Tongli Sanyuan Hotel Wujiang

Despite the heat, we were all charged up for a 20 km trip to the local must-see tourist destination, Moon Mountain and the Water Caves. With our perky Chinese guide, Sophie to show us the way, we pedalled our rentals (at 10 RMB per day - about $1.50) through scenic valleys, across ...

The bus was not a sleeper but we had reclining seats. There was not a lot of leg room so it wasn't the height of comfort, considering the ticket price was Y150 each. We were dropped quite close to West Street in the early hours of the morning. We had thoughts of staying at Lisa's, where we stayed two years ago, but a young man met us and talked us into having a look at his place, Xie Jie Hostel, which was a short distance from West Street (though the name means West Street), and ...

Weather here same as Guilin (cloudy/rainy) but colder. Got lost again on arrival which is the norm so instead of telling more boring stories about me getting lost just assume that when I arrive somewhere I spend about an hour trying to figure out where I am and am at my wits end by the time I reach my destination. First night I went out and met a bunch of friendly Chinese people and ultimately ended up with a group of about 5 Chinese guys that were attempting to ...

... only 6 people strolling through the river (we passed numerous ones that were packed like sardines) that disected the limestone cliffs and hills. Locals still preferred to travel by bamboo raft and now and again you would see a water buffalo emerge from the depths onto dry land. The boatman described it as the most beautiful place in the world (comes close) and there were countless boats zipping up and down the river. We thought the ...

... here in a nice small hotel and we even have a working internet connection in our room. The city itself is growing as Guilin is becoming the tourist mecca... We were expecting to arrive to another hectic Chinese city. However, our concern were not applicable as Guilin turned out to be actually far from chaotic (however, for a Finn this would seem like the end of the world going on). Lots of sightseeing was to take ...

... Face" clothes and cafes serving grub for homesick travellers such as pizza, apple crumble and shepherds' pie (not a patch on yours mum). There was also an area of town aimed at Chinese businessmen, with "massage parlours" and a night market serving the usual weird and wonderful delicacies. Sitting outside Drifters cafe with a Swiss baker called Ivo, we felt a bit like we were in a zoo as the Chinese tourists came for ...

... In the morning as we neared Guilin the scenery had transformed itself in to the architypal lush patchwork of paddy fields tended by farmworkers in conical hats and water buffalo plodding along dirt tracks. The sort of images that everyone visualises when they think of rural China. The weather had also changed from the pleasant english summer of Kunming to the opressive subtropical heat and humidity of the southerly province of Guangxi which borders northern Vietnam and contains ...

... terms - and get bundled on the 500 yuan (!) boat ride along the beautiful Li river, leaving them just an hour or two to wander around in Yangshuo (blinking bewilderedly at all the slacking foreigners hanging out on the terraces) before they get herded on to their tourbuses back to Guilin. It was here that I met two loud and friendly Dutch girls, one of which who was celebrating her birthday that evening. I got some Great Wall wine and dug up the last two stumps of candle ...

... there are berths to sleep on so as long as it's not too bumpy we should manage some sleep! Oh god, can you imagine what the loos will be like on them...I dread to think! We've had a great time here in Yangshuo, with the odd hiccup along the way... On Wednesday we went to a little village for a boat ride down the Lijiang River, the scenery around here is absolutely stunning. When we were walking through the village there were loads of kids just out of ...

... Vicki) went to the loo and was horrified to see they were squat toilets, but I had to go as I had an 11 hour bus ride ahead! But then 3 hours into the ride I was desperate again and when we stopped at a petrol station I had to go....oh my god, I could smell them well before I walked in! There were basically 4 holes in the ground, divided by partitions not even knee height, so everyone could see everything and it stunk, and some people that ...