Karst hills of Guilin

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Yesterday we landed in Guilin, in a hotel that we paid 120¥ for rather than the advertised 450¥ price. How? By just saying the price was too high & heading towards the door. This was the first offer as well, & a good thing as it was blinking freezing! However, our room was also freezing, on closer inspection this could well have been due to the huge gap in the window pane (which I have since sellotaped up in a vain attempt to increase room temperature).
The other bizarre irritation was the presumably associated tour agency. This morning at approx. 8.50am we switched on the TV. At approx. 8.51am, the tour agent phoned the room to explain his vast range of tours. This I managed to fob off.
So, we set out to find some famous scenery. Fubo Shan park was beautiful. We saw the 1000 Buddha cave with intricately carved images & the Returned Pearl cave. The view from the top was striking. Onward to the Elephant hill; it really did look like an elephant drinking out of the river, but they had wised up here & you couldn't get a good shot without paying the park fee. Damn it.
Having returned for a warming cuppa, Mr Tour Guide appears at the door!!! Unbelievable. I did manage to excuse myself eventually by claiming we were just going out for dinner, but we ensured we always moved briskly through the foyer after that. Talk about Big Brother.
Final note: do not purchase Chinese Chocolate, it is gross.

Drink of the Day: Hammy Melon Pearl Milk Tea

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