Airline Grand Guilin

... where the doors were always closed and no one was milling about on the corridors, it felt much more sociable. There was a buzz about the air in the 'hard bed' cattle class, with people talking and joking with each other. Unusually I felt a bit excited like a kid on a school trip. Travelling on a state sleeper train with it's attendants harking back to an earlier era felt old fashioned and romantic. I'm sure the novelty would wear off ...

... off and he was running down the steps with the smell of burning flesh in the air. Though I had seen people practically running across, I had never seen anyone run straight on to the slimy cobbles. I think you probably know what's coming......only one step on to the cobbles and he dramatically falls flat on his back fully clothed!! Luckily no serious injury was sustained and my first aid kit had it's debut to patch up his wounded finger :-)

It was sweltering hot and humid in Guiln and walking across from the train station to the hostel was quite the effort so upon geting rid of the bags and checking in, it was time for a well deserved drink.
Following day it was off wandering about the city which is surrounded by giant limestone karsks... Basically big rocks towering all over the countryside. So Guilin was quite possibly the nicest looking chinese ...

... het aalschoolvissen te gaan bekijken. (Bij Aalscholvissen gaat een visser erop uit met zijn watervogels. Deze vangen voor hem de vis. Hij heeft de beesten een touwtje om hun nek gedaan waardoor ze de gevangen vissen niet zelf op kunnen eten. De vogels worden binnengehaald in het bootje en moeten de vis uit hun bekken afgeven aan de visser.). We hadden pas om 19.00 uur met onze nieuwe Nederlandse "vrienden" afgesproken en we hadden geen telefoonnummer ...

... The Dirty Flower" (aka Guilin Flowers Youth Hostel). Damp and discolored sheets of the paper covering holes in the wall doesn't qualify as wallpaper! We made the mistake of washing out clothes here and, as the dryer was broken (no surprise there), the clothes weren't dry until 4 days later! The only redeeming factor at Dirty Flower was the cheerful staff, though they must be intoxicated on mold spores to feel the cheer in that environment!

A big travelling day - loaded with goodies from Lou's Bakery we're back to Guilin by bus, then 2 more buses to get to the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces at Ping'an, Longsheng. this is where, way up in the hills (a scarey hairpin bended road), the landscape has been transformed into farmable terraces. Once again it's heaving with tourists and the final half hour walk up the hill to the village is lined with souvenir stalls. We walk up to the viewpoint and realise ...

... were everywhere. It was beautiful. You know the traditional Chinese landscape paintings of mountains and rivers? Guilin looks just like this. It is an absolutely flaming exquisite place of natural beauty and tranquillity. Our first trip with Eddie was the largest and most impressive cave in Guilin: Flute Reed Cave - 240 metres long. So called because of the reeds that grow at the entrance which make flutes and pipes. Apparently. This was ...

... written in ink, which can dating back to 792 AD during the Tang Dynasty, over one thousand years ago. These aged marks tell that it have been an attraction in ancient time ...

... who true to the form peddle reed flutes as souvenirs of choice to all souvenir collectors and an occasional wannabe flutist. I don't know if they have English-speaking guides through the cave, but even if they do, Yan Hua and I found ourselves mainly among the Chinese. Some time in the 1960s, they paved a pathway within the cave and rigged coloured lighting to show off the otherworldly natural formations to their fullest. Consequently, once lit, in keeping with what seems to be a ...