Humid Subtropical

The plan that day was to hike for 16 km from the town of Xingping (Mandarin : 兴平市) to Shuiyantou, which was just across the river from the town of Yangdi. The hike was to be along roads that flanked the scenic Li River for almost the entire way, and involved two river crossings--the first crossing over from the east bank of the river to Lengshui, and the second from Quanjiazhou and back over to the east bank of

Moon Hill (Mandarin: 月亮山) is a hill that has a nicely formed semicircular arch that cuts right through the middle of it. The arch is all that is left of what was once a limestone karst cave that has long since eroded. Moon Cave lies a few kilometres south of the town of Yangshuo and only requires a very short and easy hike to get to. The accessibility of the hill and its iconic status makes it a very popular attraction with

It was raining once again that morning, which meant that it had rained for three days in a row. We had already made plans to head to 'Chicken Cave' the next time it rained, as the guidebook had stated that that crag was one of the best places to climb in wet weather. The others were not so keen on cycling the same way all over again though, so Lily said that she will call a taxi for us whilst we went out to get some

Pantao Hill is a karst tower that overlooks the town of Yangshuo, and affords amazing views of the town nestled cosily in-between the hills. The hike up to the peak makes for a nice and short excursion, and gives your climbing muscles some time to recover. The path itself can be quite tedious to locate as there are no signs that point the way, but you shouldn't have too much trouble if you follow the directions below

Yangshuo (Mandarin: 阳朔) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is well-known for the thousands of karst peaks that seem to have suddenly erupted from the flat plains that surround them. Unique karst landscapes like this are produced when soluble rocks (200 million-year-old limestone in this case) are dissolved by the carbonic acid that is present in rainfall. Normally, just caverns and fissures are produced

The scenery that awaited me just south of Namche was absolutely gorgeous. The pinewood (Pinus sp.) forests that laced the southern hills were a mix of vibrant reds and greens, and the backdrop of white and silver layers of snow that adorned the southern slopes of Nupla (elevation : 5885 m) really brought out the contrast of colours. I found that it was significantly easier to appreciate the beauty that lay all around