Going Dutch

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The people in Guilin have been amazing, really great company. I stayed at Wada Hostel which in my opinion is one of the best hostels in China, and I highly recommend it. The staff are crazy cool, Simba is lovable and mischievous.

7th Aug
Sat having breakfast today and I overheard some people talking about going to the Rice Terraces at Longji. Me being ever the cheeky scouser asked if I could join them and they being excellent travelles let me tag along.
So today I lived out life long dream I visited rice paddies in China. It's a beautiful place, the terraces are carved into the mountainside, the rice growing in small steps climbing steeply up the mountainside. I stayed here for a couple of days towards the end of the week so I will write a separate entry on Longji later.

8th Aug

After such a long day yesterday, its nice to just chill and explore the surrounding area today. I met a few more Dutch boys and joined them swimming in the river this afternoon. Never in a million years did I think I would be swimming in a Chinese river, with tour boats and fishing boats cruising by. We swam next to a bridge and of course attracted a lot of attention from the locals. It was perfect and by the time we got back I was ravenous, so it was shower and food! This evening we took a bus in to town to see the night markets, it was a stereotypical market, the kind you find at Christmas with trinkets ands tat and some more scrumptious food.

9th
Today I hired a bike and ventured out into the city to find a famous park. I managed to take a wrong turn somewhere and got extremely lost. I seem to have inherited my mothers sense of direction! It was nice being out of the hostel and just cycling though...until smack a scooter hits my front wheel and I go flying off the bike. The scooter nowhere to be seen. Now I was shaking, a little scared and my pride bruised, Chinese people around me started talking, smiling and asking if I was OK. I quickly smiled and jumped back on to the bike and cycled back to the hospital.
I gave up on the idea of cycling and instead just read a little, ate a little and snoozed the day away.
You must be thinking this girl is crazy she's not exploring the city, she's not doing anything...well I'm on holiday, what do you do on holiday!

I'm travelling to Longji tomorrow with a German girl I met, we're going hiking and I'm really looking forward to being back in the mountains, the air is somehow much clearer, the humidity less and the scenery much nicer than the flat stillness of the city. I am however sad to be leaving Guilin. The girls at the hostel are hilarious and I hope Tortor isn't still being fed beef!

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Photos

Cheesecake
Otherwise known as the best thing since sliced bread

Me
looking exhausted