back to the north west and head office (UK) in Warrington.
I wasn't keen to go, as I would be one of those being audited, rather than being the auditor.
So it goes.
Up even earlier than usual, Jools went swimming first thing, while I woke up and packed.
It was to be a bright if cold day, and the promise of actual snow once I reached Manchester, so that was something to look forward to. No?
Jools dropped me off on the prom so I could have a walk, take some snaps before picking up the car.
It was cold.
Not Canada cold, clearly.
Minus three. And too cold to linger to watch the actual sunrise, so made do with snapping the reflected light of the hotels and a ferry coming into the harbour. I walked over Townwall Street, now cold to the bone, hoping the car hire place would be open on time.
It wasn't, but a couple of minutes later, a guy came to open up and let me inside where it was slightly warmer.
My old ruse of getting an automatic thus getting a larger car was ruined this time was I was given a Toyota Yaris. It struggled to get up Jubilee Way without the engine screaming. You'd better behave yourself for the next three days I told it.
Back home for breakfast, load the car and say goodbye to the cats. One last look, and I was off. The car had no sat nav, so had to use the phone.
Before going to the hotel, I was going to visit a former colleague who lives in Warrington, or nearly St Helens as I found out later, so programmed her address in, and off I went, along our street and towards the A2 and the long slog up to Dartford.
I connected my phone to charge, and straight away tunes from my Apple music store started playing. So, apart from the free U2 album it forced on all users, the rest was good if a little Skids and Velvet Underground heavy.
The miles were eaten up, even if I had to turn the music way up to drown the sound of the screaming engine.
Like all trips, I had something extra to sweeten the time away, and in this case it was a church. But not just any church, as you will see.
I watched a short documentary on Monday about Mary Queen of Scots, and remembered that she had been imprisoned and executed at Fotheringhay Castle in what is now Northamptonshire, and if I went over the Dartford Crossing, up the M11 to Cambridge, then were the A14 crossed the Great North Road, ten miles north was Fotheringhay.
So, I pressed on, under the river and into Essex, then along to the bottom of the M11, and north past Stanstead to Cambridge. Traffic wasn't bad, so I made good time, my phone telling me I would reach Fotheringhay at midday.
Turning off the A1, down narrow lanes, then the view to the church opens up, in what is possibly one of the finest vistas in all of England. St Mary and All Saints, 15th century and in its Perpendicular finest, it looks too good to be that old, but is.
Not only is the church mostly as it was, if plain inside, this was the parish church of the House of York, of several Kings including the final, Richard III.
This is real history.
I crossed over the narrow hump-back bridge that spanned the fast flowing, and nearly flooding, River Neane, into the village and parked outside the church. A set of grand gates lead off the main road to the northern porch, lined with fine trees, naked it being winter.
The tower seems over-large for the Nave and Chancel, it stands 116 feet tall, and is a chonker, the rest of the church seems small beside it, but the interior of the church is a large space, high to its vaulted roof.
I take shots, not as many as perhaps I should, but the church doesn't have centuries of memorials, but does have two House of York tombs, or mausoleums.
Back outside, my phone tells me I should be in Warrington by four, my friend, Teresa, wouldn't be home until half past, so I could have another break on the way.
The sat nav took me back to the A14, and from there it is just a 60 mile drive to the bottom of the M6 and then the hike two hours north.
At least it was a sunny day, though clouds were building, and was it my imagination, or did it look like snow falling already?
No, it was snow. big, fat, wet flakes at first, not much to worry about, but I pressed on past Coventry to the toll road, I sopped for half an hour there, enough time to have a drink and some crisps, then back outside where darkness was falling, as well as more snow.
The M6 might have had its upgrade complete, but a trip on it is rarely without delays. And for me, an hour delayed just before Warrington due to a crash, so we inched along in near darkness.
Teresa lived the other side of Warrington, so I had to press on further north, then along other main roads, round a bonkers roundabout before entering the town. Roads were lined with two up/two downs, doors leading straight onto the pavement. Cozy and northern.
They have two dog-mountains, I'm not sure of the breed, but think of something like a St Bernard and go bigger. They had just been for a walk, were damp and happy to be inside, laying on the kitchen floor. Taking up all the kitchen floor.
We talked for an hour, then I received a call from a guy I was supposed to be meeting up with: heavy snow was falling, I should get there sooner than later. So, I said my goodbyes and programmed the route to the hotel. Sorry, resort. Golf resort.
16 miles.
Snow was falling heavy, not too bad on main roads back to the motorway, though traffic on that was only going 40, it was fast enough. But the final six miles was long a main road, but it was covered in snow, with more falling.
The the fuel warning light went on.
Ignore that, I just wanted to get to the hotel safe and have dinner. Not end up in a hedge.
The final mile was very scary, snow only an inch deep, but slippery. There was a gatehouse marking the entrance to the golf club, I turned in and parked in the first space I came to.
Phew.
I checked in, and the place is huge, swish, but full of golfers.
But it does a sideline in conferences, training centre and a hotel. It was full.
I checked in, walked to the room, which is huge, and very comfortable, dropped my bags and went to the bar for dinner of beer and burgers. The place was almost empty, I watched cricket live from South Africa while I ate and drank.
Would I be tempted by the cheeseboard?
I would, dear reader, I would.
To my room to watch the football and relax while snow fell outside.
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The Church of St Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay is a parish church in the Church of England in Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire. It is noted for containing a mausoleum to leading members of the Yorkist dynasty of the Wars of the Roses.
The work on the present church was begun by Edward III who also built a college as a cloister on the church's southern side. After completion in around 1430, a parish church of similar style was added to the western end of the collegiate church with work beginning in 1434. A local mason, William Horwood was contracted to build the nave, porch, and tower of this church for £300 for the Duke of York.[2] It is the parish church which still remains.
The large present church is named in honour of St Mary and All Saints, and has a distinctive tall tower dominating the local skyline. The church is Perpendicular in style and although only the nave, aisles and octagonal tower remain of the original building it is still in the best style of its period.[3] The tower is 78 feet (24 metres) high to the battlements, and is 116 feet (35 metres) high to the pinnacles of the octagon.[4]
The church has been described by Simon Jenkins as
float[ing] on its hill above the River Nene, a galleon of Perpendicular on a sea of corn.
The college continued to 1547, when it was seized by the Crown, along with all remaining chantries and colleges. The chancel was pulled down immediately after the college was granted to John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, by King Edward VI.[6] A grammar school was founded in its place which lasted until 1859.
Nearby Fotheringhay Castle was the principal home of two Dukes of York. Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, who was killed at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 was buried in the church. He had earlier established a college for a master and twelve chaplains at the location. Edward's burial provided the basis for the later adoption of the church as a mausoleum to the Yorkist dynasty. In 1476 the church witnessed one of the most elaborate ceremonies of Edward IV's reign – the re-interment of the bodies of the king's father Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and his younger brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, who had been buried in a humble tomb at Pontefract. Father and son fell at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460.
Thomas Whiting, Chester Herald, has left a detailed account of the events:
on 24 July [1476] the bodies were exhumed, that of the Duke, "garbed in an ermine furred mantle and cap of maintenance, covered with a cloth of gold" lay in state under a hearse blazing with candles, guarded by an angel of silver, bearing a crown of gold as a reminder that by right the Duke had been a king. On its journey, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, with other lords and officers of arms, all dressed in mourning, followed the funeral chariot, drawn by six horses, with trappings of black, charged with the arms of France and England and preceded by a knight bearing the banner of the ducal arms. Fotheringhay was reached on 29 July, where members of the college and other ecclesiastics went forth to meet the cortege. At the entrance to the churchyard, King Edward waited, together with the Duke of Clarence, the Marquis of Dorset, Earl Rivers, Lord Hastings and other noblemen. Upon its arrival the King 'made obeisance to the body right humbly and put his hand on the body and kissed it, crying all the time.' The procession moved into the church where two hearses were waiting, one in the choir for the body of the Duke and one in the Lady Chapel for that of the Earl of Rutland, and after the King had retired to his 'closet' and the princes and officers of arms had stationed themselves around the hearses, masses were sung and the King's chamberlain offered for him seven pieces of cloth of gold 'which were laid in a cross on the body.' The next day three masses were sung, the Bishop of Lincoln preached a 'very noble sermon' and offerings were made by the Duke of Gloucester and other lords, of 'The Duke of York's coat of arms, of his shield, his sword, his helmet and his coursers on which rode Lord Ferrers in full armour, holding in his hand an axe reversed.' When the funeral was over, the people were admitted into the church and it is said that before the coffins were placed in the vault which had been built under the chancel, five thousand persons came to receive the alms, while four times that number partook of the dinner, served partly in the castle and partly in the King's tents and pavilions. The menu included capons, cygnets, herons, rabbits and so many good things that the bills for it amounted to more than three hundred pounds.
In 1495 the body of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York was laid to rest beside that of her husband the Duke of York, as her will directed. She bequeathed to the College
a square canopy, crymson cloth of gold, a chasuble, and two tunicles, and three copes of blue velvet, bordered, with three albs, three mass books, three grails and seven processioners.
After the choir of the church was destroyed in the Reformation during the sixteenth century, Elizabeth I ordered the removal of the smashed York tombs and created the present monuments to the third Duke and his wife around the altar.
The birthday of Richard III is commemorated annually by the Richard III Society by the placing of white roses in the church.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St_Mary_and_All_Saints,_F...
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As any experienced pub quizzer will be able to tell you, Cambridgeshire shares borders with more other counties than any other English county, and one of the pleasures of exploring its churches by bike is to occasionally pop over a border and cherry-pick some of the best churches nearby. I had long wanted to visit Fotheringhay in Northamptonshire, and it is only ten miles west of Peterborough, and so I thought why not? I could also take in its near neighbours Nassington and Warmington, both noted as interesting churches.
Fotheringhay is a haunted place. It is haunted by noble birth and violent death, by its pivotal importance as a place in 15th Century English politics, and by its desolation in later centuries - not to mention by one significant event in the last couple of years.
The view of the church from the south across the River Nene is one of the most famous views of a church in England - there can be few books about churches which do not include it. The tower is a spectacular wedding cake, the square stage surmounted by an octagonal bell stage. This is not an unusual arrangement in the area of the Nene and Ouse Valleys, but nowhere is it on such a scale and with such intricacy as this.
The nave is also vast, a great length of flying buttresses running above each aisle, and walls of glass, great perpendicular windows designed to let in light and drive out superstition. What you cannot see from across the river is that, behind the big oak tree, the church has no chancel.
Inside, it is a square box full of light divided by great arcades that march resolutely eastwards towards a large blank wall. Heraldic shields stand aloof up in the arcades, and the one fabulous spot of colour is the great pulpit nestled in the south arcade, another sign that this building was designed to assert the doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church. This place swallows sound and magnifies light. It is thrilling, awe-inspiring. What happened here?
In the medieval period, Fotheringhay Castle was the powerbase of the House of York. The church was built as a result of a bequest by Edward III, who died in 1370. It was complete by the 1430s, with a college of priests and a large nave for the Catholic devotions of the people.
Over the next century it would house the tombs of, among others, Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York and grandson of Edward III who was killed in 1415 at Agincourt, and Richard Plantaganet, 3rd Duke of York, who was killed in the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. It was Richard's claim to the throne of England which had led to the Wars of the Roses. His decapitated head was gleefully displayed on a pike above Micklegate Bar in York by the victorious Lancastrian forces. Also killed in the battle was Richard's 17 year old son Edmund.
But the Lancastrian delight was shortlived, for by the following year Richard's eldest son had become King as Edward IV. He immediately arranged for the translation of the bodies of his father and brother from their common grave at Pontefract back to Fotheringhay.
It was recorded that on 24 July the bodies were exhumed, that of the Duke garbed in an ermine furred mantle and cap of maintenance, covered with a cloth of gold lay in state under a hearse blazing with candles, guarded by an angel of silver, bearing a crown of gold as a reminder that by right the Duke had been a king.
On its journey, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, with other lords and officers of arms, all dressed in mourning, followed the funeral chariot, drawn by six horses, with trappings of black, charged with the arms of France and England and preceded by a knight bearing the banner of the ducal arms.
