Back in the dirtbag scene and it feels comfortable. Guilin Flowers Youth Hostel was our first night’s stay. Guilin is also Cathy’s hometown and she approved the youth hostel for us as well as reserved a room there and at its sister hostel in YangShou. So, today we took a river boat 4 hours down the Li River. We chose to take the Chinese tour for 2 reasons- the woman at the youth hostel said even if you pay for the non-Chinese tour there is no guarantee that you will get an English speaking guide-they might instead speak Spanish AND it cost more than the Chinese tour. Maybe you got life jackets, but we don’t know as we went on the Chinese one. As did a German couple! We ended up having a great time with Bernadette & Orhan. And if you are German and reading this and saying “Orhan es nicht ein Deutsches Nahme” you are correct (& All German grammatical & case errors are Mara’s!). Orhan is originally from Turkey but came with his parents to Germany in 1980.
So here are some shots from the boat tour:
cruise boat
We were on a similar boat.
river front shops?
These are called karst formations. They are made of limestone. More information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karst
local on bamboo raft
Did we mention the forecast? Rain. So shots are more than just misty. A little sun would have been great for photography but it is still amazing.
more local river traffic
got a light?
Once we got to Yangshuo, we found our hostel with just a few wrong turns, one “klingon” tout wanting to be our guide (she helped us take a couple of the wrong turns!), and we stowed our luggage and went sightseeing with Bernadette & Orhan.
Orhan, the master haggler
See the old Chinese man on the left? He was a spectator as Orhan went from 1 Chinese coin for 60 yuan to 10 coins for 30 yuan. He then followed Orhan around, perhaps waiting for another incredible show of the Turkish skills. Orhan tells us “It is not in the DNA, it is knowing the value first.”