Guilin Merryland Resort Hotel

... in a four boat pile up (which was hillarious!) we boarded a golf caddy with no suspension to take us to Yangshuo town. The caddy could only seat 8 people but somehow we managed around 12 people, plus rucksacks and a few locals holding onto the side. This was pretty scary as we were on a narrow road with hugh un-barriered cliff drops down into the River Li and oncoming traffic. We praised the Lord for still being alive after finally reaching ...

... row of dirty, dingy shops which visitors would have to enter to see what they sold. Recently however, Wayao has moved. It moved one block away, and the new area is really wonderful. It consists of two 4 story buildings and a smaller area with many small streets surrounded by two stories of shops. The market is now well lit, and most shops have window displays making it unecessary to enter each shop. <br><br><br>Wayao features shops that sell paintings, tea ...

... and two together...turns out the Jingdu Guilin hotel is a love hotel. A really quite dodgy love hotel. We didn't hear noises or anything but the room we were given definitely didn't live up to the nice cosy rooms in their elevator pictures. The place had quite a diverse selection of fauna in the bathroom but we were so tired we didn't care and passed out until we woke up the next day to head for the much nicer location of Yangshuo.

... with my friends they had to take me to this Korean Bar-B-Q it is all they talked about all week. So we went. It was really good. You get to cook your own meals at your table. It was very interesting. Each table has its own ventilation system. You get all kinds of food to choose from. After dinner I took everyone to the Waterfalls Hotel the best place in town. I use to go there with some of my students years ago. I was disappointed ...

... It was gorgeous! Lots of high peeked mountains. We also got to see the city at night and it was all lite up. We saw fisherman fish with cormorants. Its a type of bird. The birds catch the fish but can't swallow it so the fisherman takes it out of their mouth. Today we will being flying to Shanghai. sStill no ketchup in sight...I miss it alot. hahah alright, love you all! Gaby and Daddio!

20/10 Before arriving at the rice terraces we left our large bags at a random hotel on the way because in order to get to our hotel we had to trek for an hour up a steep path. The whole area around our hotel is covered by rice terraces cut into the mountains and although the rice has harvested, so the terraces arent at there most attractive it is still impressive to see. In the afternoon we walked up the mountain to a couple of scenic ...

9-9-08 I have decided to try to get out of the heat and humidity for a couple of days. I have been talking to a local tour guide, Monica, about going to the mountains about 3 or 4 hours away by bus. There was going to be 4 of us but the others canceled at the last moment. It was an adventure in the realm of Chinese bus transportation. First the bus we needed no longer comes the the bus terminal here. This is something you need ...

This is so far my favourite place so far in China. It wasn't on my "plan", not that I really had a plan, but it really was a last minute decision. Another person from the Giggling tree was heading out and after seeing pictures, I asked if I could tag along. I figured I had spent too much time at the Giggling Tree when I noticed the neighbour had finished chopping down their tree. They started on this tree when I first arrived and have been working on ...

Given that there are limited things to do in Guilin and loads of things to do out of it, we made a day trip (which could easily have turned into an overnight trip) to Longsheng. I used to get up early all the time, but since we've been in China I have really not wanted to get up. This makes day trips into quite an event for me. I got up. We had a quick breakfast and ran down to the bus station. Bus stations are all slightly more challenging than ...

... up the little stone paths - the only way to access the villages and to reach the top, was beautiful and amazing. With all of the pine trees and rocks cutting into the mountains, the villages reminded me a lot of the copper mining towns in Northern Michigan with their dark stained clapboard houses, disassembled metal equipment leaning against the buildings, and the steep steps built into the houses constructed to withstand snow and ...