After a 23 hour train ride, 11 hours of sleep, 5 pot noodles, vegetarian biscuits, a Chinese lesson from Andy, 1 film, 300 refills of tea, 2 burns and a big KFC we arrived in Guilin. It seemed very quiet to what Lonely Planet had described it as; "Once you get past the hords of tourists you will see how pretty Guilin is". There were no tourists in sight and no floods. We didn't plan to stay in Guilin for too long as we wanted to get to Yangshuo to meet the others at Monkey Janes.
The one full day we had we rented bikes out and biked along the Li river to see Elephant trunk hill. Sarah's bike was named the 'pigeon' which kept us entertained!! and also were recommended a peak to trek up which had great views . After bullying Sarah to come with us to the top of the mountain, she finally gave in and we dragged her up, to which a chair was waiting for her as well as the amazing view over all the karst peaks, the Li River as well as the whole of Guilin.
After visiting a night market and the day of biking we felt we had done all that we wanted, deciding to getaway from the city quickly so we could spend longer around Yangshuo.
We went to a supernarket and bought a few beers and also possibly the GREATEST buy so far....a flask! We now have endless supplies of tea with us all the time :) We watched the England Slovenia game the night before we left, which was probably our best performance, playing really well, which made us a bit happier than watching the previous 2...plus this game was on at 10pm instead of having to wait until 2.30am. We got up early, had our standard breakfast and then caught the bus to Yongshuo...15RMD, bargains!
An hour and a half later and after a flask full of tea we were met at the bus stop and taken to Monkey Janes....Greeted by the monkey herself! Straight away she was telling Sarah she had a sexy body!! bit strange but she was the cheif so we just laughed! We later met up with Lee and Vicky again, and the 3 of us became 5...getting quite a gang now!
That night we went to a restaurant recommended by everyone: 'Lucy's Place'....The crispy duck was AMAZING! the happy hour lasted longer than Janes which was a bonus and for a measly 15RMB Lucy made the BEST eggplant and pork dish....The beloved dish we had been introduced to in Hangzhou...yummy!
To finish the night, we thought it was only right if we go to the Rooftop, have a few beers and play a bit of beerpong!...starting off I would say, I sucked! Andy was a bit better....Lee's extra night there when we were in Guilin showed a little bit of practice but Sarah was the better player that night!! Netball days had paid off!!
That night was strange, We met a couple of Cockney guys, Joe and James who we doing almost the same trip so may meet up somewhere a long the way.
Monkey Jane invited Sarah and James to go with her to film an advert for tourism in Yangshuo, and in return we would get free beer, free food, a free double room (instead of a dorm) and free t-shirts!! :) A definate yes!!
So off Sarah went with the Monkey and James....8 o clock sharp, and Monkey Jane's words were "you will be back in time to go to the cave at 1"....that was wrong...more like 3, so we put off the cave for the next day and the 4 of us decided that we would rent out bikes and go to the dragon bridge until Sarie comes back....it wasn't until we got on the road, when we found out that the bridge was 10km away!! So 10km later we got to the bridge and the first thing we did was go to see if we could jump off the bridge into the river....Lee took it like a man, however me Andy and Vicky weren't too sure, so we went back down and had a swim first! then went back to the top and spent around 30mins deciding when to go!! Lee came up and jumped with Vicky, then I decided to go and then Andy, quickly made sure someone had a camera before jumping off!! we all weren't hurt, apart from Andy! who ended up seat-dropping from the bridge into the water....what you do on a trampoline, not on a 20m drop into water!!!he was in pain but nonetheless we had done it!!
We set off back and decided we would go the scenic way along the Yulong River, which in my opinion is much nicer than the Li river; it's smaller, away from the town, but surrounded by small country villages and the scenery is beautiful!!...we biked as far as we could until it got too muddy, by that time Andy had fallen in the river and his basket had fallen off his bike! he wouldn't be getting his deposit back!