Fotheringhay was reached on 29 July, where members of the college and other ecclesiastics went forth to meet the cortege. At the entrance to the churchyard, King Edward waited, together with the Duke of Clarence, the Marquis of Dorset, Earl Rivers, Lord Hastings and other noblemen. Upon its arrival the King made obeisance to the body right humbly and put his hand on the body and kissed it, crying all the time.
The procession moved into the church where two hearses were waiting, one in the choir for the body of the Duke and one in the Lady Chapel for that of the Earl of Rutland, and after the King had retired to his closet and the princes and officers of arms had stationed themselves around the hearses, masses were sung and the King's chamberlain offered for him seven pieces of cloth of gold 'which were laid in a cross on the body.
The sorrowing Edward IV donated the great pulpit for the proclamation of the Catholic faith. And then in 1483 he died. He was succeeded as tradition required by his son, the 12 year old Edward V. But three months after his father's death the younger Edward was also dead, in mysterious circumstances. He was succeeded by his uncle, who had been born here in Fotheringhay in 1452, and who would reign, albeit briefly, as Richard III.
Was Richard III really the villain that history has made him out to be? Did he really murder his nephew to achieve the throne? Within two years he had also been killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and the Lancastrians were finally triumphant. Henry VII established the Tudor dynasty, and, as we all know, history is written by the victors, not by the losers.
But Fotheringhay had one more dramatic scene to set in English history before settling back into obscurity, and this time it involved the Tudors. In September 1586 a noble woman of middle years arrived at Fotheringhay Castle under special guard, and was imprisoned here. Her name was Mary, and she was on trial for treason.
It is clear today that most of the evidence was entirely fictional, but the powers of the day had good reason to fear Mary, for she had what appeared to many to be a legitimate claim to the English throne. She was the daughter of James V of Scotland, and had herself become Queen of Scotland at the age of just six weeks. She spent her childhood and youth in France while regents governed the nation in her stead, and she married Francis, the Dauphin of France, who became King of France in 1559. Briefly, Mary was both Queen of Scotland and Queen Consort of France, but in 1561 Francis died, and Mary returned to Scotland to govern her own country.
But there was a problem. Mary was a Catholic. Scotland had led the way in the English-speaking Reformation with a particularly firebrand form of Calvinism, and the protestant merchants of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee were aghast at the prospect of a Catholic monarch.
And there was a further problem. Scotland was currently at peace with its neighbour England, where Queen Elizabeth I had brought some stability to the troubled country. But the Catholic Church did not recognise Elizabeth as the rightful monarch of England, because it was considered that her father Henry VIII's divorce from his first wife Katherine of Aragon was invalid. As he had divorced Katherine to marry Elizabeth's mother Ann Boleyn, Catholics considered that the rightful line of succession had passed horizontally from Henry VIII to his deceased elder sister and then on to her descendants, the most senior of whom was Mary, Queen of Scotland.
Mary remarried in Scotland, but her husband was murdered, and she was forced to abdicate her throne in favour of their one year old baby. He would be brought up by protestant regents and advisors, and would reign Scotland as James VI. His protestant faith allowed the English crown to recognise the line's legitimate claims, and in 1603 James VI of Scotland became James I of England, the first monarch to govern both nations.
But that was all in the future. After her abdication, Mary fled south to seek the protection of her cousin Elizabeth. She spent most of the next 18 years in protective custody. A succession of plots and conspiracies implicated her, and finally on 8th February 1587, at the age of 44, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle.
One of her son James's first acts on ascending the English throne was to order that the castle where his mother had been shamefully imprisoned and executed be razed to the ground.
The chancel of Fotheringhay church and its College of Priests were already gone by then, demolished after the Reformation, leaving the York tombs exposed to the elements. it is said that Elizabeth herself, on a visit to Fotheringhay in 1566, insisted that they be brought back into the church.
Fotheringhay church settled back into obscurity. During the long 18th Century sleep of the Church of England it suffered neglect and disuse, but was restored well in the 19th Century. A chapel was designated for the memory of the York dynasty during the 20th Century, a sensitive issue for the Church of England which does not recognise prayers for the dead, but they can happen here in the Catholic tradition.
Today, the population of Fotheringhay cannot be much more than a hundred, an obscure backwater in remote north-east Northamptonshire, consisting of little more than its grand church set above the water meadows of the River Nene. But there was one more day in the public light to come.
In 2012, an archaeological dig in the centre of the city of Leicester, some 30 miles from here, uncovered a skeleton which had been buried in such a manner that it seemed it might be the dead King Richard III. Carbon dating and DNA matching proved that it was so. A controversy erupted about where the dead king might be reburied. Leicester Cathedral seemed the obvious place, although pompous claims were made by, among others, the MP for York, for him to be buried in York Minster. But there was also a case for the remains being returned here, to the quiet peace of Fotheringhay.
In the event reason held sway and Richard was reburied in Leicester, but Fotheringhay church, along with Leicester Cathedral, York Minster and Westminster Abbey, was one of four sites to host books of remembrance for Richard III.
In June 2015 I was surprised to find that the book here was still in use at the west end of the nave, and is still regularly signed by people. Perhaps they think it is the visitors book.
Simon Knott. June 2015.
www.flickr.com/photos/norfolkodyssey/19327047848/in/photo...
Why, oh, why would people subject themselves to this?
“For the mud of it,” replied Volkslauf’s Sheena Crider.
In clear view of Lerdo Jail, ripped manly men and stick-thin teenagers blasted through mud pits on a cold, rainy Saturday that laughed at the idea of Indian summer. If you wanted a hot cup of coffee and a plush armchair, this was not for you.
As the Marines or Volkslauf coordinators might say, “If you don’t like it, smile anyway.”
Pain is good, they’ll tell you, and more than 1,800 participants in the grueling 11th annual Volkslauf mud run had to be ready for the burn. The obstacle race raises money for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots.
Crider, the event’s registration coordinator, said Volkslauf has raised more than $100,000 in its first 10 years.
Runners could choose the 10K or 5K. There are some 70 obstacles that require crawling, climbing or just plain hurtling the body through the mud.
Giovani Perezchica of McFarland won the 10K men’s race for the third year in a row. A 24-year-old runner for Cal State Bakersfield and Bakersfield College, he trains year-round for these kinds of races.
“When you have to go in the water, it feels suffocating,” he said. ” … When you first go in, you’re already tired, you lose your breath.”
Those mud pits were popular with onlookers. Andy Rowe and Marshall Pihl got a preview of their fate as runners slogged through dirty water and threw themselves over a wall.
The engineers came from San Luis Obispo to race in the 5K with their company team, Cannon Associates. Their race hadn’t started yet.
It was 26-year-old Rowe’s first time tearing through such a course.
Scared?
“No,” he said with a laugh. “Just tired, that’s all.”
Pihl, 48, showed more bravado.
“Bring it on,” he said.
click HERE for photos
click HERE for complete results
5K Female
Overall winner: Colleen Nathaus
12-19 age group
1. Mia Anderson
2. MacKenzie Morrison
3. Deborah Salcido
20-29
1. Lisbeth Sanchez
2. Allison Mackenzie
3. Christiane Toledo
30-39
1. Colleen Nathaus
2. Deanna Williams
3. Tami Calderwood
40-49
1. Damon Lykins
2. Pamela Hoyer
3. Patricia Corrigan
50-59
1. Melissa Grahek
2. Louanna Banducci
3. Debbie Brown
5K Male
Overall winner: Mark Phillips
12-19
1. Conner Fisher
2. Shane O’Malley
3. Ethan McEnroe
20-29
1. Ryan Boehning
2. Monte Myers
3. Damon Wilstead
30-39
1. Scott Humr
2. Casey Bishop
3. Grant Sackewitz
40-49
1. Mark Phillips
2. Rodney Lewis
3. Zef Medina
50-59
1. Larry Boydstun
2. Daniel Vauhn
3. Tom Diaz
60-over
1. Allen Butts
2. Ed Hall
3. Leaonard Villaneva
10K Individual Male
1. Giovani Perezchica
2. Fernando Mendoza
3. Shogo Osawa
10K Individual Female
1. Valerie MacKenzie
2. Brittany Grimes
3. Wendy Trochez
Team All Male
1. Javier Amaya team — Down and Dirty
Michael Pitts
William Bear
Juan Flores
2. Damacio Diaz team — Diaz Brothers
Gabriel Diaz
David Diaz
Diego Diaz
3. James Pederson team — Dirty Mambo
Cody Creviston
Guadalupe Molna
Rogelio Reyes
Team Mixed
1. Carol Ramirez team — Smog Bog Diving
Luis Gonzalez
Nestor Ramirez
Juan Alferes
2. Kristin Bucley team — Winning Colors
Kathy Coyers
Craig Gardner
Carl Aamont
3. Mark Witcher team — Tehachapi Mountain
Cory Witcher
Pat Ballard
Johnny Smith
Military
1. Bruce Allphin
Jeff Monroe
Charlie Peters
Jesse Salazar
2. Dave Winnacker
Alex Howard
Hank Weeke
Dave McElliott
3. Jason Mahill
Carlos Palacios
Mr. Saei
Fredy Rodriguez
Tuesday morning came awfully early, and I was still on a bit of a natural high from having spent the past 2 days up in the mountains with its moody/cloudy/misty/foggy weather. I came downstairs early, around 7:00, and ate breakfast alone for the last time at the Dragon’s Backbone Hostel. (I recall donating a book to their library, too; I forget which. Just a generic David Baldacci one, I think.)
Around 7:30, I started to set my way down the hill, enjoying the walk – going down is always much more relaxing than slogging my way up hill – and got to the main parking lot just below Dazhai with about 45 minutes to spare.
That 40 minute jaunt gave me time to reflect on the past two days. For the most part, I just thought it was a peaceful, beautiful, serene place, which I’d gladly visit again…probably in a different season (autumn, to give variety)…and that I wished I’d had a nicer (that is to say, any) sunrise or sunset. On Monday, I even woke up at 4:45 in the morning, but staring through the pitch black, not seeing stars, I knew that there wouldn’t be much of a sunrise to validate going an hour farther uphill above Tiantouzhai to the Music from Paradise viewpoint just to see….varying shades of gray. (The viewpoints here all have very interesting and flowery names. Ironically, at that one, there was a Chinese guy playing saxophone. If anyone wants to know what they’ll hear when they get to paradise…evidently, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”)
With close to an hour in the parking lot, it’s entertaining to take a back seat to the dark corners of your mind. The bus to Yangshuo finally pulled up and I clambered aboard to settle in for the roughly 3-4 hour ride back through Guilin and south to the Li River valley and the lush, karst landscape of Yangshuo. I don’t recall how much the bus ticket cost, but I want to say it was cheap. Maybe 80 RMB or something along those lines, which is a little less than $15.
The ride between Dragon’s Backbone & Yangshuo was completely uneventful. It was just one of those times I wish I had a time machine (or a personal helicopter) to make it go that much more quickly…and avoid the horrendous Chinese driving, including the unnecessary traffic jam in the south part of Guilin and thicker traffic between Guilin and Yangshuo.
So far, vacation was humming along pretty close to on schedule, and I was happy as a lark. The bus pulled into the heart of Yangshuo around 12:15. Yangshuo was the other big part of the first half of the trip. As I mentioned, the plan was to spend 5 nights in this corner of the province, so I had two nights here in Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is also getting a lot of attention as a travel destination these days, and is supposedly getting pretty crowded (though it didn’t feel crowded to me…not after living in some of the world’s major cities for the past 5-6 years). Yangshuo is one of those types of towns that people in the Pacific Northwest of the US or Colorado would love. (Yes, I’m being intentionally stereotypical.) What I mean to say is…this is an active person’s paradise. Yangshuo is rapidly becoming one of the top destinations in the world for rock climbing. People come here to be active. Most are younger, outdoorsy, athletic types…and Yangshuo probably has as many foreigners as locals most of the time.
In general, people will come here and set up base camp at any of the number of hostels, guesthouses, or hotels in the area. (I chose the Yangshuo Outside Inn, about 6 km west of Yangshuo, on the banks of the Yulong River. It’s run by a Dutchman – Ronald, I believe – and his Chinese wife. An old farmhouse that they converted into an inn, and it’s absolutely charming with the most wonderful service. I’ll gladly stay there if I get back to Yangshuo someday.)
