Vienna Guilin

... the police or we can not help you."
This was news to me. I asked where the nearest police station was, but, no, that was not acceptable, I was staying at the other side of town, therefore I had to register with the local constabulary there. Go and register and then come back... though it would probably take a long time and I would need to return the following day, missing the boat trip I had booked and mentioned to her... she smiled with genuine pleasure at ...

... 1500;א שם לב למקומ 97;ם שעיבד 93; את האדמה. ברם כעת הקדשת 97; יותר קשב לפרטי 01; הקטני 01; שבתוך התמונ ...

... was no accommodation. It took about 20 minutes to get to the ticket gate, which after that there is no further road and you have to walk up a very steep footpath for another 10 minutes . One thing we had read in our guide book was that there are women from the village that would carry your bags up the hill to the village. When one of the ladies came over she must have been about 80 years old, crippled back from carrying bags through out the years and I ...

... and driver, a completely different reception to that of Jinghong. We already liked the place. We phoned all the hostels we had been recommended but they were all full, so we ended up at the Riverside Hostel, which is terrible. Our room is in the basement; it reeks of damp, has damp patches all over the walls and ceiling, Lizzie has been bitten by bedbugs and the shower is not only minging but cold. After 2 nights here, all our stuff now stinks too. It is the last time ...

Perfect days rarely involve bus rides. The one today involved three. We hopped on our first bus from Yangshuo to Guilin without any wait. I sat up front beside the driver with a big smile on my face, enjoying the beautiful view. In Guilin, I managed to buy train tickets (to be used a few days later), ask for directions to the bank, and ask how far to the city's other train station, all in Chinese. This was a great accomplishment for me. We got on another bus ...

Well, I've been back in Guilin about a month and a half, and finally back in a routine. The weather's been off and on- around 80 when I arrived on Feb 12 down to below freezing a couple weeks later, lately been around 70 but headed back down again. Fortunately, I'm headed to Thailand tomorrow, where the temperature is 90ish every day- had been planning a trip there for a long time and finally got the details worked out. I have ...

... OF THEM LEFT US ALONE. HOWEVER, ONE GUYS ASKED WHERE WE WERE PLANNING ON STAYING AND I MADE THE MISTAKE OF TELLING HIM THAT WE WERE PLANNING TO GO TO FLOWERS HOSTEL. HE MENTIONED THAT HE WORKED FOR FLOWERS AND THAT HE WOULD SHOW US THE WAY THERE. SO WE STARTED FOLLOWING HIM, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT THE HOSTEL IS SUPPOSED TO BE RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE BUS STATION. SURE ENOUGH HE STARTS LEADING US FURTHER AWAY FROM THE BUS STATION AND EVENTUALLY HE TAKES US TO THIS PLACE ...

... balloons - it was really cool to watch... It got light pretty quickly, but unfortunately it wasn't the clearest day... that Chinese haize was certainly hanging around at 7am! It was a fantastic thing to do though and a great way to see the Li and Yulong rivers... Later that day we got bikes and cycled up through some Yansghuo countryside to a point on the Yulong river where you can take a leisurely two-hour bamboo raft back towards the town. It ...

... move when the driver was honking the horn to let them know we were approaching and the van went sailing by. They seemed very much accustomed to the traffic going by. We finally reached what is known as the Entrance to Longji, all vehicles must stop here and pay an entrance fee in order to enter into the area, which is about fifty yuan each. Along the roadside there are various shops and booths selling all kinds of specialties of the local people, from spicy chili sauce to ...

... stop was Reed Flute Cave. I don't know that I've ever been in a cave before, and I know I haven't been in such a colorfully lit one! It was all so touristy, and we couldn't just walk through the cave and admiring the beauty. Instead, my guide was telling me what each of the formations looked like, and there were signs to match! There were switches to light everything up in lots of colors, and there ...