Guilin, China - Day 1 Raft Ride

Having arrived very late (or early depending what kind of person you are), I declared myself the right to sleep in a little. I woke at 10 and by 10:30 we were in a van on our way to float on a bamboo raft down the Li River. It was a 90 minute drive where the oncoming lane of traffic was really just our third lane. We wondered if drivers here get a callus from hitting the horn so much, and the bumps made me bonk my head on the ceiling a few times. 

Pretty soon we started seeing mountains. Not like mountains in Colorado or Switzerland where as you get nearer the foothills start and then the big guys form a visual wall of rock. These mountains were solitary hits out of the ground. Everything was flat and then BAM mountain. It was quite interesting and beautiful to look at.

We were traveling with a couple from our hostel. She was Chinese but had studied and lived in London and he was an Italian that had lived all over. She was very helpful as a translator and just knowledgable about the area. We coasted down the river with our guide for about two hours.  

He would point out mountains and tell us something which our Chinese friend would translate. The river and mountains were very beautiful. Our guide gave us a melon to try and Carlos the Italian did the honors of breaking it open for us. 

After becoming thoroughly sticky it was time to just sit back and enjoy the ride. I took the opportunity to catch some restful zzzs and stuck my feet in the water.

As we approached our destination our guide asked if we wanted to have lunch at his house. We, of course, took him up on the offer. This was our view as we disembarked from our raft. 

 We had stir fried pork with green chili peppers, fried egg, sliced potatoes with vinegar, simple soup with greens, and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. It was all very delicious and refreshing as we listened to the chickens click and overlooked the garden filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, green chilis, potatoes, and a local green that I don't know the name of. After our lunch which was washed down with a green mint tea, we took a short shuttle to the town of Xingping. (X in pinyon makes a SH or TS sound. So this was shingping). 

Xingping was small and considerably touristy. We were followed by many woman harking goods and services. Nancy practiced her abilities to say buyao (booyow - I don't want it) xiaxia (shayshay - thanks) and duabuchi (DUAYboochi - excuse me/sorry). We did finally find a part of town that was a little less touristy and purchased some silk scarves and handmade jewelry.

 Our jeweler. He was only an apprentice but all of the pieces that we bought were done by him and not his instructor. We didn't know this until after we purchased. We just happened to be drawn to his work much more.

 We also saw this interesting fellow who was sitting in his shop jamming away on his xylophone. 

It was hot. Very hot. So incredibly hot. After being sweaty and in the sun for so long we decided to catch a bus back to Guilin instead of going to Yangsao as we had planned. The woman selling tickets for the bus tried to charge us extra but we didn't fall for it and with the help of some other backpackers got the right amount of change. The two hour bus ride was bumpy, fast, and loud. I tried to sleep most of the way and when I couldn't there was usually something cool to look at. In China, stores are usually grouped together by what they sell. So if you want to buy a wedding dress you go to one specific street where all the dress shops are. And usually the next street over will be where the flower shops are. We passed the ceramic tile section of Guilin: a row of 15-20 shops all selling tile and then another 10 selling carpet (not a big thing here) and another 10 selling doors. They group things together by purpose. It is an interesting layout that we don't usually subscribe to so specifically in the states. I think an argument could be made on efficiency for either system. 

We made it back to the bus station in Guilin and we wanted to take a cab back to our hostel. Given that it was rush hour it was a little difficult but we eventually came upon a group of 5 female cabbies having a break, sitting around eating mango Popsicles. The idea of a female cabbie is interesting. No where in the world that I've been have there been as many female taxi drivers as we've seen in China. We got overcharged, even though I bargained the price with her in Chinese, but it was still only about $1.50 to get us back to the hostel. 

After some rest, a shower, and some dinner we called it a night. I write now as we take a three hour drive to the rice terraces so we can do some hiking. It is lightly raining and as we climb the side of a mountain we are regularly seeing cars and trucks in ditches, smashed into walls, and one truck was completely on its side facing the opposite direction of where it was going. Our driver is going quite slow, thankfully.