At whichever hostel you choose – and since, like any small tourist spot with an overflow of guesthouses fighting for business, the rates tend to be low, and they try to offer services (travel packages, bike rentals, advice, arranging taxis, doing laundry, whatever you want ) to attract customers – you will probably be pleased with how little money you spend. I can only tell you that the Outside Inn had a terrific restaurant, bike rental, laundry service, rooms with AC, without AC (ceiling fans and mosquito nets instead), and suggestions for local and regional travel.
The village of Yangshuo is very small (and congested). There’s quite a bit of nightlife on Xi Dajie, since most who visit here are young and energetic. You’ll find all kinds of restaurants, bars, clubs. And surrounding this very small downtown are huge karst hills that look like gumdrops popping out of the ground.
During the day, rent a bike and ride to and from the nearby towns like Fuli (9 km to the east) or Xingping (about 20 km northeast). You can do things like take bamboo boat trips up and down the Li River (bigger and congested) or ride a bike along the Yulong River among the small villages and farms. Climb Moon Hill, go find caves, just…get outside.
And at night, come back, unwind, and relax downtown on Xi Dajie or enjoy the award-winning light show on the Li River that they have every night (weather permitting) that world-famous movie director Zhang Yimou (who also did the light show for the 2008 Beijing Olympics) put together for about 200 RMB. (I am sad to say, though, that I did not go see the light show. There may be another trip to Yangshuo for me yet…)
So what about my Yangshuo experience? Well…I checked in to the Outside Inn around 1:00 on Tuesday afternoon. Not wanting to waste a minute, the first thing I did was rented one of their bicycles, and hopped out on the road heading along the Yulong River. I joined up with two Chinese ladies, and off we went. We got separated later (because they were stopping every two seconds), though they were nice, friendly, and helpful. The bike was fine, though the seat felt like I was sitting on a brick. After arriving at the Dragon bridge (our original destination), I stayed there for about ten minutes. Right before getting there, though, I stopped at a roadside cafe, trying to wait for these two ladies for about 30 minutes. They never materialized, but I had an interesting time talking with the guy who owned the shop. Just sitting, drinking water, and passing the afternoon in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge was one of the most underwhelming bridges I’d seen. I don’t even think I photographed it. The surrounding scenery from atop the bridge, though, was quite nice (and is represented in this set). Climbing back on my bike, I worked my way the 90 minutes back to the hotel, feeling like my backside had been violated, and was black and blue. Since the temperatures were nearing 35 degrees, and it was a clear, sunny day, I figured it was time for a nap.
My ambition to get out early turned out to be the only real mistake I made this entire trip. On top of very slight heat exhaustion, I missed the most amazing sunset I’ve seen in China. The entire sky had turned every shade between deep purple and royal blue imaginable (which would have looked GREAT from next to the river), but I woke up about 1/3 of the way through that evening’s sundown and had to watch it tearfully between trees with only glimpses of the sky. At least it’s in my memory. I hoped the following night would be a repeat of this one, but, unfortunately, it was pretty much clouded over and didn’t photograph terribly well. Oh, well…lesson learned.
After a good night’s sleep, I woke up early on Wednesday to start exploring Yangshuo proper and the Li River, after staying exclusively on the Yulong River the previous day. I walked the 6 km to town. Well…about 3 km, then took a san lun che (“tuk tuk,” for those who’ve been to India) the rest of the way and just told the guy to stop…wherever. I got out, started wandering the main drag, and booked an afternoon tour of the Li River on a bamboo raft that would go from Xingping partway north on the river, then back to Xingping. (We would go to Xingping by bus and get stuck on the two-lane road coming back in terrible traffic). I still had quite a few hours to kill in the morning, so I wandered around Xi Dajie, and made it down to the riverside, where I booked yet another boat to go around the Li River. The first one cost, I think, 160 RMB from what I remember. This one was 100 RMB, but it was a bit of a lie. I had to hop on back a motorbike and we rode the 9 km to Fuli (a surprisingly nice little shopping area for souvenirs), and that boat was not an open-air bamboo raft, but more like…a very small cruise ship where you sit inside a cabin.
The ride wasn’t unpleasant at all – and the scenery was stunning – so I can’t complain too much. Besides, I did need to find a way to pass the morning, and this did just fine. After the boat and motorcycle ride back to Yangshuo, I had lunch, then went to the first place where I booked a boatride.
That really was a bamboo raft…the kind that’s canopied, and seats 4 people to a boat. So after the coach took us up to Xingping and dropped us off, we hopped on and had a ride for about 20-25 minutes up this stretch of the river (slightly more scenic than the section near Fuli), and then made our way back down to the starting point.
After the bus ride back to town, we got back around 6:00. I took a taxi to the hotel and, as I just mentioned, hoped to have a nice sunset (though my optimism has sunk after watching the afternoon sky start to cloud over). At any rate, I went out and found a place near the farmhouse…just in case.
With no good results from that sunset shot, I packed up my gear and spent the evening relaxing at the farmhouse with dinner, then back in my room reading. All in all, I had been very pleased up until this point with both Dragon’s Backbone and Yangshuo. Thursday morning didn’t need me to start too early. I also knew it would be a travel day, and I wouldn’t be shooting much (if at all). But, at least I’d see the Guangxi countryside, not quite knowing what the rest of the province looked like. It would be a pleasant and interesting day, I soon learned…
Not even halfway through this 500-page manuscript. And I totally hate the book, too, so it's not like I'm enjoying reading it.
The Slogger is a heavy artillery frame. Built tough and rugged, the RS-55 can maneuver and fix itself into just about any terrain field, utilizing the heavy leg design derived from the RS-70 "Flint".
It can rip apart foes from afar with its giant Arc Laser mounted on its back, and protects rear joints (the weak spots in the legs) with reflector fields.
65894 slogs up the 1:49 with a Grosmont - Goathland goods. The Blie star on the smokebox door is a reference to Scotish & Newcastle Breweries - the 'infamous' Newcy Brew. No reproduction or use without prior consent.
Tuesday morning came awfully early, and I was still on a bit of a natural high from having spent the past 2 days up in the mountains with its moody/cloudy/misty/foggy weather. I came downstairs early, around 7:00, and ate breakfast alone for the last time at the Dragon’s Backbone Hostel. (I recall donating a book to their library, too; I forget which. Just a generic David Baldacci one, I think.)
Around 7:30, I started to set my way down the hill, enjoying the walk – going down is always much more relaxing than slogging my way up hill – and got to the main parking lot just below Dazhai with about 45 minutes to spare.
That 40 minute jaunt gave me time to reflect on the past two days. For the most part, I just thought it was a peaceful, beautiful, serene place, which I’d gladly visit again…probably in a different season (autumn, to give variety)…and that I wished I’d had a nicer (that is to say, any) sunrise or sunset. On Monday, I even woke up at 4:45 in the morning, but staring through the pitch black, not seeing stars, I knew that there wouldn’t be much of a sunrise to validate going an hour farther uphill above Tiantouzhai to the Music from Paradise viewpoint just to see….varying shades of gray. (The viewpoints here all have very interesting and flowery names. Ironically, at that one, there was a Chinese guy playing saxophone. If anyone wants to know what they’ll hear when they get to paradise…evidently, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”)
With close to an hour in the parking lot, it’s entertaining to take a back seat to the dark corners of your mind. The bus to Yangshuo finally pulled up and I clambered aboard to settle in for the roughly 3-4 hour ride back through Guilin and south to the Li River valley and the lush, karst landscape of Yangshuo. I don’t recall how much the bus ticket cost, but I want to say it was cheap. Maybe 80 RMB or something along those lines, which is a little less than $15.
The ride between Dragon’s Backbone & Yangshuo was completely uneventful. It was just one of those times I wish I had a time machine (or a personal helicopter) to make it go that much more quickly…and avoid the horrendous Chinese driving, including the unnecessary traffic jam in the south part of Guilin and thicker traffic between Guilin and Yangshuo.
So far, vacation was humming along pretty close to on schedule, and I was happy as a lark. The bus pulled into the heart of Yangshuo around 12:15. Yangshuo was the other big part of the first half of the trip. As I mentioned, the plan was to spend 5 nights in this corner of the province, so I had two nights here in Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is also getting a lot of attention as a travel destination these days, and is supposedly getting pretty crowded (though it didn’t feel crowded to me…not after living in some of the world’s major cities for the past 5-6 years). Yangshuo is one of those types of towns that people in the Pacific Northwest of the US or Colorado would love. (Yes, I’m being intentionally stereotypical.) What I mean to say is…this is an active person’s paradise. Yangshuo is rapidly becoming one of the top destinations in the world for rock climbing. People come here to be active. Most are younger, outdoorsy, athletic types…and Yangshuo probably has as many foreigners as locals most of the time.
In general, people will come here and set up base camp at any of the number of hostels, guesthouses, or hotels in the area. (I chose the Yangshuo Outside Inn, about 6 km west of Yangshuo, on the banks of the Yulong River. It’s run by a Dutchman – Ronald, I believe – and his Chinese wife. An old farmhouse that they converted into an inn, and it’s absolutely charming with the most wonderful service. I’ll gladly stay there if I get back to Yangshuo someday.)
At whichever hostel you choose – and since, like any small tourist spot with an overflow of guesthouses fighting for business, the rates tend to be low, and they try to offer services (travel packages, bike rentals, advice, arranging taxis, doing laundry, whatever you want ) to attract customers – you will probably be pleased with how little money you spend. I can only tell you that the Outside Inn had a terrific restaurant, bike rental, laundry service, rooms with AC, without AC (ceiling fans and mosquito nets instead), and suggestions for local and regional travel.
The village of Yangshuo is very small (and congested). There’s quite a bit of nightlife on Xi Dajie, since most who visit here are young and energetic. You’ll find all kinds of restaurants, bars, clubs. And surrounding this very small downtown are huge karst hills that look like gumdrops popping out of the ground.
During the day, rent a bike and ride to and from the nearby towns like Fuli (9 km to the east) or Xingping (about 20 km northeast). You can do things like take bamboo boat trips up and down the Li River (bigger and congested) or ride a bike along the Yulong River among the small villages and farms. Climb Moon Hill, go find caves, just…get outside.
And at night, come back, unwind, and relax downtown on Xi Dajie or enjoy the award-winning light show on the Li River that they have every night (weather permitting) that world-famous movie director Zhang Yimou (who also did the light show for the 2008 Beijing Olympics) put together for about 200 RMB. (I am sad to say, though, that I did not go see the light show. There may be another trip to Yangshuo for me yet…)
So what about my Yangshuo experience? Well…I checked in to the Outside Inn around 1:00 on Tuesday afternoon. Not wanting to waste a minute, the first thing I did was rented one of their bicycles, and hopped out on the road heading along the Yulong River. I joined up with two Chinese ladies, and off we went. We got separated later (because they were stopping every two seconds), though they were nice, friendly, and helpful. The bike was fine, though the seat felt like I was sitting on a brick. After arriving at the Dragon bridge (our original destination), I stayed there for about ten minutes. Right before getting there, though, I stopped at a roadside cafe, trying to wait for these two ladies for about 30 minutes. They never materialized, but I had an interesting time talking with the guy who owned the shop. Just sitting, drinking water, and passing the afternoon in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge was one of the most underwhelming bridges I’d seen. I don’t even think I photographed it. The surrounding scenery from atop the bridge, though, was quite nice (and is represented in this set). Climbing back on my bike, I worked my way the 90 minutes back to the hotel, feeling like my backside had been violated, and was black and blue. Since the temperatures were nearing 35 degrees, and it was a clear, sunny day, I figured it was time for a nap.
My ambition to get out early turned out to be the only real mistake I made this entire trip. On top of very slight heat exhaustion, I missed the most amazing sunset I’ve seen in China. The entire sky had turned every shade between deep purple and royal blue imaginable (which would have looked GREAT from next to the river), but I woke up about 1/3 of the way through that evening’s sundown and had to watch it tearfully between trees with only glimpses of the sky. At least it’s in my memory. I hoped the following night would be a repeat of this one, but, unfortunately, it was pretty much clouded over and didn’t photograph terribly well. Oh, well…lesson learned.
