YANGSHOU - CHINA

Met a lad in Guilin called Ryan who had booked the same raft trip to Yangshou as I had. Firstly we got the minibus from our hostel for about an hour then it was about 3 hours down the river.

There were some great views of the limestone cliffs. However after a couple of hours it all started to look the same. In a way we got some sightseeing but we also got from one place to the next at the same time.

Yangshuo seemed a fairly touristy small compact place. At night we went out for some food and ended up talking to an American who was working there, we were later joined by a few others and ended up sitting outside talking until very late. Tried beer duck whatever that was but they could have least cut the ducks feet off and it was a bit too fatty and greasy for my liking. Tried a snail but there was so much spice in it you couldn't tell what it tasted like.

Had a lazy day Sunday then I headed out with Ryan to a nearby limestone cliff you could climb up called the Green lotus peak. Foundout the steps only went up a quarter of the way up at the most. We were in and out again in about 15 minutes, thats what you call a rip off.

Later that day we got talking to a Chinese girl who took us to the butterfly caves. It was a lot better than the one I went to in Halong bay but coloured lights and music don't belong in a cave. Went over a few bridges between the cliffs and got some good photos. It was very hot all afternoon. Walked miles in the hot mid afternoon sun !!!!!!!!

Had a couple of quiet days back in Guilin, didn't want to go back but you have to book the trains a couple of days in advance from there. Had a 24 train ride to Shanghai starting at 8am on the Thursday. Not so many people spoke English in my carriage so it got a bit boring.
The less said about the low budget films that they played the better!!! Got the best nights sleep in a while (for a train, plane, or bus anyway).