Sim has definately developed a cold and was feeling pretty horrid after a sleepless night on the bumpy train. I was worried as we had no actual plan for getting to Yangshuo from the train station, but as usual Sim has a good feel for these kinds of things and there were reps from the CITS waiting at the platform directing people to the tourist information office. [sim edit: think we got ripped off with that]. We paid up for a local tourist bus,boat,bus to Yangshuo and left Guilin almost immediately after we arrived.

The bus took us through town and then along narrow bumpy dirt roads to the river. We passed by small farms with fields growing rice, corn, grapes and lots of other stuff. Farmers and their water buffalo working in the fields. Tractors that have been converted into funny little trucks trying to squeeze past us. Spectacular limestone outcrops (karsts) in the background.

Next it was onto our bamboo raft though it seems they have replaced the bamboo with PVC pipes in keeping with the times. The ride down the Li river was fantastic. Such beautiful scenery. :gps:(GPS)::25.04474::110.44725:gps:

Next they shepherded us onto little tuk tuks and took us on a mildly hair raising ride along narrow dirt roads. Think Sim was feeling seriously dehydrated at this point so he didn’t seem to enjoy the ride much. Then onto a bigger bus where they crammed as many people as possible on and before long we were in Yangshuo. For some reason I was expecting a small little town but it seems tourism has caught on big time here and we were greeted with macdonalds and more sprawling construction going on. We have booked a week in Yangshuo 11 hostel in the heart of town. We had wanted to stay further out but the peak tourist season has meant that our first choice was booked up.

[SimEdit: Tomorrow is a day off for us.. FINALLY ! Next day we have a full day of rock climbing – can’t wait, just hope I feel better. There is sooo much to do here. Also considering a hot air ballon ride – but is expensive]

[Pictures: Karst Candy and the view from the deck on top of our hostel]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi