陽朔再續間隔年／李明熙
早年在漂書節中漂出一本遊記 ——「遲到的間隔年」，作者孫東純寫下他辭職去流浪的故事，在印度加爾各答遇上日本少女沙彌香，二人一見鍾情，其後發展出第二部作品 —— 「間隔年之後」，記錄了作者的日本流浪之旅。現實生活中，二人的故事還有第 3 集，這次的地點在廣西陽朔，但今次不是著作，而是一間旅館。
在找陽朔住宿時，一心要找西街以外清靜一點的地方，看到神山路上有一家叫「東院彌香」的旅館，離巿中心約 20 分鐘路程。整個房間連開揚露台景觀，房價雖然超出預算，但「陽朔山水甲桂林」，為了外面的景致，我們還是訂下了。
在「東院彌香」的 Facebook 看到老闆的訪問，才發現老闆正是孫東純，旅館是他跟太太在 2015 年 8 月創辦的，英文名取印度自加爾各答裡聚集世界國地背包客的 Sudder Street，他希望將旅館塑造成為陽朔的旅客聚居地。我倒覺得名字還有另一個意思，是為了紀念他跟太太在 Sudder Street 的第一次相遇。
旅館以工業風格混合大量原木的簡約設計作裝修，房間沒有電視，但落地大玻璃窗外的風景，比甚麼電視節目都吸引。大堂有共用廚房及棋盤、結他等各式娛樂消遣，旁邊的咖啡廳每天都有出爐蛋糕。旅館有電動車和單車出租，所以出入巿區十分方便，5 時後的單車更是免費借用。而我們一致認為旅館優勝之處，是其一個小小戶外泳池，每次回來，我們定必跳進去消暑。
臨走前，我們向櫃枱職員補購了兩本孫東純的著作，職員說老闆當晚才回來，注定與他緣慳一面。
The Freedom of China／Kimberlogic
The road leaving Longji travels through all of the mountains and valleys with sharp, blind curves and drastic dropping cliffs. I had to close my eyes out of fear of going over the side or crashing head on around a curve at some points. After about an hour of this stressful torture, we finally made it to the highway and I was able to relax.
Once on the highway, I let out a sigh of relief, but that was short-lived. Our driver was passing every car or truck in front of him and weaving in and out of the oncoming lane. After we passed the city of Guilin, we were stuck in a traffic jam, and again I thought I could relax, but I hadn’t realised just how free China is.
The highway had two lanes on each side and was separated by a cement island. When the traffic began to move, it was only because everyone started to drive in the oncoming lane. There were no officials directing the traffic this way, it was just how things are done in China —— do what you need to do to get things done easily. Since everyone has this train of thought, it actually works smoothly; just like in Japan for example, things work smoothly because they all have the mentality to follow the rules.
Since I’m not from China, it looked like chaos to me, but eventually after about 3 hours, we made it to Yangshuo in one piece. After the terrifying bus ride and walking to our hostel in the intense heat, we needed time to relax before exploring.
Later that evening, we walked the town and the famous West Street. West Street is very loud, very crowded and full of the same kinds of tourist shops over and over again. Since we don’t like shopping, or eating at large chain restaurants, we had to venture into the more residential part of town to find our dinner. On a smaller street away from the West Street, we found a tiny noodle shop. Since the areas surrounding Guilin are well-known for their noodles, it is hard to find anything else worth eating. Once we got our bowl of noodles, we could add whatever we liked to it, from preserved vegetables, radish, chili peppers, green onion, etc. My noodles were very good, but surprisingly spicy. My lips burnt and I began to sweat as I slurped the noodles.
We spent the next day driving through rural parts of Yangshuo and enjoying the sights on a motor bike. The scenery in Yangshuo is unlike anywhere else I’ve been. The mountains look like they have just fallen from space. They are large limestone protrusions randomly jutting up from the ground. Every direction has a different view of these crazy mountains; almost like a young child drew them on the landscape.
After a long day in the scorching sun, we decided to go back to the West Street area for a quick easy dinner. We drove around for a while looking for a parking space but could only find spaces very far away. That’s when we decided to think like the Chinese —— we pulled the motorbike on to the side walk across from our destination and parked it, making it much easier to complete our task.
