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Published: January 3rd 2006
Gaudily lit but impressive all the same
One of the few pics that came out right from the Reed Flute Caves in GuilinPlane journey to Guilin was just as bad as the one to Shanghai - turbulence all the way so I hated it! Apparently they fly lower on these internal flights so you're more likely to get really bad turnulence but that doesn't make me feel any better to be fair. Landed down OK and found Flowers YH piece of piss so it's all good. Finally got my arse in gear to get a YH discount card and that pretty much paid for itself after only 2 or so nights. I've realised by now that I'm coming down with a cold so need to lay of the cigs for a bit so I don't screw my chest too much (fat chance when I'm on the pop every night!).
Next morning me and Ian went on a wander round Guilin and discovered it's actually really nice town with no people mithering you to try and but stuff and trees down loads of the streets so it was a nice change from all the other cities I'd been to so far. We found these 2 pagodas in a park halfway down the street so went to check them out. They were called the Sun
Mountains on the Li River
Caught the boat down from Guilin to Yangshuo - it was well cushtie! and Moon pagodas and one of them takes the title of biggest building in the world made completely of copper - now isn't that just a title to behold! lol. God knows why they did it like that but it was quite a nice view from the top. The Sun pagoda is on an island in the middle of lake and you have to take a transparent tunnel from the Moon pagoda and the lake to it where you could see quite a few fish (in between the 1inch layer of moss and scunge but the fish were enjoying munching on it), plus the Sun pagoda had a "tourist lift" in it - sort of takes the shine off it trying to be an old style pagoda eh?!
A bit further down from there was the Princes Palace where a prince from the Ming dynasty (I think), used to live with all his family a few hundred years back. It was surrounded by a massive wall and it must've been quite a nice place to live back in the day. The best part of it was the limestone mountain that sprouted out of the back lawn though - the views
You couldn't make this stuff up!
Absolute genius some of the signs out here, there isn't a day goes by when I don't see at least one corker! of Guilin off the top of that were ace!
After that we had a buzz over to Reed Flute Caves which is a massive network of caves about 5 miles out of Guilin. I've seen some caves in my life but these were pretty breathtaking just for the sheer size of some of the chambers! My pics didn't come out that good but it was well worth going if a little pricey (60yuan, I don't suppose 4 quid's that bad really?). The funniest bit was the guide that was showing us round the place pointing out each individual part of each chamber - this is an old man talking to his grandson, this is a monkey, an owl, a dragon with one eye shut; it was just bollocks! The place used to be used as an air raid shelter in WW2 and not once were we told something factual on this tour! The only thing that made it humourous was the cute little Chinese tourguide that was telling us all of this, she was just so cheerful, cute and sweet as she did it that you just couldn't not take notice of her! lol.
That night we went for a
Meal in Yangshuo
We went for a pizza at a restaurant near If Bar 2nd night I was there. Met shitloads of people in Yangshuo so it was quality! Brazillian BBQ down the road that was all you could eat for about 3 quid then after a few beers I crashed out.
Had to be up at 7:30am next morning to get on the boat down the Li River to see the mountains around Guilin properly. The minibus was supposed to pick us up from the hostel at 8am but still no sign by 8:30; wtf? 15 mins later the hostel gets a phonecall telling us to get in a taxi to some hotel and they'll pay for it - fair play. When we got there the minibus was waiting with 15 irrate Chinese tourists on it, shite! First thing they said when we got on was "oh, you overslept then?" so I told them that we were supposed to be picked up from the hostel but no-one believed us so what could I do? Not even 9and I've already pissed off an entire busful of people! The tour guide was doing a commentry on the way to the river and all and half way through she just pointed at us, said load of stuff in Chinese then the entire bus turned round and starting laughing at us -
Ah, that's what the inside of a butterfly's like then?!
You know, I'd always wondered about that! What were they thinking with this now really?! cheers bee-atch, it was your blody fault in the first place! WEe both bit our tongues and lughed back comically so it was OK.
We got on the boat with this German lad who was working in HK but had a week off so ws having a scan round the country a bit more. He kept taking pics of his teddy with the mountains in the background when me and Ian had our backs turned but I didn't say owt coz he was obviously embarassed about it alredy and I'm not a complete bastard (debatable I know). Trip down the river was stunning but there was a massive convoy of boats doing the same so it was never like you were alone on it really.
