Hard work pays off and scam number three.

December 2, 2011. Written in Yangshuo, Guilin, China.

Hard work pays off and scam number three.

Sometimes, I have problems with the way I'm writing my blog. Sure, I can choose who gets to read what, and at least everyone (except for those who don't speak any of my 3 languages) at leasts gets to read something. But sometimes, there are just stories that I want to tell everyone. Sadly enough though, I don't have the time to translate all my stories.

My last Japanese blog was one of those special stories that I would have wanted to share with all of you. I had such a special experience on my bamboo boat. Maybe it was even the highlight of my trip so far. As also mentioned on my Dutch blog; "Hoeveel kost uw boot mevrouw?"  I bought myself a bamboo boat in the village of Xinping from some farmer lady. With this boat, it took me two days to go all the way to Yangshuo, which is only about 20 kilometers further away, but since my bamboo boat didn't really allow me to go any faster than walking speed, it was an exhausting trip. However, on the way I had many precious experiences, such as becoming a tourist attraction to the Chinese on their big tourists boats, almost getting attacked by a cow, accidentially dropping my camera in the river (without finding it back) and even staying for the night at a farmers house far away from modern civilization, so I don't regret any of it.

That being said, I arrived in the touristic village of Yangshuo at around 12 o'clock one day after I had departed from Xinping. I had only been away from modern civilization for 2 days and one night, but it felt like much longer. Normally, I would detest a fake and touristic village like Yangshuo, but now I even felt happy to be here. Two of my friends had arrived in Yangshuo some days before, and I went to the same hostel to meet them again. That evening, we had dinner at a restaurant they seemed to have been visiting for the last 3 days, fameous for it's claypots. Compared to the duck-eggs that the farmer had made for me the night before, my claypot almost tasted like some superdeluxe French cuisine (not that I am very fond of French).

I had promised my friends to take them on my bamboo boat the next day, so after having given them instructions to not bring along any valuable items and to wear a swimsuit, we went outside to have a look if my boat had not been stolen yet. On the way, we found a huge bamboo stick, which could be used to steer the boat since I only had one peddle on board.

Luckily, my boat was still lying at the docks of Yangshuo, where I had put it. When I arrived the day before, a lady had been screeming at me that it was not allowed to put your own boat at the docks, but I was too tired to move it somewhere else. Also, a Chinese man had asked me to give him my boat, but when I asked him how much he was willing to pay for, he laughed at me as if I had said something completely crazy.

Anyway, the boat was still there, and the 3 of us could go on adventure.

I had been wondering if the boat would not sink with 3 people on board, but luckily it seemed to be no problem.
I was sitting in the back using my peddle, while Man (my friend from Hongkong) was using the long bamboo stick we had found on our way.

In the front, Keiko was sitting with her feet in the water just enjoying the scenery, and sometimes she pretended to be using a stick for peddling.

 Both seemed to be enjoying the boat-trip and especially Keiko kept saying "This is so much fun!"
I was glad that all of my hard work to bring it to Yangshuo had at least payed off.

We had a short break on our way near a cliff, where I went for a swim while my friends were having a brief rest. After that, we went on for another 30 minutes, and then decided to call it a day. We were now maybe 3 kilometers away from the city, and put my boat somewhere along the riverbanks and decided to walk the way back.

We found ourselves in some quiet and peacefull village that seemed unharmed from tourism despite it's location being so near to Yangshuo. We had some drinks at a small local store, and then decided to go back.

Man had hurt his feet when he went rock-climbing the day before, and therefore had troubles walking. We wanted to find a bus for him to go back, but sadly enough couldn't find anything like that on our way.

After having walked about 1 hour, however, 2 guys on motorcycles told us that they would drive us back to Yangshuo for 10 Yuan (about 1 Euro or 100 Yen).
"3 people for 10 Yuan right?" we asked several times.
They nodded and said yes. Keiko and Man went on the back of one bike, I went on the back of the other. It seemed that we were allready almost in Yangshuo, and it took us no more then 5 minutes to get back.

Once we got off the bike, it turned out that nobody had small change, and so we gave the guy 20 Yuan, hoping to get 10 back in return. But the guy nodded as if the deal was now done.
"What about the change?" Man asked.
"What change? I said 20 for the 3 of you" the guy answered.
Man took back the 20 yuan, and said that this was not the deal. The guy did not agree. He wanted 20 Yuan for the job that he had done.
"Then take us back to where you found us and we'll cancel the deal" said Man, and we hopped on the motorcycles again to go back the same way.
I didn't realy have a good feeling about this. Even if we would get back, he is probably not going to let us leave for free, I thought.

I turned out to be right. As soon as we got of the motorcycles and tried to walk away, the two guys started to follow us. When we tried to ignore them, the guys started to push Man and scream at him. After a while, they started pushing so hard that it almost made him fall on the ground. I went in between and tried to prevent the guys from harming him.
"Let's just give them the money so that they will go away" Keiko and I said.
"No way, it's not about the money, it's a matter of principles" said Man.
We walked in a big hotel that was nearby and went to the reception.
"I want to call the police" Man said.
But somehow they didn't want to do as he told.
The guys had followed us into the hotel, and kept screaming at us for the 20 Yuan.
No one was willing to help us. We decided to go outside again and ask for someone else to call the police. But no mather where we went, no one was willing to help. Outside, the guys started to get more agressive, and before we knew it, friends of them came and we were surrounded by people. We hurried back to the hotel. At least there they wouldn't harm us. They kept screaming for their money.
"I think it's better to just pay" Keiko said again.
"But even if we pay the 20 Yuan. Do you think they will go away? Aren't they going to try to get even more money?"
Man didn't know what to do anymore either. He asked them to at least bring us back to the city once more, and then we would pay the 20 Yuan, but the guys just laughed at him. They had already done their work.
In the end, we gave up and gave them the money so they would go away, and luckily they did.

So, we ended up walking back to town. Not that it was so far, and Man's foot seemed to be OK. It was a sad thing though, that nobody around us was even willing to help. But I guess that's China.

On the way back, we headed into the local police station.
"Just as an experiment, to see what kind of answer we will get. So that you will have a proper conclusion to your blog" Man said.
We explained the whole happening to an English speaking officer on phone. He seemed willing to help us, but told us about the Chinese law. As long as no physical harm is done, all they can do is give a warrant. If physical harm would have been done, a paper from the doctor is necesairy to show what kind of harm has been done. Mental harm alone, is not enough.

So, this was my third scam in China. First, they make me pay tea for the crazy sum of 4000 Yuan, next I pay 50 Yuan for some cake, and now 20 Yuan for a motortaxi that brings you back where he first meets you. At least it seems to get cheaper each time. I wonder what's up next and how cheap it will be!