After finally getting to our Guilin hotel at 130AM, it was quite difficult for the 5 of us to be excited about a 630 wake up call, but after an early breakfast in the hotel (an interesting western-eastern fusion--I'd recommend the watermelon juice) and some encouragement for, our guide, Lily, we got in the van and headed for Fubo hill. Let me tell you, this is the biggest hill, ever. Lily was in much better shape than the rest of us, and seemingly much less afraid of falling up or down the 325 steep steps to the top, so she made her way around the hill insanely quickly. From the top, we could see most of the city of Guilin, and the hundreds of peaks along the Li river which makes Guilin so famous.
After our terrifying decent down the mountain-hill, we drove to a boat on the Li river and took a 5-hour cruise. Our boat was among dozens of other boats, some of them cruise boats like ours, others just pieces
of bamboo tied together, deftly navigated by a man or women who made turns using a giant pole. At one point, I looked down and was quite sure we were about to run over one such bamboo raft, but the man
navigating it tied himself to our boat and from then proceeded to sell fruits to the lower level of the boat.
of bamboo tied together, deftly navigated by a man or women who made turns using a giant pole. At one point, I looked down and was quite sure we were about to run over one such bamboo raft, but the man
navigating it tied himself to our boat and from then proceeded to sell fruits to the lower level of the boat.
We got off of the boat at Yangshuo and dropped our luggage off at the hotel, got a quick tour of West street (reminded me a bit of Commercial st in Provincetown) and were left to explore on our own. Quite exhausted, our group slept through dinner, which prove to be to our benefit because when we finally went to find food at 9, the entire city of Yangshuo was lit up beautifully and here were still hundreds of people milling about. After dinner (beer fish, spicy beef, Yangshuo noodles, and dumplings) we walked through a park all lit up for the new year, and back to our hotel. If "walking back" sounds trivial- trust me, it is not. Walking through a city in China is much like playing a human game of frogger, cars and bikes everywhere, and your
bet for getting across a street alive is to look for a temporary lull in traffic (uncommon) and make a run for it.
Tomorrow, we have the whole day to explore Yangshou before we leave Thursday for Kunmimg, to see Mr. Hoover. We're all looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, and taking in as much as we can!
Until next time-- Xin nian quai le!
bet for getting across a street alive is to look for a temporary lull in traffic (uncommon) and make a run for it.
Tomorrow, we have the whole day to explore Yangshou before we leave Thursday for Kunmimg, to see Mr. Hoover. We're all looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, and taking in as much as we can!
Until next time-- Xin nian quai le!
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