After a good night’s sleep, I woke up early on Wednesday to start exploring Yangshuo proper and the Li River, after staying exclusively on the Yulong River the previous day. I walked the 6 km to town. Well…about 3 km, then took a san lun che (“tuk tuk,” for those who’ve been to India) the rest of the way and just told the guy to stop…wherever. I got out, started wandering the main drag, and booked an afternoon tour of the Li River on a bamboo raft that would go from Xingping partway north on the river, then back to Xingping. (We would go to Xingping by bus and get stuck on the two-lane road coming back in terrible traffic). I still had quite a few hours to kill in the morning, so I wandered around Xi Dajie, and made it down to the riverside, where I booked yet another boat to go around the Li River. The first one cost, I think, 160 RMB from what I remember. This one was 100 RMB, but it was a bit of a lie. I had to hop on back a motorbike and we rode the 9 km to Fuli (a surprisingly nice little shopping area for souvenirs), and that boat was not an open-air bamboo raft, but more like…a very small cruise ship where you sit inside a cabin.
The ride wasn’t unpleasant at all – and the scenery was stunning – so I can’t complain too much. Besides, I did need to find a way to pass the morning, and this did just fine. After the boat and motorcycle ride back to Yangshuo, I had lunch, then went to the first place where I booked a boatride.
That really was a bamboo raft…the kind that’s canopied, and seats 4 people to a boat. So after the coach took us up to Xingping and dropped us off, we hopped on and had a ride for about 20-25 minutes up this stretch of the river (slightly more scenic than the section near Fuli), and then made our way back down to the starting point.
After the bus ride back to town, we got back around 6:00. I took a taxi to the hotel and, as I just mentioned, hoped to have a nice sunset (though my optimism has sunk after watching the afternoon sky start to cloud over). At any rate, I went out and found a place near the farmhouse…just in case.
With no good results from that sunset shot, I packed up my gear and spent the evening relaxing at the farmhouse with dinner, then back in my room reading. All in all, I had been very pleased up until this point with both Dragon’s Backbone and Yangshuo. Thursday morning didn’t need me to start too early. I also knew it would be a travel day, and I wouldn’t be shooting much (if at all). But, at least I’d see the Guangxi countryside, not quite knowing what the rest of the province looked like. It would be a pleasant and interesting day, I soon learned…
I woke up to a rough morning. I felt terrible, everything hurt, so instead of just slogging through it, I took two Vicodin and one muscle relaxer. I figured I had nowhere to go and if I fell asleep, whatever.
When I took the dogs out at around 6 AM, the previous night's rain had turned to ice on my deck (I was barefoot). And if the rain on the deck was ice, that meant that the rain on the flowers was probably ice too. We had frost last night as well.
So when the sun came up (around 7 AM), I slipped on a pair of flip-flops and went out with my macro lens. I did some ice-drops on flowers shots and went around to the front of the house. (those are the previous photos in my photostream). When I started to go back inside, I saw frozen water and frost on the fallen Autumn leaves. The pain meds gave me confidence, the cold made me feel less, so I knelt down onto my human knee. I supported myself with my elbow on the ground (I was wearing my giant "I shoot RAW" T-shirt) and I snapped several shots of the leaves and ice. Then I went into the back yard and did the same thing.
I can kneel now. On the ground, not the pavement. So, I went out to take my 365 of myself in the same position. The difference is that I was wearing jeans instead of super-loose yoga pants. That's okay, I was halfway down, so I just got onto my stomach and snapped a few shots. (with the timer).
Here I am, taking a photo of myself pretending to take a photo with my old (and broken) Nikon 35mm camera.
(for those who don't know, I had my knee replaced almost four years ago and kneeling has been difficult and uncomfortable ever since. Today was the first day since I injured my human knee in 2006 that I was able to kneel without incident).
This also fits the "Autumn" theme for "Girls Theme Week Live". (the trees in the background, the dying grass around me, the bright sunlight and me wearing a hoodie).
Going to continue to be a bit busy for a while so won't be uploading/commenting as much. Thanks for all your continued kind comments and support and I will endeavour to try and keep in some sort of touch with your streams.
66589 slogs up the gradient through Featherstone with the heavily laden 4L87 Leeds-Felixstowe on 16th August 2018. This was diverted from its normal route via Hare Park Jn due to a tractor damaging the OHLE near Fitzwilliam the previous evening.
On my slow slog toward my Top 1000 songs ever of all time, ever, for all time, I'm trying to focus on songs that (a) I can't imagine not being on the Top 1000 and (b) I have a photo that kind of fits.
Usually, these are horribly bleak songs that everyone hates. But this holocaust by the Mountain Goats is their (his) uplifting second encore song. Everybody loves this cheery ditty and frenziedly sing along with John Darnielle:
I hope that our few remaining friends
Give up on trying to save us
I hope we come out with a fail-safe plot
To piss off the dumb few that forgave us
I hope the fences we mended
Fall down beneath their own weight
And I hope we hang on past the last exit
I hope it's already too late
And I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here
Someday burns down
And I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away
And I never come back to this town again in my life
I hope I lie
And tell everyone you were a good wife
And I hope you die
I hope we both die
I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow
I hope it bleeds all day long
Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises
We're pretty sure they're all wrong
I hope it stays dark forever
I hope the worst isn't over
And I hope you blink before I do
And I hope I never get sober
And I hope when you think of me years down the line
You can't find one good thing to say
And I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out
You'd stay the hell out of my way
I am drowning
There is no sign of land
You are coming down with me
Hand in unlovable hand
And I hope you die
I hope we both die
Tuesday morning came awfully early, and I was still on a bit of a natural high from having spent the past 2 days up in the mountains with its moody/cloudy/misty/foggy weather. I came downstairs early, around 7:00, and ate breakfast alone for the last time at the Dragon’s Backbone Hostel. (I recall donating a book to their library, too; I forget which. Just a generic David Baldacci one, I think.)
Around 7:30, I started to set my way down the hill, enjoying the walk – going down is always much more relaxing than slogging my way up hill – and got to the main parking lot just below Dazhai with about 45 minutes to spare.
That 40 minute jaunt gave me time to reflect on the past two days. For the most part, I just thought it was a peaceful, beautiful, serene place, which I’d gladly visit again…probably in a different season (autumn, to give variety)…and that I wished I’d had a nicer (that is to say, any) sunrise or sunset. On Monday, I even woke up at 4:45 in the morning, but staring through the pitch black, not seeing stars, I knew that there wouldn’t be much of a sunrise to validate going an hour farther uphill above Tiantouzhai to the Music from Paradise viewpoint just to see….varying shades of gray. (The viewpoints here all have very interesting and flowery names. Ironically, at that one, there was a Chinese guy playing saxophone. If anyone wants to know what they’ll hear when they get to paradise…evidently, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”)
With close to an hour in the parking lot, it’s entertaining to take a back seat to the dark corners of your mind. The bus to Yangshuo finally pulled up and I clambered aboard to settle in for the roughly 3-4 hour ride back through Guilin and south to the Li River valley and the lush, karst landscape of Yangshuo. I don’t recall how much the bus ticket cost, but I want to say it was cheap. Maybe 80 RMB or something along those lines, which is a little less than $15.
The ride between Dragon’s Backbone & Yangshuo was completely uneventful. It was just one of those times I wish I had a time machine (or a personal helicopter) to make it go that much more quickly…and avoid the horrendous Chinese driving, including the unnecessary traffic jam in the south part of Guilin and thicker traffic between Guilin and Yangshuo.
So far, vacation was humming along pretty close to on schedule, and I was happy as a lark. The bus pulled into the heart of Yangshuo around 12:15. Yangshuo was the other big part of the first half of the trip. As I mentioned, the plan was to spend 5 nights in this corner of the province, so I had two nights here in Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is also getting a lot of attention as a travel destination these days, and is supposedly getting pretty crowded (though it didn’t feel crowded to me…not after living in some of the world’s major cities for the past 5-6 years). Yangshuo is one of those types of towns that people in the Pacific Northwest of the US or Colorado would love. (Yes, I’m being intentionally stereotypical.) What I mean to say is…this is an active person’s paradise. Yangshuo is rapidly becoming one of the top destinations in the world for rock climbing. People come here to be active. Most are younger, outdoorsy, athletic types…and Yangshuo probably has as many foreigners as locals most of the time.
In general, people will come here and set up base camp at any of the number of hostels, guesthouses, or hotels in the area. (I chose the Yangshuo Outside Inn, about 6 km west of Yangshuo, on the banks of the Yulong River. It’s run by a Dutchman – Ronald, I believe – and his Chinese wife. An old farmhouse that they converted into an inn, and it’s absolutely charming with the most wonderful service. I’ll gladly stay there if I get back to Yangshuo someday.)
At whichever hostel you choose – and since, like any small tourist spot with an overflow of guesthouses fighting for business, the rates tend to be low, and they try to offer services (travel packages, bike rentals, advice, arranging taxis, doing laundry, whatever you want ) to attract customers – you will probably be pleased with how little money you spend. I can only tell you that the Outside Inn had a terrific restaurant, bike rental, laundry service, rooms with AC, without AC (ceiling fans and mosquito nets instead), and suggestions for local and regional travel.
The village of Yangshuo is very small (and congested). There’s quite a bit of nightlife on Xi Dajie, since most who visit here are young and energetic. You’ll find all kinds of restaurants, bars, clubs. And surrounding this very small downtown are huge karst hills that look like gumdrops popping out of the ground.
During the day, rent a bike and ride to and from the nearby towns like Fuli (9 km to the east) or Xingping (about 20 km northeast). You can do things like take bamboo boat trips up and down the Li River (bigger and congested) or ride a bike along the Yulong River among the small villages and farms. Climb Moon Hill, go find caves, just…get outside.
And at night, come back, unwind, and relax downtown on Xi Dajie or enjoy the award-winning light show on the Li River that they have every night (weather permitting) that world-famous movie director Zhang Yimou (who also did the light show for the 2008 Beijing Olympics) put together for about 200 RMB. (I am sad to say, though, that I did not go see the light show. There may be another trip to Yangshuo for me yet…)
So what about my Yangshuo experience? Well…I checked in to the Outside Inn around 1:00 on Tuesday afternoon. Not wanting to waste a minute, the first thing I did was rented one of their bicycles, and hopped out on the road heading along the Yulong River. I joined up with two Chinese ladies, and off we went. We got separated later (because they were stopping every two seconds), though they were nice, friendly, and helpful. The bike was fine, though the seat felt like I was sitting on a brick. After arriving at the Dragon bridge (our original destination), I stayed there for about ten minutes. Right before getting there, though, I stopped at a roadside cafe, trying to wait for these two ladies for about 30 minutes. They never materialized, but I had an interesting time talking with the guy who owned the shop. Just sitting, drinking water, and passing the afternoon in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge was one of the most underwhelming bridges I’d seen. I don’t even think I photographed it. The surrounding scenery from atop the bridge, though, was quite nice (and is represented in this set). Climbing back on my bike, I worked my way the 90 minutes back to the hotel, feeling like my backside had been violated, and was black and blue. Since the temperatures were nearing 35 degrees, and it was a clear, sunny day, I figured it was time for a nap.
My ambition to get out early turned out to be the only real mistake I made this entire trip. On top of very slight heat exhaustion, I missed the most amazing sunset I’ve seen in China. The entire sky had turned every shade between deep purple and royal blue imaginable (which would have looked GREAT from next to the river), but I woke up about 1/3 of the way through that evening’s sundown and had to watch it tearfully between trees with only glimpses of the sky. At least it’s in my memory. I hoped the following night would be a repeat of this one, but, unfortunately, it was pretty much clouded over and didn’t photograph terribly well. Oh, well…lesson learned.