I raced home to meet Sarie and turned out that was a waste of time...When I got back to Yangshuo I got lost and couldn't find the bike place!...In this time Lee Vicky and Andy had managed to get a lift back on a tractor. I got back to find Sarie in the lobby with Monkey Jane...sounded like a great day, free bamboo rafting down the river, free beer and food all day! a cheeky beer at 11am!! sure!!...bike riding, moon hill and lunch in Mama Moon's house! Apparently she had the worst false teeth!!
So the next morning we were going to the water caves and it was awesome! the 5 of us pulled up to the cave where there was a water pool at the entrance, and we all got set in our hard hats and flip-flops! perfect footwear for caving! we got on the boat and rowed inside the cave...It was crazy, having to crawl through the cave, hitting our heads soooooo many times and slipping in the ridiculous flip-flops...walking boots may have been a better solution!! We then stopped at a mud bath which was a lot of fun! You could lay down and just float in the mud! So much fun. I then took it a step further by putting my head under! all fun and games!
We had to wash all the mud off from ourselves after that ready for the hot springs....they were HEAVEN!! so so hot...like being in a really hot bath, we could have stayed there all day! eventually it was time to head back out on the rowing boat before we played around in the pool outside the cave and then headed back to MJ's.
The evening we decided to go see the Cormorant fishing, firstly they were in action with the birds catching the fish, however it seemed different to the HSBC advert...1, it was dark (easier to control the birds as theyre attracted by their lamp) and 2, the bird doesn't just drop the fish, they try to swallow it but the fisherman ties their neck with string so they cant swallow it! then he pulls them in when they're choking! squeezes it's neck so the fish falls out and then throws the bird back in!!
We then got a closer look with the birds and then went back along the Li river.
The next day we went to visit the village of Xingping, set further in the countryside and was a version of Yangshuo without all the tourists, the stalls and the annoying touts. We caught the local bus for 7RMD! so cheap, and arrived an hour later. We walked a long the river to the viewpoint taken for the 20RMD note which was pretty impressive!! Getting hassled by some kids, we bought 2 flower head bands for the sake of 20p and carried a long the river. We stopped off at a little restaurant which was more like a ladies home, overlooking the river where Andy used his Chinese to order us some more of our beloved Eggplant dish as well as Sarie's favourite, egg and tomato with free Jasmine tea and as much rice as you can eat!
The views and the scenery at Xingping were pretty impressive, and by that time we had to catch the bus back, ready to prepare for the big game against Germany!
As we had been to Lucy's a few times we managed to get happy hour rate on the drinks alll night!! if it was the right result it would have been an amazing day! We all decided then that we are now all Argentina fans, and thought to take our mind off the game, what better way than for some beerpong!
The next day we got up late and chilled out all day before...and I better add this in, Me and Lee challenged Sarie and vicky to a game of beerpong....got off to a great start, I landed a bounce and before you knew it we had 1 cup left and they had 5.....we had peaked too soon....sure enough the girls picked off all their 5 while we were still trying to get the 1...and we lost...The girls conveniently retired after that game!!
It turned out later on that Lee and Andy teamed up and won 10 games in a row...becoming beerpong champions!! who'd have thought it...although i did help with 1 game :)
The next morning we had breakfast and then for the emotional goodbyes!!goodbye to Lee, Vicky and Monkey Jane...although we are doing the same trip we will probably catch up further down the line....So Me Sarie and Andy set back to Guilin.
Once back in Guilin we or should I say Andy booked our train tickets for the next mornig to Nanning, and we chilled out, had a treat at McDonalds and some original recipe at KFC before going to the food night market again, to get some sushi and a chinese BBQ...yummy!!
We headed back, talked about the crazy Monkey Jane and heard some rumours about Jane and Josie's rivalry!!hilarious!
Another emotional goodbye to Andy in the morning! Now the 2 of us are back globetrotting, heading to Nanning for a quick stopover for the visa to enter Vietnam on the 2nd july!!! Can't wait!!!
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