Gong De Resort Guiping

So up to date at last.... We arrived at Yangshuo this morning... after a 5 hour bus journey from Yichang to Wuhan and then an overnight train from Wuhan to Guilin and then another bus from Guilin to Yangshuo... the others have gone River Rafting - uh no... bound to fall in. Have a look around and then catch up with you guys... You'll be glad to know that I'm ...

We caught a local bus from Yangshuo to Xing Ping where we were due to go on board for our local boat ride and view of more amazing Karst Mountains. First we were loaded onto small local golf-cart style transport and whisked off to the river. First stop was to see the Karst Mountains that are featured on the back of the 20 Yuan note. Some of the people took photos of themselves with the 20 Yuan note :-) Then back on board and ...

So, with a mission in hand, down the river I went.. Yangshuo was the distination and the scenary was the objective.. although the moment I stepped on the boat I knew I was in for a watered down touristic experience.. jammed in between 5 other boats all packed to the gills with mainly middle aged western wearing their jazzy safai jackets and 3 peice zipperable tousers.. (you know the ones).. Fun, Fun, Fun! Still, there was a Cher look alike onboard, that was worth the journey alonw, see ...

chugged into Guilin this morning, looking forward to a couple of days chilling after the excess of Shanghai.. although i have got to start getting tibet and the assoicated permits and tickets arrange! should be fun, anyhow just about to unpack, just thought I'd log in, say hi!

... in this country, it's still surrounded by beautiful scenery, and it's still packed with really, really annoying traders who won't let you have a moment's peace if they see you sitting alone on a cafe. It wouldn't be the same without them! The only major difference this time was the weather. Finally, I saw blue skies in Yangshou, and what a difference it made! As with before, one of the best things I did ...

... and we arrived in the village at the base of the mountain where he strongly suggested we pay Y50 to see a half-hour welcome show. It sounded very similar to what we had seen in Guizhou villages and did not think it worth the investment. Joe told us there was no shopping on this tour, so his only commission was the Y5 per head he would get for taking us into this show. We were not the only ones who declined, and we were glad we did as it gave us time to wander ...

... back home to rest and do some internet. We had a large beer - only Y5 here at the hostel, half what the restaurants charge, with some taro chips and a delicious fresh mango that Yoong bought yesterday. We are going to the light show tonight - the late session. Larry just informed us he couldn't get seats for the early show. That gives us time to go and have a beer fish for dinner - a local specialty. * * * Just before we got to the specialist beer fish restaurant ...

... she would meet us where the raft finished. The trip was very scenic, though I was worried about the sun. The raft had an umbrella, but the boatman had to take it down later because of the strong winds. We fell right into the first tourist scam. When we went over a small rapids, several pictures were taken of us, without our knowledge. The raft pulled up at a floating platform where we were shown a series of photos on a computer and asked to choose one for the ...

... cut. It all looked rather grim and not what our book had described. When a couple of tourists approached us and asked where the nice bit was we decided there must be more. After a bit more exploring we found the old bit of Fuli next to the river complete with tat stalls! By now it was quite late and we couldn't face the ride back so we took a boat. The four of us were in this huge barge that crept upstream at a snails pace against the current but eventually we made it back.

... to skillfully navigate us between these floating hazards. We then visited the Big Banyan Tree (1400yrs old!). We walked round the tree as this is meant to give you a long life. We then headed for Moon Hill and faced with the option of a 3hr hike up it in blistering heat we decided to have lunch at the bottom and just look at it. Since we hadn't had a swim for the whole trip we took the option of visiting the Water Cave which allows you to have a quick dip. To enter the cave you have ...