After a good night’s sleep, I woke up early on Wednesday to start exploring Yangshuo proper and the Li River, after staying exclusively on the Yulong River the previous day. I walked the 6 km to town. Well…about 3 km, then took a san lun che (“tuk tuk,” for those who’ve been to India) the rest of the way and just told the guy to stop…wherever. I got out, started wandering the main drag, and booked an afternoon tour of the Li River on a bamboo raft that would go from Xingping partway north on the river, then back to Xingping. (We would go to Xingping by bus and get stuck on the two-lane road coming back in terrible traffic). I still had quite a few hours to kill in the morning, so I wandered around Xi Dajie, and made it down to the riverside, where I booked yet another boat to go around the Li River. The first one cost, I think, 160 RMB from what I remember. This one was 100 RMB, but it was a bit of a lie. I had to hop on back a motorbike and we rode the 9 km to Fuli (a surprisingly nice little shopping area for souvenirs), and that boat was not an open-air bamboo raft, but more like…a very small cruise ship where you sit inside a cabin.
The ride wasn’t unpleasant at all – and the scenery was stunning – so I can’t complain too much. Besides, I did need to find a way to pass the morning, and this did just fine. After the boat and motorcycle ride back to Yangshuo, I had lunch, then went to the first place where I booked a boatride.
That really was a bamboo raft…the kind that’s canopied, and seats 4 people to a boat. So after the coach took us up to Xingping and dropped us off, we hopped on and had a ride for about 20-25 minutes up this stretch of the river (slightly more scenic than the section near Fuli), and then made our way back down to the starting point.
After the bus ride back to town, we got back around 6:00. I took a taxi to the hotel and, as I just mentioned, hoped to have a nice sunset (though my optimism has sunk after watching the afternoon sky start to cloud over). At any rate, I went out and found a place near the farmhouse…just in case.
With no good results from that sunset shot, I packed up my gear and spent the evening relaxing at the farmhouse with dinner, then back in my room reading. All in all, I had been very pleased up until this point with both Dragon’s Backbone and Yangshuo. Thursday morning didn’t need me to start too early. I also knew it would be a travel day, and I wouldn’t be shooting much (if at all). But, at least I’d see the Guangxi countryside, not quite knowing what the rest of the province looked like. It would be a pleasant and interesting day, I soon learned…
(The reverse of China's 20 Yuan note is the backdrop you see.)
Tuesday morning came awfully early, and I was still on a bit of a natural high from having spent the past 2 days up in the mountains with its moody/cloudy/misty/foggy weather. I came downstairs early, around 7:00, and ate breakfast alone for the last time at the Dragon’s Backbone Hostel. (I recall donating a book to their library, too; I forget which. Just a generic David Baldacci one, I think.)
Around 7:30, I started to set my way down the hill, enjoying the walk – going down is always much more relaxing than slogging my way up hill – and got to the main parking lot just below Dazhai with about 45 minutes to spare.
That 40 minute jaunt gave me time to reflect on the past two days. For the most part, I just thought it was a peaceful, beautiful, serene place, which I’d gladly visit again…probably in a different season (autumn, to give variety)…and that I wished I’d had a nicer (that is to say, any) sunrise or sunset. On Monday, I even woke up at 4:45 in the morning, but staring through the pitch black, not seeing stars, I knew that there wouldn’t be much of a sunrise to validate going an hour farther uphill above Tiantouzhai to the Music from Paradise viewpoint just to see….varying shades of gray. (The viewpoints here all have very interesting and flowery names. Ironically, at that one, there was a Chinese guy playing saxophone. If anyone wants to know what they’ll hear when they get to paradise…evidently, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”)
With close to an hour in the parking lot, it’s entertaining to take a back seat to the dark corners of your mind. The bus to Yangshuo finally pulled up and I clambered aboard to settle in for the roughly 3-4 hour ride back through Guilin and south to the Li River valley and the lush, karst landscape of Yangshuo. I don’t recall how much the bus ticket cost, but I want to say it was cheap. Maybe 80 RMB or something along those lines, which is a little less than $15.
The ride between Dragon’s Backbone & Yangshuo was completely uneventful. It was just one of those times I wish I had a time machine (or a personal helicopter) to make it go that much more quickly…and avoid the horrendous Chinese driving, including the unnecessary traffic jam in the south part of Guilin and thicker traffic between Guilin and Yangshuo.
So far, vacation was humming along pretty close to on schedule, and I was happy as a lark. The bus pulled into the heart of Yangshuo around 12:15. Yangshuo was the other big part of the first half of the trip. As I mentioned, the plan was to spend 5 nights in this corner of the province, so I had two nights here in Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is also getting a lot of attention as a travel destination these days, and is supposedly getting pretty crowded (though it didn’t feel crowded to me…not after living in some of the world’s major cities for the past 5-6 years). Yangshuo is one of those types of towns that people in the Pacific Northwest of the US or Colorado would love. (Yes, I’m being intentionally stereotypical.) What I mean to say is…this is an active person’s paradise. Yangshuo is rapidly becoming one of the top destinations in the world for rock climbing. People come here to be active. Most are younger, outdoorsy, athletic types…and Yangshuo probably has as many foreigners as locals most of the time.
In general, people will come here and set up base camp at any of the number of hostels, guesthouses, or hotels in the area. (I chose the Yangshuo Outside Inn, about 6 km west of Yangshuo, on the banks of the Yulong River. It’s run by a Dutchman – Ronald, I believe – and his Chinese wife. An old farmhouse that they converted into an inn, and it’s absolutely charming with the most wonderful service. I’ll gladly stay there if I get back to Yangshuo someday.)
At whichever hostel you choose – and since, like any small tourist spot with an overflow of guesthouses fighting for business, the rates tend to be low, and they try to offer services (travel packages, bike rentals, advice, arranging taxis, doing laundry, whatever you want ) to attract customers – you will probably be pleased with how little money you spend. I can only tell you that the Outside Inn had a terrific restaurant, bike rental, laundry service, rooms with AC, without AC (ceiling fans and mosquito nets instead), and suggestions for local and regional travel.
The village of Yangshuo is very small (and congested). There’s quite a bit of nightlife on Xi Dajie, since most who visit here are young and energetic. You’ll find all kinds of restaurants, bars, clubs. And surrounding this very small downtown are huge karst hills that look like gumdrops popping out of the ground.
During the day, rent a bike and ride to and from the nearby towns like Fuli (9 km to the east) or Xingping (about 20 km northeast). You can do things like take bamboo boat trips up and down the Li River (bigger and congested) or ride a bike along the Yulong River among the small villages and farms. Climb Moon Hill, go find caves, just…get outside.
And at night, come back, unwind, and relax downtown on Xi Dajie or enjoy the award-winning light show on the Li River that they have every night (weather permitting) that world-famous movie director Zhang Yimou (who also did the light show for the 2008 Beijing Olympics) put together for about 200 RMB. (I am sad to say, though, that I did not go see the light show. There may be another trip to Yangshuo for me yet…)
So what about my Yangshuo experience? Well…I checked in to the Outside Inn around 1:00 on Tuesday afternoon. Not wanting to waste a minute, the first thing I did was rented one of their bicycles, and hopped out on the road heading along the Yulong River. I joined up with two Chinese ladies, and off we went. We got separated later (because they were stopping every two seconds), though they were nice, friendly, and helpful. The bike was fine, though the seat felt like I was sitting on a brick. After arriving at the Dragon bridge (our original destination), I stayed there for about ten minutes. Right before getting there, though, I stopped at a roadside cafe, trying to wait for these two ladies for about 30 minutes. They never materialized, but I had an interesting time talking with the guy who owned the shop. Just sitting, drinking water, and passing the afternoon in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge was one of the most underwhelming bridges I’d seen. I don’t even think I photographed it. The surrounding scenery from atop the bridge, though, was quite nice (and is represented in this set). Climbing back on my bike, I worked my way the 90 minutes back to the hotel, feeling like my backside had been violated, and was black and blue. Since the temperatures were nearing 35 degrees, and it was a clear, sunny day, I figured it was time for a nap.
My ambition to get out early turned out to be the only real mistake I made this entire trip. On top of very slight heat exhaustion, I missed the most amazing sunset I’ve seen in China. The entire sky had turned every shade between deep purple and royal blue imaginable (which would have looked GREAT from next to the river), but I woke up about 1/3 of the way through that evening’s sundown and had to watch it tearfully between trees with only glimpses of the sky. At least it’s in my memory. I hoped the following night would be a repeat of this one, but, unfortunately, it was pretty much clouded over and didn’t photograph terribly well. Oh, well…lesson learned.
After a good night’s sleep, I woke up early on Wednesday to start exploring Yangshuo proper and the Li River, after staying exclusively on the Yulong River the previous day. I walked the 6 km to town. Well…about 3 km, then took a san lun che (“tuk tuk,” for those who’ve been to India) the rest of the way and just told the guy to stop…wherever. I got out, started wandering the main drag, and booked an afternoon tour of the Li River on a bamboo raft that would go from Xingping partway north on the river, then back to Xingping. (We would go to Xingping by bus and get stuck on the two-lane road coming back in terrible traffic). I still had quite a few hours to kill in the morning, so I wandered around Xi Dajie, and made it down to the riverside, where I booked yet another boat to go around the Li River. The first one cost, I think, 160 RMB from what I remember. This one was 100 RMB, but it was a bit of a lie. I had to hop on back a motorbike and we rode the 9 km to Fuli (a surprisingly nice little shopping area for souvenirs), and that boat was not an open-air bamboo raft, but more like…a very small cruise ship where you sit inside a cabin.
The ride wasn’t unpleasant at all – and the scenery was stunning – so I can’t complain too much. Besides, I did need to find a way to pass the morning, and this did just fine. After the boat and motorcycle ride back to Yangshuo, I had lunch, then went to the first place where I booked a boatride.
That really was a bamboo raft…the kind that’s canopied, and seats 4 people to a boat. So after the coach took us up to Xingping and dropped us off, we hopped on and had a ride for about 20-25 minutes up this stretch of the river (slightly more scenic than the section near Fuli), and then made our way back down to the starting point.
After the bus ride back to town, we got back around 6:00. I took a taxi to the hotel and, as I just mentioned, hoped to have a nice sunset (though my optimism has sunk after watching the afternoon sky start to cloud over). At any rate, I went out and found a place near the farmhouse…just in case.
With no good results from that sunset shot, I packed up my gear and spent the evening relaxing at the farmhouse with dinner, then back in my room reading. All in all, I had been very pleased up until this point with both Dragon’s Backbone and Yangshuo. Thursday morning didn’t need me to start too early. I also knew it would be a travel day, and I wouldn’t be shooting much (if at all). But, at least I’d see the Guangxi countryside, not quite knowing what the rest of the province looked like. It would be a pleasant and interesting day, I soon learned…
Original Caption: John Dolezal slogs through mud on his farm near Bee Nebraska. Rain was twice the normal amount for the area this year greatly adding to the problems of local farmers, May 1973
U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 412-DA-4931
Photographer: O'Rear, Charles, 1941-
Subjects:
Lincoln (Nebraska)
Environmental Protection Agency
Project DOCUMERICA
Persistent URL: research.archives.gov/description/547418
Repository: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001.
For information about ordering reproductions of photographs held by the Still Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html
Reproductions may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
Use Restrictions: Unrestricted
179,008 items / 1,405,465 views
This is a very common sight and it is easily visible close to my workplace , this family makes limbu and chilly combination held on a string with charcoal to ward off evil, and you can see this hanging from shops homes , but not on the necks of truant Casanova type husbands.. two timers etc..The Indian Male over sexed testosterone, is a rare breed , and that is why no country in the world is ever complete without an Indian adding to its population , our end it is adding adding and adding only.
My picture frame story Hunger was shot here I did not write a poem or write any extra text , we all know feel understand hunger our birth epitomizes hunger, next to where they sit is the Vodafone gallery some lovebirds must have given their left overs to them that they were eating along with the paper plates.
And because I had a telly lens I could capture in silence their human angst without getting involved with them.This is a huge family the women are perennially pregnant and the men are not oversexed ,they are practical realistic shrewd and conniving.. a new born child brings his food along with him , he brings food for the rest of the family too..
If you shoot beggars like Dr Glenn Losack MD you will know the meaning of life after death, both cling to each other on the mean streets.
When I started learning photography almost a decade back I shot anything everything, trigger happy and it was not easy for me like many others too I was mostly shooting slides and black and white on Delta Ilford, spending humongous amount on camera lens accessories .
