Glistening in Guilin

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I said goodbye to Hong Kong and headed back into mainland China. My luck continues as I meet two sisters from Missouri (one of which is ending a 6 month journey around the world.....in fact, she is doing the exact opposite route i am taking). Together we take the turbo jet to Shenzen (china) and then board a flight to Guilin. While my original plan was to go to Yangshuo, I alter it to stay in Guilin one night so I can see the famous Caves and then catch a boat down the Lijiang river to Yangshuo.

Unfortunately, we also meet three JAPS from NYC who accompany us in Guilin to the caves. I put up with them for a day while enjoying Guilin (caves, bamboo boat ride, hiking, etc.).

The next day, we leave Guilin (and the JAPS) and catch the boat to Yangshuo. I stike up a conversation with a young Chinese girl (cathy) and she instantly becomes one of our group (which is great as she can speak chinese). The boat ride is glorious as we catch wonderful scenery of mountain peaks and local wildlife. But, our luck runs out as our boat breaks down and we have to stop in the middle of the river. No A/C and it is 98 degrees with lots of humidity. We pass the time on the top of the boat playing cards. Just as we are about to lose it and jump overboard, the engines start and we are saved. The rest of the 4 hour boat ride floats by uneventful other than the chinese people loving to take photos with us (especially the two sisters from Mizzou).

Ahhh...Yangshuo ahead.

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Photos

traffic jam guilin style
a pedestrian traffic jam occurs as we wait for the walking bridge to swing into place...luckily I had my EZpass I stole from Kirk's nissan

Communication skills pay off
I meet a chinese girl on the bus to our boat for Yangshou. Hopefully she will hang with us and be our translator.

Floatilla to Yangshou
The boats line up and the masses come aboard. I immediately looked for Gopher and Doc.

Another boat passes us by
Our boat began to slow and others passed us. 15 minutes later, we were stopped and baking in the midday sun.

Wonderful scenery
after we get going again, the scenery is magnificent. The area is famous for its many peaks.

Comments

[Cheryl]

Waterfalls!
Hope you are having safe and happy travels! NY and NJ are missing you!