So we booked on the Li River cruise when we got to the hostel last night, we were driven to a boat this morning which cruised for 4 hours down the Li River, the views were amazing and after many many photos we stood on the top deck and watched the world go by around us, fishermen, locals doing their washing in the river, farming, water buffalos. I have attached a couple of photos but it was hard to limit them, we had a buffet chinese lunch on the boat before mooring up at a little village called Yangshuo.
It is monsoon season here and we truly felt it today, it was incredibly humid but overcast most of the day, occasionally the heavens would just open and I have never seen rain like it, it plummets down. We were wandering through a market the first time and were soaked by the time we got the packaway macs out of the rucksack (see photo). The difference with this rain to the UK was it was warm like being in a shower so most people just embraced it and then dried off afterwards.
After doing some more shopping and haggling we then caught a minibus to another little village called Yulong where we saw what more of remote chinese life was like, including the local clinic with the free condom machine outside to ensure people stuck to the 1 child policy in China. I knew this policy existed thanks to my Geography days but didn't appreciate how well enforced it is out in even in the remote parts.
We then made our way down to the river where we got on a 2 man bamboo raft with a local steering us like we were on a gondola in Venice. Although for those of you who know my boating skills, etiquette went completely out of the window when it came to getting on and off the raft! We were taken down the river where we got off in a field with some local farmers and their water buffalos and we were allowed to feed them, they were so calm and approachable.
On the way back the heavens opened again with another downpour but that didnt distract us from watching a Comrant go fishing with a local. I had never heard of this before but the fisherman ties a rope around a Comrants neck so when they dive in and catch a fish they can't swallow it so instead they bring it back to the fisherman who keeps it. We watched this technique and it was fascinating although did feel a little cruel, we were assured that the birds did get something to eat at the end of it.
After literally falling back off the boat we made our way back to the bus for the 1 1/2hour journey back to Guilin which was a great opportunity for a snooze!
It was a fabulous day and in Kris's words thinks it is the best we have had so far so thank you everyone for making his birthday so great!
Tomorrow we are sightseeing in Guilin until 16.15 when we catch a train to Nanning 5 hours away which should be a stopover town to get a train to Vietnam!!
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