May 31, 2002
Today is the day for the Li River cruise.
All river boats have their own special look, and we're so many we get our own little vessel.
OK, here we go!
The magnificient hills surrounded us every part of the way.
Located in the tropical zone, Guilin sure is hot and sticky. The sun is straight up, but the speed of our boat offers some breeze to keep us a bit cooler.
There are many geese farms along the way. Even though we were not offered goose at our dinners, it's commonly served in China.
The river is massive in size, and it rushes downstream at about 4-5 knots. Added to the boat's speed of 10, we're coming down the river at at least 15 knots.
There were no villages along our way, only a few scattered houses and farms.
Boats coming up the river had to run at full steam, to overcome the downstream current.
the boats are made of bamboo
Apparenty, there is a chemical reaction between the rain and the rock, which makes the softer rock dissolve. Harder parts will forever protect any softer rock below, why the hills will continue to grow even taller and tinner.
Passing by the waterfall... (movie file)
Buffalo
I wonder what the story is behind this house?
Can you think of a more peaceful way to live?
Along some parts, a wall is protecting the banks from eroding.
Snake wine, anyone?
The best seat
At lunch time, our captain played a few sing-a-longs on his Chinese violin
The P5 boat arrived the same time we did
So we all offboarded and went for an hour long walk in this small town down by the river.
Not much of a shadow. The sun sure is straight up....hot... :-P
street life
Before riding golf carts to our busses, Luann did some final shopping...
Local police don't wear helmets...
A day on the sea does always make you sleepy..mmmm....
A quick stop along the way to see what rice fields really look like. The plants stand in water (brown in the picture).
I've never seen these vehicles before, but the seem common around here.
cool looking street lights
In the evening we abandoned the group dinner and found our own Sezchuan place instead. Awesome!
We did warn him about the spicy noodles, but he insisted on eating a whole bunch of them. At once.
We told you...
Need to drink something...um, a little more...darn, more tea...maybe wine helps...
-Nah, that's not spicy, really.
the party mafia doin' the city
"Guilin"
One of the gazillion street activities this evening
This is like the shopping channel on TV - but live
I don't think there's a single building that's lit by WHITE lights at night in Shanghai
A common street decoration - The Neon Fireworks (movie file)
A float comes down the street...
Dennis finds a Chinese condom vending machine
Same ice cream as we're used to...but a lot cheaper!
The interior of our hotel, Sheraton Guilin.
Proceed to Day 12