complete opposites

you are probably wondering why i have posted such a pretty pictured followed by one of the world's ugliest pictures ever.

they are complete opposites of each other and seem to have no relation to each other.

well, here is the story:

we just had our last vacation in china!

we decided to go to yangshuo.

i was stoked to go back and revisit such a beautiful city.

we had unfinished business there...river rafting, mud caves, hiking, scootering.

the bamboo river rafting was so relaxing.

we got to float on a bamboo raft for two hours down the river.

the scenery was breathtaking.

i cannot even begin to explain how amazingly beautiful yangshuo is.

the mountains are so lush and green.

they are the weirdest shapes...not one looks remotely like another.

some are big and fat, others are short and skinny.

they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

the mudcaves were also amazing.

i'm not a fan of being trapped in small spaces, but this was an exception.

we literally hiked through a cave for 30 or 40 minutes to get to a big pit of mud.

there some points were i felt a little claustrophobic, but for the most part i was fine.

the mud pit was fun too.

we had a mud fight, we got dirty, and we had a good time.

after the mud cave, we hiked out and saw moonhill.

we got to hike around outside for a bit which was really fun.

yangshuo may have been hot, but boy was it just as amazing.

the scenery is breathtaking.

i don't think i could ever get sick of looking at the mountains.

once we were finished with the mud cave and hiking, we went swimming for a bit and saw the big banyon tree

so beautiful.

here is where is starts to get ugly.

we got home that day and showered.

my eye started getting those nasty "boogers" in it every 10 minutes or so without fail.

i didn't worry about it too much at first until we saw the whole iris covered in mucus.

yuck.

at that point i began to worry...

i thought it was pink eye so we went to the pharmacy and grabbed some medication.

i went back to the hostel and laid down while the others finished their shopping.

by the time they got back my eye was swelling.

not pink eye.

we went to the hospital and i was told that it was a bacteria from the water.

they gave me medicine and sent me on my way.

the next morning my eye was sealed shut and swollen even more.

the others went scootering while i stayed home and slept.

the rest of the day i stayed in the hostel...most boring day ever.

such a way to end a vacation. ha.

but it's okay. what we did and saw in yangshuo made it worth it.

i will never forget this trip.

even though it didn't go as planned, i had fun and definitely experienced some new things.

-k