Parliz Commercial Hotel Guilin

... down and she came up with a total each way of about 2600. The pictures included should provide some insight into the beauty of the area. We then drove back to Guilin where we went to Elephant Trunk Hill Park to see a mountain that resembles an elephant. The last stop before a wonderful dinner was the South China Pearl Museum and shops. .

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I had chosen the cheaper option of 'hard bed' which is not as the name suggests without bedding, but a 6 berth compartment in the same space as the 4 berth 'soft bed' option. If you took an old style 1st class train compartment and removed the aisle door, the seats and replaced them with 3 stacked bunk beds on each wall, then it would give you an idea of how tight the space was. As I heaved my bulk up to the top bunk ...

... Canal which links these two spots. I'm going by boat to Yangshuo on Friday where there are more pinnacles to climb and the possibility of more boat trips to remote villages of colourful non-Han peoples, (the Dong, Zhuang, Yao and Miao). Also this province is a slightly easier and a more popular border crossing into Vietnam, where I am joining an organised tour in October I'm sure many of you will be pleased to hear.

I was ...

Arrived in Guilin on Monday I think, and have been travelling around the villages surrounding it. Saw the Dragon's Backbone rice terraces, they're amazing. There are Zhuang (another ethnic minority) women everywhere trying to sell you things, and also asking whether you'd like a photo of their hair, they never cut it, and tie it up in a turban. One photo for 10 Yuan. It's completely fake, and for the tourists, but hopefully ...

Today is was our last day in Yangshou, and the best way to start off the day is a good breakfast, and we found a nice little cafe that offered great western food. We had fresh juice, waffles... oh! It was good. On the agenda-- another bike ride through the country. Since the tandem teamwork worked so well the day before, Kirsty and I teamed up again. This time, Kirsty was armed with my camera, so she could get some photos on our tour about. The scenery ...

... SO FAR, I AM VERY LUCKY TO LIVE IN CANADA. ESPECIALLY AFTER TALKING TO SOME OF THE NICE CHINESE PEOPLE AND LEARNING HOW MUCH THEY DESIRE TO TRAVEL AND HOW HARD IT IS FOR THEM TO SAVE UP THE MONEY TO GO, WHEN ALL I HAVE TO DO IS WORK ONE SUMMER TO COME OVER TO CHINA. IN GENERAL, CHINA HAS A HABIT OF BREAKING ONES NICE DEMEANOR, BUT I AM NOT BROKEN YET AND I REMAIN OPTIMITIC BECAUSE THERE ARE STILL MANY GREAT PEOPLE OVER HERE WHO HAVE AN HONEST HEART (I WILL CONTINUE TO ...

... and in the evening played cards which is something we have done alot of on this trip! Despite the beauty of the area it is changing at a rapid pace as tourism gethers pace and more guesthouses are built. I wouldn't be surprised if soon the local people stop working the fields and switch to the more profitable tourism industry which would ruin the countryside so Im glad I get to see it now. 21/10 Today we left our hotel and took a ...

... the ground in some cases. It is tradition that the women never cut their hair after the age of sixteen. We decide to pay them a small fee, about twenty Yuan, and have a couple of the ladies demonstrate to us how they fix and comb their hair. They said that they save all the hair as it falls out during normal combing then tie it together in long pony tails. It was quite an eye opening site to see the long hair fall from their head. After the hair show, we thanked the ladies ...

... and gets to eat it, but if it is bigger than the loop around the neck, the fisherman forces the fish out of the bird's mouth. I found the whole process clever, lazy, and inhumane all at the same time. In order to see the fisherman, people had to come out onto the deck with me, and they realized that the weather actually wasn't that bad (and it stopped raining halfway through the fisherman's performance). I was actually somewhat angry because I ...

... resistance at the bottom of the bowl, with a good push the taster ladled up the goodies from the bottom of the bowl - slowly rising, like excalibur from the murky depths, came the claw and leg of an unfortunate chicken. Our guide had warned us that the Chinese will eat everything with legs except the table and hairs and everything with wings except and aeroplane. I daresay that we had unknowingly consumed worse without realising ...