And the digital changed it all .. luckily I miss film but I dont shed tears and it is a memory I treasure but it is not a treasure trove , digital made me a blogger away from analogue away from the regressive prehistoric mentality of old masters and camera clubs.
I was reborn I became a butterfly and I had colorful wings I attracted others others attracted me and it has been 6 years now blogging the soul of humanity.
The blog made me a writer a poet a dreamer too, I met other dreamers like me Jeff Lamb from Ann Arbor who passed away recently, friends from Texas like Fred Miller I met a cat lover Anthony Posey from New Orleans Ben Bell, Eric Parker ,Randy Der .
Glenn Losack is family he taught my grand daughter photography and blessed her with a Nikon D 80.. grand daughter now is the worlds youngest street photographer 3 year old in pre primary.. will soon be attending Apostolic Carmel Convent Bandra.
This bonding camaraderie was simply possible because of inspirational source of the blogs..we swam together we kept afloat different strokes so to speak.
Today there are friends on the internet we dont talk anymore but yet we have mutual respect for each other , it was time to move on from Buzznet to Flickr to Twitter and Facebook we did.
The internet became a world beyond borders and blog was a domain that was beyond caste color or creed , we were individuals we were one for our passion for photography and blogging.
Blogging gave a good bye kiss on the posteriors of pedantic photographers pompous photographers who held on to the swampy soul of the wet lab.. who refused to see the brighter more futuristic side of the digital era .. and honestly without denigrating the beautiful memories of the camera club , I am a product of the camera club.. where is the camera club?
This is a blog has no method no singular alignment it shoots a picture of a beggar and launches into a tirade of life and death after life...yes the power of the blog cannot be underestimated it was not Facebook or Twitter that rocked the cradle of humanity dictators and despots and warlords ..It was the BLOG..
And camera clubs at least the few I know dont think much of photo bloggers similarly like the media we are a threat to their existence of Truth.. we may be liars but we do it with convincing sincerity that we shake the very pedestal that the statue stands on.
And the crux of camera club photography is making money becoming Atual Kasbekar Harish Dafftary and so many celebrity cult photographers to name a few. I know both of them.. great human beings no doubt.
And I am not bullshitting it was this attitude that made me turn my back completely on camera clubs.. doomed camera clubs living in a glorious past and not trying to come out of it... the light would blind them so hence they wear blinkers too.
Photography today thanks to the digital and the mobile phone has gained a popular notoriety , people love to post their pictures , and without realizing the blog is born.. on the web in humility and gratitude.
Blogs might have broken up marriages but it saved Mankind thanks to Google God and Facebook the Archangel with spread wings.. and other lesser saints of the cybernet like Twitter.. a lower order microblog Angel partial only to Hollywoods and Bollywood brats and beauties ...politicians too joined the bandwagon.. from the frying pan into the fire.
Today Indi Blogger the best place called home for Bloggers I have a great equation with the Indian King of Blogs Renie Ranvin , he has paid me a hefty advance to make his wedding wardrobe in case if her ever gets accidentally married away to a Blog Goddess..swept away so to speak from his eponymous entrenched bachelorhood.
And I made Guru Girish Mistrys wedding clothes in 4 hours I rushed in with his clothes before the auspicious time before he his wheelchair and his beautiful wife became one.. he has never forgotten me for this very reason... and I keep telling his young son who is 5 years old and teaches at the Shari Digital Institute to keep away from my 3 year old genius of a street photographer Marziya Shakir.. wife hates blogs and photographers one stream she does not want running in the family.
And before I close this I would like to say photography is passe cliche and becoming a blogger makes you a Raymonds complete man..blogging makes you a writer a columnist a poet even a photographer without a camera.
And this is dedicated to Dostoevsky Dickens and Balzac who taught me to shoot pictures like them.. shadows and light silhouettes without words.. in my case.
Yes we won the World Cup..Thank you Dhoni and Team India
And I shall go on shooting beggars Ad infinitum
I woke up to a rough morning. I felt terrible, everything hurt, so instead of just slogging through it, I took two Vicodin and one muscle relaxer. I figured I had nowhere to go and if I fell asleep, whatever.
When I took the dogs out at around 6 AM, the previous night's rain had turned to ice on my deck (I was barefoot). And if the rain on the deck was ice, that meant that the rain on the flowers was probably ice too. We had frost last night as well.
So when the sun came up (around 7 AM), I slipped on a pair of flip-flops and went out with my macro lens. I did some ice-drops on flowers shots and went around to the front of the house. (those are the previous photos in my photostream). When I started to go back inside, I saw frozen water and frost on the fallen Autumn leaves. The pain meds gave me confidence, the cold made me feel less, so I knelt down onto my human knee. I supported myself with my elbow on the ground (I was wearing my giant "I shoot RAW" T-shirt) and I snapped several shots of the leaves and ice. Then I went into the back yard and did the same thing.
I can kneel now. On the ground, not the pavement. So, I went out to take my 365 of myself in the same position. The difference is that I was wearing jeans instead of super-loose yoga pants. That's okay, I was halfway down, so I just got onto my stomach and snapped a few shots. (with the timer).
Here I am, taking a photo of myself pretending to take a photo with my old (and broken) Nikon 35mm camera.
310317 Just done this shot last week but wanted an in your face shot of 206...... As usual right behind 1A78,66206 heads the 6G06 07:39 Goonbarrow-Fowey up towards Treverrin tunnel (pole)
We did the "slogging" part of the route first, parking above Sipapu Bridge and doing the stretch of trail across the top of the mesa to Owachamo.
Here's a look at Owachamo from a distance, to put it in perspective.
(there's a note n the bridge, it can be hard to pick out)
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Summer 2018 3rd leg: We'd planned a few weeks in southern Colorado, then wised up and went to Utah instead.
June 24: Hiking the Natural Bridges, an 8.6 mile loop route under all three of the monuments bridges.
The Americans lead by a daring Benedict Arnold made a heroic and unimaginably hard slog up the Kennebeck river to the Richelieu river to take Quebec in late 1775. Everything that could go wrong did including the defection of nearly half of Arnold's Army when the going got hard. Despite it all Arnold lead an attack on Quebec in January 1776, where General Montgomery was killed, Gen Morgan and his men were captured and the Army was forced to retreat. Arnold himself was shot by a ricocheting ball that split in two pieces and badly wounded his leg. Arnold pushed on and lead a retreat back to Ft Ticonderoga. The attack was a failure (although one cannot blame Arnold considering the circumstances and difficulties he faced) but his scorched earth retreat left the British scrambling to catch up throughout the war.
Guy Carelton, governor of Quebec and General of the British Army acquired enough supplies and men to begin an assault on the Americans at Ft Ticonderoga, the Rebels northernmost defense (also captured earlier in 1775 by Benedict Arnold!). Arnold, as usual, beset with delays and a congress that wouldn't fund the war, and that heaped on Arnold considerable amounts of mistreatment and disrespect, using his former sailing skills as a sea captain, tried to create a navy on Lake Champlain to repulse the inevitable British assault. IN July of that year the Continental Congress issued the declaration of independence and Britain was not going to allow this insult to stand. During spring and summer of 1776 Arnold acquired 15 or so boats (all smaller than he requested and later than needed) and gathered a series of soldiers and drilled them into sailors.
Arnold was thinking back to the tactics of the ancient Athenians who decisively defeated the Persians in the Battle of Salamis using fast row galleons.He knew he could not defeat the British Navy head to head but he carefully selected Vacour Bay and planned to lure the British into a shallow, difficult to navigate area where his row galleons and small ships could negate the superiority of the British ships with speed and maneuverability.
All through spring and summer of 1776 he drilled his crews in sailing and rowing and by September they were as good as any he reported. The expected attack came in October of 1776 when a fleet of British ships sailed from Quebec to siege Ft Ticonderoga.
Arnold sent out Congress and Royal Savage to lure the Britis who took the bait and chased the ships. Royal Savage was grounded near Valcour Island and was burned by the British. It contained all of Arnolds papers.
The British ships could not fight the headwinds to engage until about 12 pm when Carelton entered the battle. A lucky shot cut her anchor line and she drifted out of firing position and was bombarded by the Americans. A ball severely damaged her and killed several officers, she floundered until she was towed to safety. The battle continued all day until Inflexible finally came within range and silenced the American guns. The Americans were nearly out of powder and balls when nightfall ended the battle The mangled fleet trapped but once again Benedict Arnold came through. Handing out slotted lanterns for the sterns and requirint the men to swaddle the oars in their shirts to dampen the sound, when a fog rolled in they quietly slipped out past the British and toward Ft Ticonderoga. Unfortunately the winds the next day favored the British and they chased the remaining boats till they were ditched and burned at Crown point. At that point every man was on his own and had to find their way back to Ft Ticonderoga. To make matters worse the British has turned loose hundreds of Mohawk warriors who were pursuing them as well. The remaining sailors straggled into the Ft several days later.
Carelton sailed to Ft Ticonderoga and found it better manned and prepared than he had anticipated. The fierce battle with Arbold also killed several officers and heavily damaged Carelton. Due to the lateness of the season (winter comes early and fast up there) Carelton decided to retreat to Quebec and start again in the next season. This would cost him his command...to a hated rival John Burgoyne...who boasted he would take the fight to them, unlike Carelton.
More importantly this action delayed the British for another year before they would attempt to attack again. One could argue that the scorched earth policy in Quebec and the Valcour Island battle hampered the British so much it gave the Americans time to prepare and strategize. It seems if the proper resources were allocated to Arnold for the Quebec venture and Valcour island the British might have been completely unable to launch a campaign from Quebec or forced them to expend such resources such that the revolutionary war might have been ended there.
Tuesday morning came awfully early, and I was still on a bit of a natural high from having spent the past 2 days up in the mountains with its moody/cloudy/misty/foggy weather. I came downstairs early, around 7:00, and ate breakfast alone for the last time at the Dragon’s Backbone Hostel. (I recall donating a book to their library, too; I forget which. Just a generic David Baldacci one, I think.)
Around 7:30, I started to set my way down the hill, enjoying the walk – going down is always much more relaxing than slogging my way up hill – and got to the main parking lot just below Dazhai with about 45 minutes to spare.
That 40 minute jaunt gave me time to reflect on the past two days. For the most part, I just thought it was a peaceful, beautiful, serene place, which I’d gladly visit again…probably in a different season (autumn, to give variety)…and that I wished I’d had a nicer (that is to say, any) sunrise or sunset. On Monday, I even woke up at 4:45 in the morning, but staring through the pitch black, not seeing stars, I knew that there wouldn’t be much of a sunrise to validate going an hour farther uphill above Tiantouzhai to the Music from Paradise viewpoint just to see….varying shades of gray. (The viewpoints here all have very interesting and flowery names. Ironically, at that one, there was a Chinese guy playing saxophone. If anyone wants to know what they’ll hear when they get to paradise…evidently, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”)
With close to an hour in the parking lot, it’s entertaining to take a back seat to the dark corners of your mind. The bus to Yangshuo finally pulled up and I clambered aboard to settle in for the roughly 3-4 hour ride back through Guilin and south to the Li River valley and the lush, karst landscape of Yangshuo. I don’t recall how much the bus ticket cost, but I want to say it was cheap. Maybe 80 RMB or something along those lines, which is a little less than $15.
The ride between Dragon’s Backbone & Yangshuo was completely uneventful. It was just one of those times I wish I had a time machine (or a personal helicopter) to make it go that much more quickly…and avoid the horrendous Chinese driving, including the unnecessary traffic jam in the south part of Guilin and thicker traffic between Guilin and Yangshuo.
So far, vacation was humming along pretty close to on schedule, and I was happy as a lark. The bus pulled into the heart of Yangshuo around 12:15. Yangshuo was the other big part of the first half of the trip. As I mentioned, the plan was to spend 5 nights in this corner of the province, so I had two nights here in Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is also getting a lot of attention as a travel destination these days, and is supposedly getting pretty crowded (though it didn’t feel crowded to me…not after living in some of the world’s major cities for the past 5-6 years). Yangshuo is one of those types of towns that people in the Pacific Northwest of the US or Colorado would love. (Yes, I’m being intentionally stereotypical.) What I mean to say is…this is an active person’s paradise. Yangshuo is rapidly becoming one of the top destinations in the world for rock climbing. People come here to be active. Most are younger, outdoorsy, athletic types…and Yangshuo probably has as many foreigners as locals most of the time.
