Guilin and the Li River

I had trouble sleeping last night and around 2:00am I decided to edit some photos. So I worked on that for a while and then wrote some blog posts. Even though I was tired and couldn’t sleep it turned out good because I got caught up on all my photo editing and journaling. Finally, around 4:15am I went back to sleep and slept until 6:30am. Thomas and I both got up and got ready for the day. We showered and dressed and got what we needed for our excursion. Then we went down to the Li Café for breakfast. It was a buffet with a lot to choose from. When we finished eating we waited for about ten minutes in the lobby for the group and our local tour guide.

At 8:15am we left the hotel and drove about an hour to our excursion which started at the MoPan Hill Wharf. We got our tickets and made our way through security to boat 168 for our cruise down the Li River. The cruise covered 83km and took about 4hrs. Along the way we saw some beautiful scenery and some special formations. The highlight was seeing the view that is on the back of the ¥20. XingPing Scenery - it is a stunning location. We also saw the following things . . . Bat Hill, YangDi, Crown Cave, the Painted Hill of Nine Horses, Snail Hill and YangShuo County. At YangShuo we got off the boat and walked through a local market. From there we took golf carts to another market – West Street. Here our local tour guide took us to two stores for shopping. I am assuming she get a kick back from taking us there. Thomas and I didn’t shop – we just looked around and hoped this wouldn’t take long. After about 40 minutes we made our way to the bus and started our drive back to Guilin which was to take about an hour and forty-five minutes. Along the way the traffic stopped, we found out that the police had blocked the road for a VIP (don’t know who). Luckily, our local tour guide went and told the police we needed to get to our hotel to get our luggage and then get to the airport so they let us through.

Around 4:30pm we arrived in downtown Guilin and went to Candoing Health Club for foot massages and reflexology. We were there for an hour. First, they soaked our feet in a hot tea bath and massaged our shoulders and upper back at the same time. Then they did massages on our feet and calves. It was incredible and a perfect way to end the day. After the massages we returned to the hotel. Thomas and I went to our room to drop off our things and then at 6:30pm we went down to dinner. It was a buffet dinner and was just okay. Once we were done with dinner we took a walk along the Li River out in back of our hotel. Then we returned to our room and took showers. I thought I might get some photos edited from today but my eyes were closing and I decided just to go to sleep. Tomorrow we head to Hong Kong.

Moving on to Guilin

Today we part with the group and head to Guilin and Hong Kong. Six of us and Arnold are continuing on with our trip while the rest of the group heads back home. Thomas and I were up at 6:00am, we got dressed and went down to breakfast at 6:30am. After eating and saying goodbye to people we returned to our room and finish packing. We still had some time after packing so Thomas read and I worked on photos and journaling. Then at 9:30am we met Arnold in the lobby for our ride to the airport. It took us about an hour to get to the airport and then we checked in and went through security and then on to gate H34. We had some time before our flight and since it was 11:00am we decided to eat our boxed lunch while waiting. At 11:55am we boarded China Southern flight CZ3282 for Guilin. Thomas and I were in seats 45HJ. There was no one else in the row with us so we had plenty of space. It was about 12:40pm by the time we took off. During the flight they serve a meal but we had eaten already so we skipped that. During the flight I read a little, edited pictures and journaled. It was about a two and a half hour flight.

Once we landed we made our way to baggage claim and got our bags then we met up with a local tour guide and got on our mini bus for the hotel. During the hour ride to the hotel the local tour guide (Christine) told us information about Guilin. We arrived at our hotel – Shangri-La Resort about 5:15pm. Arnold got our room keys (574) and we made our way up to the room. We got settle and cleaned up and at 6:00pm we went down to the restaurant for dinner. It was just the seven of us – Thomas & I, Mary & Paul (from Indiana) and Jeff and Jen (from North Carolina) and Arnold joined us. We had a wonderful and filling meal. After eating and some nice conversation Thomas and I took a walk in the garden out back of the hotel. At 8:00pm we returned to our room.

After showers and changing we relaxed and it is now time to get some sleep so we can enjoy our day tomorrow. So far what we have seen of Guilin is beautiful and tomorrow should be fun.