Wet day on the river

---

Geo: 24.8466, 110.281

On our last evening in Guilin we strolled out to the lake in front of the Waterfall Hotel to see the two brightly lit pagodas and then went to the Li River Cuisine restaurant nearby, a large brightly lit place where the menu is all in Chinese but thank heaven for the pictures! We had terrific oysters and scallops followed by prawns, clams and bacon with peppers and some green stuff- excellent.

The following morning it was a 40 min drive to the Li River where we boarded a boat with max 80 people and sailed down the river. This was the first time we came across other westerners. This trip would be fabulous in September in the good weather but as it was, it was misty with a light rain so the view of the spectacular mountains was spoiled somewhat. The Chinese are very imaginative so we passed cliffs, one of which showed a horseman and another had 9 horses apparently but I could only spot 3. Another was a woman on her back awaiting her husband! We had lunch on the boat but this was pretty awful and most of the westerners ate only half of theirs whereas the Chinese pushed their way into the buffet and had second helpings. They do not seem to mind eating cold food. Cold cabbage and noodles and a few bones meant to be chicken was really not tasty. At the end of the 4 hour trip we got off the boat at Yangshuo. After climbing the inevitable steps there was a 20 minute walk to the hotel along a walkway lined with souvenir shops. Finally we came onto the main street which is lined by restaurants and souvenir shops. If you hadn't bought all your stuff by now this was the place to get it. The place relies solely on tourism and could be considered the Phuket of China. China is not cheap. This is certainly not Thailand. However if you want to see the gorgeous scenery as seen in Chinese paintings; this is the place to come. I am sure there are smaller boats you could take and do the same trip in half the time, without lunch, directly from Yangshuo..

We checked into the Green Lotus River View Hotel with lovely large room overlooking the river but a very hard bed. Incidentally our luggage had been previously transported there by our driver. There was no bar that we could see so we walked into town. There are no bars as such except at night when they turn into night clubs blaring loud music and charging admission. In the end we found a German bar which was totally empty but the music was in the background. We had dinner at the Cloud 9 restaurant. Braised dog was on the menu but it wasn't boned so we had the duck instead! Breakfast at the hotel was mainly Chinese food but you could get omelettes. I had dim sum and broccoli! We then had to gear up for our Tai Chi lesson with Mr.Yang. He led us down odd side streets which we would never have walked down to his "studio" for the lesson. We enjoyed it and only hope that we can remember the 1 to 10 sequence. After that we strolled to the fruit, meat and fish market to see what they were selling. Amongst the eels, river snails and fish were turtles, all alive in buckets. Gutted dogs and goats were hanging up and there were loads of live bunnies and kittens piled in cages ready for sale to eat! A market not for animal lovers but was fascinating. Our appetite thus stimulated we had lunch back at the Cloud 9, where we had river prawns in sauce and squid with baked rice. Both tasted good but the river prawns are tiny and not shelled so you have to eat the lot.

It was then time to collect our luggage and set off for the airport via a drive through the countryside. We were actually scheduled for a bicycle ride but in view of the rain and the fact that I would not cycle even if it was hot and sunny we cancelled that activity! At the airport we had problems with our overweight luggage for the first time thanks to Hong Kong airlines. None of the internal flights had bothered. This plane was only half full but they insisted on fining us $100US for the pleasure of carrying our luggage! We pledged never to go overweight again but I don't know how we can do it. We were fine when we set off but then you buy stuff even though we also pledged not to buy more stuff! At least they had wine on board which the internal flights did not.

---

Photos

A seller pulls up alongsdie to sell nuts & fruit

Comments

[paul]

So, is it now official - have you guys now spent more time over there than Marco Polo? And congrats - the dogs & goats is, by a very long way, the most disturbing "holiday snap" I've ever seen. Getting deeply immersed in the "culture"!
Time for you guys to head on home.

[steve]

I don't feel hungry now. I will look at this every time I do. A great diet aid.

[Trish]

You did NOT have to post this photo!I am really upset........

[roberta]

omgg