In general, people will come here and set up base camp at any of the number of hostels, guesthouses, or hotels in the area. (I chose the Yangshuo Outside Inn, about 6 km west of Yangshuo, on the banks of the Yulong River. It’s run by a Dutchman – Ronald, I believe – and his Chinese wife. An old farmhouse that they converted into an inn, and it’s absolutely charming with the most wonderful service. I’ll gladly stay there if I get back to Yangshuo someday.)
At whichever hostel you choose – and since, like any small tourist spot with an overflow of guesthouses fighting for business, the rates tend to be low, and they try to offer services (travel packages, bike rentals, advice, arranging taxis, doing laundry, whatever you want ) to attract customers – you will probably be pleased with how little money you spend. I can only tell you that the Outside Inn had a terrific restaurant, bike rental, laundry service, rooms with AC, without AC (ceiling fans and mosquito nets instead), and suggestions for local and regional travel.
The village of Yangshuo is very small (and congested). There’s quite a bit of nightlife on Xi Dajie, since most who visit here are young and energetic. You’ll find all kinds of restaurants, bars, clubs. And surrounding this very small downtown are huge karst hills that look like gumdrops popping out of the ground.
During the day, rent a bike and ride to and from the nearby towns like Fuli (9 km to the east) or Xingping (about 20 km northeast). You can do things like take bamboo boat trips up and down the Li River (bigger and congested) or ride a bike along the Yulong River among the small villages and farms. Climb Moon Hill, go find caves, just…get outside.
And at night, come back, unwind, and relax downtown on Xi Dajie or enjoy the award-winning light show on the Li River that they have every night (weather permitting) that world-famous movie director Zhang Yimou (who also did the light show for the 2008 Beijing Olympics) put together for about 200 RMB. (I am sad to say, though, that I did not go see the light show. There may be another trip to Yangshuo for me yet…)
So what about my Yangshuo experience? Well…I checked in to the Outside Inn around 1:00 on Tuesday afternoon. Not wanting to waste a minute, the first thing I did was rented one of their bicycles, and hopped out on the road heading along the Yulong River. I joined up with two Chinese ladies, and off we went. We got separated later (because they were stopping every two seconds), though they were nice, friendly, and helpful. The bike was fine, though the seat felt like I was sitting on a brick. After arriving at the Dragon bridge (our original destination), I stayed there for about ten minutes. Right before getting there, though, I stopped at a roadside cafe, trying to wait for these two ladies for about 30 minutes. They never materialized, but I had an interesting time talking with the guy who owned the shop. Just sitting, drinking water, and passing the afternoon in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge was one of the most underwhelming bridges I’d seen. I don’t even think I photographed it. The surrounding scenery from atop the bridge, though, was quite nice (and is represented in this set). Climbing back on my bike, I worked my way the 90 minutes back to the hotel, feeling like my backside had been violated, and was black and blue. Since the temperatures were nearing 35 degrees, and it was a clear, sunny day, I figured it was time for a nap.
My ambition to get out early turned out to be the only real mistake I made this entire trip. On top of very slight heat exhaustion, I missed the most amazing sunset I’ve seen in China. The entire sky had turned every shade between deep purple and royal blue imaginable (which would have looked GREAT from next to the river), but I woke up about 1/3 of the way through that evening’s sundown and had to watch it tearfully between trees with only glimpses of the sky. At least it’s in my memory. I hoped the following night would be a repeat of this one, but, unfortunately, it was pretty much clouded over and didn’t photograph terribly well. Oh, well…lesson learned.
After a good night’s sleep, I woke up early on Wednesday to start exploring Yangshuo proper and the Li River, after staying exclusively on the Yulong River the previous day. I walked the 6 km to town. Well…about 3 km, then took a san lun che (“tuk tuk,” for those who’ve been to India) the rest of the way and just told the guy to stop…wherever. I got out, started wandering the main drag, and booked an afternoon tour of the Li River on a bamboo raft that would go from Xingping partway north on the river, then back to Xingping. (We would go to Xingping by bus and get stuck on the two-lane road coming back in terrible traffic). I still had quite a few hours to kill in the morning, so I wandered around Xi Dajie, and made it down to the riverside, where I booked yet another boat to go around the Li River. The first one cost, I think, 160 RMB from what I remember. This one was 100 RMB, but it was a bit of a lie. I had to hop on back a motorbike and we rode the 9 km to Fuli (a surprisingly nice little shopping area for souvenirs), and that boat was not an open-air bamboo raft, but more like…a very small cruise ship where you sit inside a cabin.
The ride wasn’t unpleasant at all – and the scenery was stunning – so I can’t complain too much. Besides, I did need to find a way to pass the morning, and this did just fine. After the boat and motorcycle ride back to Yangshuo, I had lunch, then went to the first place where I booked a boatride.
That really was a bamboo raft…the kind that’s canopied, and seats 4 people to a boat. So after the coach took us up to Xingping and dropped us off, we hopped on and had a ride for about 20-25 minutes up this stretch of the river (slightly more scenic than the section near Fuli), and then made our way back down to the starting point.
After the bus ride back to town, we got back around 6:00. I took a taxi to the hotel and, as I just mentioned, hoped to have a nice sunset (though my optimism has sunk after watching the afternoon sky start to cloud over). At any rate, I went out and found a place near the farmhouse…just in case.
With no good results from that sunset shot, I packed up my gear and spent the evening relaxing at the farmhouse with dinner, then back in my room reading. All in all, I had been very pleased up until this point with both Dragon’s Backbone and Yangshuo. Thursday morning didn’t need me to start too early. I also knew it would be a travel day, and I wouldn’t be shooting much (if at all). But, at least I’d see the Guangxi countryside, not quite knowing what the rest of the province looked like. It would be a pleasant and interesting day, I soon learned…
After slogging our way up to the Snow Canyon overlook, we were ready for a rest. It's not a long trail or too steep but the surface is all good-sized rocks with the top third exposed by runoff so it's constant attention required to keep from tripping or twisting an ankle. This was our second time doing it and, good as the view is, that will probably be enough.
Kani's view is shown in the photos to either side of this one.
Slogger Rose from the Ragged Victorians living history group.
Taken at Tyntesfield National Trust.
Paint effect from Topaz Impression - Rembrandt II
Thank you for any comments
Tuesday morning came awfully early, and I was still on a bit of a natural high from having spent the past 2 days up in the mountains with its moody/cloudy/misty/foggy weather. I came downstairs early, around 7:00, and ate breakfast alone for the last time at the Dragon’s Backbone Hostel. (I recall donating a book to their library, too; I forget which. Just a generic David Baldacci one, I think.)
Around 7:30, I started to set my way down the hill, enjoying the walk – going down is always much more relaxing than slogging my way up hill – and got to the main parking lot just below Dazhai with about 45 minutes to spare.
That 40 minute jaunt gave me time to reflect on the past two days. For the most part, I just thought it was a peaceful, beautiful, serene place, which I’d gladly visit again…probably in a different season (autumn, to give variety)…and that I wished I’d had a nicer (that is to say, any) sunrise or sunset. On Monday, I even woke up at 4:45 in the morning, but staring through the pitch black, not seeing stars, I knew that there wouldn’t be much of a sunrise to validate going an hour farther uphill above Tiantouzhai to the Music from Paradise viewpoint just to see….varying shades of gray. (The viewpoints here all have very interesting and flowery names. Ironically, at that one, there was a Chinese guy playing saxophone. If anyone wants to know what they’ll hear when they get to paradise…evidently, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”)
With close to an hour in the parking lot, it’s entertaining to take a back seat to the dark corners of your mind. The bus to Yangshuo finally pulled up and I clambered aboard to settle in for the roughly 3-4 hour ride back through Guilin and south to the Li River valley and the lush, karst landscape of Yangshuo. I don’t recall how much the bus ticket cost, but I want to say it was cheap. Maybe 80 RMB or something along those lines, which is a little less than $15.
The ride between Dragon’s Backbone & Yangshuo was completely uneventful. It was just one of those times I wish I had a time machine (or a personal helicopter) to make it go that much more quickly…and avoid the horrendous Chinese driving, including the unnecessary traffic jam in the south part of Guilin and thicker traffic between Guilin and Yangshuo.
So far, vacation was humming along pretty close to on schedule, and I was happy as a lark. The bus pulled into the heart of Yangshuo around 12:15. Yangshuo was the other big part of the first half of the trip. As I mentioned, the plan was to spend 5 nights in this corner of the province, so I had two nights here in Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is also getting a lot of attention as a travel destination these days, and is supposedly getting pretty crowded (though it didn’t feel crowded to me…not after living in some of the world’s major cities for the past 5-6 years). Yangshuo is one of those types of towns that people in the Pacific Northwest of the US or Colorado would love. (Yes, I’m being intentionally stereotypical.) What I mean to say is…this is an active person’s paradise. Yangshuo is rapidly becoming one of the top destinations in the world for rock climbing. People come here to be active. Most are younger, outdoorsy, athletic types…and Yangshuo probably has as many foreigners as locals most of the time.
In general, people will come here and set up base camp at any of the number of hostels, guesthouses, or hotels in the area. (I chose the Yangshuo Outside Inn, about 6 km west of Yangshuo, on the banks of the Yulong River. It’s run by a Dutchman – Ronald, I believe – and his Chinese wife. An old farmhouse that they converted into an inn, and it’s absolutely charming with the most wonderful service. I’ll gladly stay there if I get back to Yangshuo someday.)
At whichever hostel you choose – and since, like any small tourist spot with an overflow of guesthouses fighting for business, the rates tend to be low, and they try to offer services (travel packages, bike rentals, advice, arranging taxis, doing laundry, whatever you want ) to attract customers – you will probably be pleased with how little money you spend. I can only tell you that the Outside Inn had a terrific restaurant, bike rental, laundry service, rooms with AC, without AC (ceiling fans and mosquito nets instead), and suggestions for local and regional travel.
The village of Yangshuo is very small (and congested). There’s quite a bit of nightlife on Xi Dajie, since most who visit here are young and energetic. You’ll find all kinds of restaurants, bars, clubs. And surrounding this very small downtown are huge karst hills that look like gumdrops popping out of the ground.
During the day, rent a bike and ride to and from the nearby towns like Fuli (9 km to the east) or Xingping (about 20 km northeast). You can do things like take bamboo boat trips up and down the Li River (bigger and congested) or ride a bike along the Yulong River among the small villages and farms. Climb Moon Hill, go find caves, just…get outside.
And at night, come back, unwind, and relax downtown on Xi Dajie or enjoy the award-winning light show on the Li River that they have every night (weather permitting) that world-famous movie director Zhang Yimou (who also did the light show for the 2008 Beijing Olympics) put together for about 200 RMB. (I am sad to say, though, that I did not go see the light show. There may be another trip to Yangshuo for me yet…)
So what about my Yangshuo experience? Well…I checked in to the Outside Inn around 1:00 on Tuesday afternoon. Not wanting to waste a minute, the first thing I did was rented one of their bicycles, and hopped out on the road heading along the Yulong River. I joined up with two Chinese ladies, and off we went. We got separated later (because they were stopping every two seconds), though they were nice, friendly, and helpful. The bike was fine, though the seat felt like I was sitting on a brick. After arriving at the Dragon bridge (our original destination), I stayed there for about ten minutes. Right before getting there, though, I stopped at a roadside cafe, trying to wait for these two ladies for about 30 minutes. They never materialized, but I had an interesting time talking with the guy who owned the shop. Just sitting, drinking water, and passing the afternoon in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge was one of the most underwhelming bridges I’d seen. I don’t even think I photographed it. The surrounding scenery from atop the bridge, though, was quite nice (and is represented in this set). Climbing back on my bike, I worked my way the 90 minutes back to the hotel, feeling like my backside had been violated, and was black and blue. Since the temperatures were nearing 35 degrees, and it was a clear, sunny day, I figured it was time for a nap.