The trip took about 5 hours in total so we arrived in Yangshuo around 3-4ish in the end so we checked straight in Bamboo House Hostel (which was stupid cheap), and went looking for some scran. We wandered over to Lisa's Guesthouse to see what their common room was like (just a restaurant as it turned out), but we met some people that Ian had been knocking about with in Beijing so we had a
Mountains around Yangshuo
I got this bike for the entire day to ride round Yangshuo for only 10yuan (80p). How\'s that work then? few beers with them lot and a meal, good day all round I thought!
Apparently I must've drunk more than I thought coz felt pretty shite next day. Once my stomach was feeling up to the task we rented some mountain bikes for the day - how on earth do they make any cash when they only charge you 10 yuan (80p) for a full days rental of a full suspension mountain bike? Not my problem I suppose, I was well chuffed though! We set off round Yangshuo until we found a nice little dirt track to buzz down. The views were absolutely stunning round there and the only people we bumped into were the locals in the little villages here and there all shouting "hello" and waving at us - it was ace! When we eventually got to the end of the dirt track we came to a main road so we followed it down for a bit until we got to a butterfly park set into the side of a mountain. We weren't originally going to go in but it was only 3 quid so we paid our fee and headed on in. Big mistake I tell ya!
What're ya doing Ian?!
Loving the pink earmuffs though eh? The original owner discarded them so we took them for a laugh. We were pretty wasted by now methinks... First of all we were taken round some blatently fake stalagmite/tite caves with a guide who wouldn't let us walk off, next of all we went under a waterfall that was also obviously man-made. We trekked up a mountain which had nice views but I was feeling a bit rough so couldn't really be arsed walking up hundreds of steps. When we wandered back down there was a pond which we worked out was supposed to be butterfly wings and a giant butterfly body in the centre which you could walk through - how fucking tacky?! Check the pic for what they thought would entertain people as to what the insides of a butterfly looked like, I was pissing myself! The revolving rollers at the entrance and exit were what topped it off I tell ya! Right then, finally we get to the actual butterfly park bit. The sign by the entrance says "this park is home to over 200 species of butterfly where they breed as well as live". Cushtie I thought, this is what I came for. Walk though the entrance and what do I see? Fuck all, that's what! No butterflies whatsoever! Me and Ian didn't know whether to laugh or cry I tell you! Ah well, lets get out of this godforsaken tourist trap and jib back to Yangshuo.
Got home in about a 3rd of the time it took us to get away then went straight over to Lisa's Guesthouse to sort out the secret Santa thing we'd organized the night before. I thought there was only about 10 of us doing it to be fair but it ended up that over 30 of us were in the end! I got some chocolate so I was happy, don't think the lad that got my pink earmuffs was too impressed though! lol.
After the secret Santa thing it was off to do my traditional Christmas Eve drink till you can't stand up jobby, anyone that knows me knows the score with this one and I'll tell you now, I reached new levels with this one! Vast amounts of beer and 3 bottles of JD later (shared mind you), I was wondering why we had decided to sit on the 3rd floor of If Bar (top place btw), which you had to get a stepladder up to. God knows how none of us broke our necks but it was all good and I'm still here to tell the tale.
The day after that was pretty hard work in all honesty - Merry Christmas ya dozy piss-head! Well you do the crime you pay the time eh? Got outta bed around 4ish (that was when I could just about stand up anyway), and set about sorting my ticket to Hong Kong to catch my flight on 27th December. I had to get a coach to Shenzen which would take about 12 hours then I'd walk across the border to Hong Kong then catch the train into the city centre; fair play.
Once that was sorted I set off to find them lot and say my goodbye's. Had a couple of beers, a bit of food then set off on my way. Was a bit gutted to be saying bye really coz them lot were proper sound and it would've been nice to have stayed another day or two but no use worrying about that now really.
Got on the bus piece of piss but the actual trip was a complete nightmare I tell ya! I'm 6 foot tall you see and these beds were quite obviously made for people that weren't, many attacks of cramp and dead foot/leg later I was getting pretty irrate I tell you! Made it to Shenzen all the same around 11ish the next morning and got over to Hong Kong fine (even if the passport control thing in Shenzen is a complete ballache). Checked in at Chungking Mansion again and got an early night coz my flight's at 9am next morning.
Got to the airport fine with plenty of time to spare so they put me on an earlier flight coz my flight was overbooked, suited me fine though really. Next stop bangkok... :o)
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Browny
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Quote of the travel blog so far...
"I've seen some caves in my life..." Really Dan? I always had you down as an ex hermit!! :-)