You Belong To Me

Got up at 5 am and had breakfast. Left the hotel at 6 am and had an 8 am flight to Guilin. Have to explain that our luggage is picked up by a service along with our passports. We arrive at the airport about a half hour before the flight, collect our boarding passes and passports which are all ready for us and jump on the plane. Every flight was on time all the time.

Arrived at the hotel just after 10 am. Checked in to the Lijang Waterfall Hotel which boasts an outdoor waterfall each evening that is in the Guinness Book of Records for largest artificial waterfall. These Chinese like to be biggest of anything. Jeff rested in the room and I walked around the lake near the hotel and explored. Found some beautiful parks and a small outdoor market with lots of restaurants.

Next was lunch with the group and then an excursion to the Reed Flute Caves. We went in a special entrance for foreign visitors which turned out to be ten minutes in the gift shop. The formations were astonishing and bigger than other caves we have visited. Inside everything was lit nicely and there was a laser show in one huge room. Very impressive!

We left and drove back to town. After resting for an hour or so we walked to a nearby Western style restaurant and had dinner – spaghetti for Jeff and Shepard’s Pie for me. The place is called Rosemary’s and she has made it into all the guide books. The owner herself waited on us and her English was very good. Jeff told her she should raise her prices as we paid $11. for both our meals.

Walked back to the hotel and met our guide Peter to go on a sightseeing boat. Only six of us went and it was one of the best things on the trip. The city of Guilin is surrounded by several lakes that were once moats outside the city wall and are connected now. River boats take night visitors on the lakes and under the impressive bridges that are all replicas of famous bridges from around the world. The whole city is lit up beautifully and there is also entertainment at some areas. There was an opera singer and dancers from ethnic minority groups. We saw musicians playing ancient instruments and a large group of drummers and also a fashion show. It was great! On a sad note there were several rafts with men fishing using cormorants. They chain the birds and then put a band around the bottom off their neck so they can’t swallow. The poor birds dive in the water and catch a fish and bring it to the raft. Then the man squeezes the bird’s neck until it regurgitates the whole fish. Gross! Then the silly bird dives again. I understand at night they remove the band and let the birds dive and eat, but I felt terrible and thought this was really cruel.

Afterwards we walked several blocks to the night market where red tents are set up along a main road which becomes a pedestrian mall. All sorts of dust collectors were on display and absolutely nothing we wanted to look at, but the market was interesting to see.