My ambition to get out early turned out to be the only real mistake I made this entire trip. On top of very slight heat exhaustion, I missed the most amazing sunset I’ve seen in China. The entire sky had turned every shade between deep purple and royal blue imaginable (which would have looked GREAT from next to the river), but I woke up about 1/3 of the way through that evening’s sundown and had to watch it tearfully between trees with only glimpses of the sky. At least it’s in my memory. I hoped the following night would be a repeat of this one, but, unfortunately, it was pretty much clouded over and didn’t photograph terribly well. Oh, well…lesson learned.
After a good night’s sleep, I woke up early on Wednesday to start exploring Yangshuo proper and the Li River, after staying exclusively on the Yulong River the previous day. I walked the 6 km to town. Well…about 3 km, then took a san lun che (“tuk tuk,” for those who’ve been to India) the rest of the way and just told the guy to stop…wherever. I got out, started wandering the main drag, and booked an afternoon tour of the Li River on a bamboo raft that would go from Xingping partway north on the river, then back to Xingping. (We would go to Xingping by bus and get stuck on the two-lane road coming back in terrible traffic). I still had quite a few hours to kill in the morning, so I wandered around Xi Dajie, and made it down to the riverside, where I booked yet another boat to go around the Li River. The first one cost, I think, 160 RMB from what I remember. This one was 100 RMB, but it was a bit of a lie. I had to hop on back a motorbike and we rode the 9 km to Fuli (a surprisingly nice little shopping area for souvenirs), and that boat was not an open-air bamboo raft, but more like…a very small cruise ship where you sit inside a cabin.
The ride wasn’t unpleasant at all – and the scenery was stunning – so I can’t complain too much. Besides, I did need to find a way to pass the morning, and this did just fine. After the boat and motorcycle ride back to Yangshuo, I had lunch, then went to the first place where I booked a boatride.
That really was a bamboo raft…the kind that’s canopied, and seats 4 people to a boat. So after the coach took us up to Xingping and dropped us off, we hopped on and had a ride for about 20-25 minutes up this stretch of the river (slightly more scenic than the section near Fuli), and then made our way back down to the starting point.
After the bus ride back to town, we got back around 6:00. I took a taxi to the hotel and, as I just mentioned, hoped to have a nice sunset (though my optimism has sunk after watching the afternoon sky start to cloud over). At any rate, I went out and found a place near the farmhouse…just in case.
With no good results from that sunset shot, I packed up my gear and spent the evening relaxing at the farmhouse with dinner, then back in my room reading. All in all, I had been very pleased up until this point with both Dragon’s Backbone and Yangshuo. Thursday morning didn’t need me to start too early. I also knew it would be a travel day, and I wouldn’t be shooting much (if at all). But, at least I’d see the Guangxi countryside, not quite knowing what the rest of the province looked like. It would be a pleasant and interesting day, I soon learned…
25276 slogs up the 1in 75 climb up towards Shap summit with a train of mineral wagons,I doubt that a train like this would be allowed on Shap today. 25276 was a Bescot allocated loco at the time and was cut up at Vic Berry,s Liecester in June 1989... June 16th 1984.
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST works No.2361 climbs up the grade to Blackham's Hill from Springwell Yard, Bowes Railway 32rd July 2011. I admit to having 'painted out' the graffiti on the black cabin!
© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission
SB BNSF Chewelah Turn climbs up the 1.5% grade between Springdale and Loon Lake, WA as sunlight finally enters the canyon below Jump Off Joe Road.
After a grinding slog through the forest, we finally found good fishing. Next time we’ll know to stick to the main trail!
This High Dynamic Range 360° panorama was stitched from 60 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, and touched up in Aperture.
Original size: 16216 × 7516 (121.9 MP; 133 MB).
Location: Rawson Lake, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada
Tuesday morning came awfully early, and I was still on a bit of a natural high from having spent the past 2 days up in the mountains with its moody/cloudy/misty/foggy weather. I came downstairs early, around 7:00, and ate breakfast alone for the last time at the Dragon’s Backbone Hostel. (I recall donating a book to their library, too; I forget which. Just a generic David Baldacci one, I think.)
Around 7:30, I started to set my way down the hill, enjoying the walk – going down is always much more relaxing than slogging my way up hill – and got to the main parking lot just below Dazhai with about 45 minutes to spare.
That 40 minute jaunt gave me time to reflect on the past two days. For the most part, I just thought it was a peaceful, beautiful, serene place, which I’d gladly visit again…probably in a different season (autumn, to give variety)…and that I wished I’d had a nicer (that is to say, any) sunrise or sunset. On Monday, I even woke up at 4:45 in the morning, but staring through the pitch black, not seeing stars, I knew that there wouldn’t be much of a sunrise to validate going an hour farther uphill above Tiantouzhai to the Music from Paradise viewpoint just to see….varying shades of gray. (The viewpoints here all have very interesting and flowery names. Ironically, at that one, there was a Chinese guy playing saxophone. If anyone wants to know what they’ll hear when they get to paradise…evidently, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”)
With close to an hour in the parking lot, it’s entertaining to take a back seat to the dark corners of your mind. The bus to Yangshuo finally pulled up and I clambered aboard to settle in for the roughly 3-4 hour ride back through Guilin and south to the Li River valley and the lush, karst landscape of Yangshuo. I don’t recall how much the bus ticket cost, but I want to say it was cheap. Maybe 80 RMB or something along those lines, which is a little less than $15.
The ride between Dragon’s Backbone & Yangshuo was completely uneventful. It was just one of those times I wish I had a time machine (or a personal helicopter) to make it go that much more quickly…and avoid the horrendous Chinese driving, including the unnecessary traffic jam in the south part of Guilin and thicker traffic between Guilin and Yangshuo.
So far, vacation was humming along pretty close to on schedule, and I was happy as a lark. The bus pulled into the heart of Yangshuo around 12:15. Yangshuo was the other big part of the first half of the trip. As I mentioned, the plan was to spend 5 nights in this corner of the province, so I had two nights here in Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is also getting a lot of attention as a travel destination these days, and is supposedly getting pretty crowded (though it didn’t feel crowded to me…not after living in some of the world’s major cities for the past 5-6 years). Yangshuo is one of those types of towns that people in the Pacific Northwest of the US or Colorado would love. (Yes, I’m being intentionally stereotypical.) What I mean to say is…this is an active person’s paradise. Yangshuo is rapidly becoming one of the top destinations in the world for rock climbing. People come here to be active. Most are younger, outdoorsy, athletic types…and Yangshuo probably has as many foreigners as locals most of the time.
In general, people will come here and set up base camp at any of the number of hostels, guesthouses, or hotels in the area. (I chose the Yangshuo Outside Inn, about 6 km west of Yangshuo, on the banks of the Yulong River. It’s run by a Dutchman – Ronald, I believe – and his Chinese wife. An old farmhouse that they converted into an inn, and it’s absolutely charming with the most wonderful service. I’ll gladly stay there if I get back to Yangshuo someday.)
At whichever hostel you choose – and since, like any small tourist spot with an overflow of guesthouses fighting for business, the rates tend to be low, and they try to offer services (travel packages, bike rentals, advice, arranging taxis, doing laundry, whatever you want ) to attract customers – you will probably be pleased with how little money you spend. I can only tell you that the Outside Inn had a terrific restaurant, bike rental, laundry service, rooms with AC, without AC (ceiling fans and mosquito nets instead), and suggestions for local and regional travel.
The village of Yangshuo is very small (and congested). There’s quite a bit of nightlife on Xi Dajie, since most who visit here are young and energetic. You’ll find all kinds of restaurants, bars, clubs. And surrounding this very small downtown are huge karst hills that look like gumdrops popping out of the ground.
During the day, rent a bike and ride to and from the nearby towns like Fuli (9 km to the east) or Xingping (about 20 km northeast). You can do things like take bamboo boat trips up and down the Li River (bigger and congested) or ride a bike along the Yulong River among the small villages and farms. Climb Moon Hill, go find caves, just…get outside.
And at night, come back, unwind, and relax downtown on Xi Dajie or enjoy the award-winning light show on the Li River that they have every night (weather permitting) that world-famous movie director Zhang Yimou (who also did the light show for the 2008 Beijing Olympics) put together for about 200 RMB. (I am sad to say, though, that I did not go see the light show. There may be another trip to Yangshuo for me yet…)
So what about my Yangshuo experience? Well…I checked in to the Outside Inn around 1:00 on Tuesday afternoon. Not wanting to waste a minute, the first thing I did was rented one of their bicycles, and hopped out on the road heading along the Yulong River. I joined up with two Chinese ladies, and off we went. We got separated later (because they were stopping every two seconds), though they were nice, friendly, and helpful. The bike was fine, though the seat felt like I was sitting on a brick. After arriving at the Dragon bridge (our original destination), I stayed there for about ten minutes. Right before getting there, though, I stopped at a roadside cafe, trying to wait for these two ladies for about 30 minutes. They never materialized, but I had an interesting time talking with the guy who owned the shop. Just sitting, drinking water, and passing the afternoon in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge was one of the most underwhelming bridges I’d seen. I don’t even think I photographed it. The surrounding scenery from atop the bridge, though, was quite nice (and is represented in this set). Climbing back on my bike, I worked my way the 90 minutes back to the hotel, feeling like my backside had been violated, and was black and blue. Since the temperatures were nearing 35 degrees, and it was a clear, sunny day, I figured it was time for a nap.
My ambition to get out early turned out to be the only real mistake I made this entire trip. On top of very slight heat exhaustion, I missed the most amazing sunset I’ve seen in China. The entire sky had turned every shade between deep purple and royal blue imaginable (which would have looked GREAT from next to the river), but I woke up about 1/3 of the way through that evening’s sundown and had to watch it tearfully between trees with only glimpses of the sky. At least it’s in my memory. I hoped the following night would be a repeat of this one, but, unfortunately, it was pretty much clouded over and didn’t photograph terribly well. Oh, well…lesson learned.
After a good night’s sleep, I woke up early on Wednesday to start exploring Yangshuo proper and the Li River, after staying exclusively on the Yulong River the previous day. I walked the 6 km to town. Well…about 3 km, then took a san lun che (“tuk tuk,” for those who’ve been to India) the rest of the way and just told the guy to stop…wherever. I got out, started wandering the main drag, and booked an afternoon tour of the Li River on a bamboo raft that would go from Xingping partway north on the river, then back to Xingping. (We would go to Xingping by bus and get stuck on the two-lane road coming back in terrible traffic). I still had quite a few hours to kill in the morning, so I wandered around Xi Dajie, and made it down to the riverside, where I booked yet another boat to go around the Li River. The first one cost, I think, 160 RMB from what I remember. This one was 100 RMB, but it was a bit of a lie. I had to hop on back a motorbike and we rode the 9 km to Fuli (a surprisingly nice little shopping area for souvenirs), and that boat was not an open-air bamboo raft, but more like…a very small cruise ship where you sit inside a cabin.
The ride wasn’t unpleasant at all – and the scenery was stunning – so I can’t complain too much. Besides, I did need to find a way to pass the morning, and this did just fine. After the boat and motorcycle ride back to Yangshuo, I had lunch, then went to the first place where I booked a boatride.
That really was a bamboo raft…the kind that’s canopied, and seats 4 people to a boat. So after the coach took us up to Xingping and dropped us off, we hopped on and had a ride for about 20-25 minutes up this stretch of the river (slightly more scenic than the section near Fuli), and then made our way back down to the starting point.
After the bus ride back to town, we got back around 6:00. I took a taxi to the hotel and, as I just mentioned, hoped to have a nice sunset (though my optimism has sunk after watching the afternoon sky start to cloud over). At any rate, I went out and found a place near the farmhouse…just in case.
With no good results from that sunset shot, I packed up my gear and spent the evening relaxing at the farmhouse with dinner, then back in my room reading. All in all, I had been very pleased up until this point with both Dragon’s Backbone and Yangshuo. Thursday morning didn’t need me to start too early. I also knew it would be a travel day, and I wouldn’t be shooting much (if at all). But, at least I’d see the Guangxi countryside, not quite knowing what the rest of the province looked like. It would be a pleasant and interesting day, I soon learned…