Ming Cheng Guilin

... 1 other person who did it who wasn't near us. Bought some honeycomb on the way down - took 30 years to be made in a cave & still had bees attached & tasted pretty good.



Not a bad day but not outstanding - would be better doing on your own in local transport.

Slept all the way back & then had dinner at the hostel again as we were too tired to go out!

... our stuff, keen to get out of Guilin to the place western tourists rave about - Yangshuo. But, first I had to get our refund and see two more sights. After a lot of complaining we managed to get our money back and off we went to the reed flute cave. The huge cave complex was full of stalagmites lit up in different colours. It was otherworldly and kept us amused for an hour. We then caught a taxi to a traditional restaurant on an island in the middle of ...

... ride through very deep canyons were the terraces. We hiked up from the parking lot to a village in the hills. We were told that the terraces had only become popular in the past two years and that only a few western backpackers had bothered to visit prior to recent years. The town seems to be rapidly changing thanks to the influx of tourists as there are several small hotels and restaurants perched on the hills between irrigation streams and family homes.
Guilin, Guangxi, China sponger42

... this time hopefully shorter. I'd say my entire trip was a great success. I got so much needed rest and relaxation, and definetly got to see another side of Chinese living. I'm starting to see the contrasts between Shanghai and other places, hopefully once I travel more these will become even more distinct. Can't wait for another short trip to blog about soon, but until then my Hong Kong entry is next. It was a pretty amazing week. But that will be said in my next blog... Daxinlu <3

... to master the tune and lyrics was a little stressful. In typical fashion, the next day when it came time for our part of the show we had no advance warning and had to do everything on the spot. It was probably good though, since we didn't have any time to get nervous! Luckily we remembered all the words and the song went ok. However, that was only part of the battle, as the interview questions came next, which I didn't have much time to prepare ...

... couldn't get any English channels anyways. It also breaknts the monotony of learning only through reading textbooks. The lack of refrigerator has caused me to drink a lot more room temperature (or hotter) water than I'm accustomed to, but it's also caused me to buy more cold bottled water from drink stands. My roommate and I are looking into renting one for that reason alone...and no don't worry, we haven't drank ...

... strolling through the park, and stopped for a hot and spicy soup (don't ask why) at lunchtime, which was ordered rather clumsily with the aid of our still-developing ESL teacher hand signals. In the afternoon, we visited the Wan Chan Palace, where we climbed the solitary beauty peak in the sweltering heat for a view over the gorgeous city and the ubiquitous limestone peaks jutting up throughout the city. At night, we found ourselves wandering ...

I guess I haven't posted for a couple days. I was mostly taking it easy and relaxing from all the hiking in Zhangjiajie. My legs were pretty sore but they're better now. Anyway, I stayed in Guilin for 2 nights in a hostel. Guilin is supposed to be really pretty but I didn't really think it was that special. However, on the train ride to Guilin one of the tour guides told me the Olympic torch would be ...

... post is des**ted, with one token memb** of staff th**e to stamp the passports. The Vietnamese bord** is more active. With visas checked and the baggage thoroughly examined, we wand** down into the centre of the village of Nam Soi. Th**e is a bus waiting which is always promising, but on approaching the driv** says "$25" each, rubbing his hands togeth** in a rath** creepy way. We laugh and start trying to haggle, but each time the answ** is the same with more ...

... sat down and speculated as to what we'd get. Fried rice?; Noodles?; soup?; noodles?; Soup?; how many plates of food (anywhere from 1 to 6 was the guess). It all came out and was lovely - we got 3 dishes and plain rice. It cost about $4.00 for the 6 of us!! Keith went back to the hotel while the rest of us walked on. We get to a school which Mel found fascinating. Watching through windows as students worked. The noise from the children was extremely loud. Others were out in ...