Karsts and cormorants

I've now had a few days to acclimatise to the pace of life here in Yangshuo. It's superbly relaxed after the insane bustle that is the rest of China. I've actually decided to stay in the area for the rest of the week and have booked a flight to Kunming on Saturday (I've had enough of long Chinese train and bus journeys for a while!) From there I fly to Bangkok to meet Meegs for a couple of weeks of sunshine and diving in Thailand.

Yesterday the rain actually stopped and we managed to see blue sky for the first time in yonks. I was planning on exploring the area a bit more by bicycle while the going was good, but the first beer by the river was just too good - we never made it past stop number one.

The view from the riverfront in Yangshuo village, complete with grazing Water Buffalo.

A fishing cormorant poses for his fans along a sunny Yangshuo waterfront.

Sampling the local brew with Chris from England (the lad is the splitting image of Nick from My Family!)

After a day of soaking up some sunshine and local beers we took an evening boat ride to see the local cormorant fisherman in action. The cormorants are trained from chicks to catch fish and return to the boat with them. A string tied around their necks prevents them from swallowing the catch, but the fisherman removes the string every now and then to allow them to catch some fish for themselves.

The cormorants set out just ahead of the fisherman's boat.

A fisherman and one of his birds.