Day 16
Guilin is the highlight of our trip. It is stunningly beautiful here. Today we went on a 4 ½ boat trip up the Lijian River which originates from Cat Mountain in the north. We travelled 83 kilometres from Guilin to Yangshuo. It was even better than the 3 gorges. The local people call the river a jade ribbon winding among the peaks. From the river we can see the towering peaks, jaggered cliffs, odd shaped crags often reflected in the deep jade green river.
Along the banks of the river we watched buffalo grazing and wallowing in the shallows. Fishermen were abundant all along the river, standing on a raft of bamboo poles lashed together, the water lapping over the top. Some had the trained cormorants and a basket with fish. There were small boats and large boats sailing up and down the river. Some of the larger bamboo rafts had bamboo chairs on them and were carrying passengers to and fro. Other boats were peoples homes, cooking utensils hung up at the back with huge woks and a line strung across with washing hanging out to dry. The larger boats were carrying tourists like us up and down the river to marvel at the scenery.
Our boat had a kitchen at the back where they prepared an excellent buffet lunch in a very small space.
All of the peaks have names, the first which we can see from our hotel room is Elephant Trunk Hill, then The Charming Hill, Yearning for Husband Rock, Beauty of Crown Cave and the most famous the painted hill of nine horses. If you use your imagination you can see nine horses. It was all absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.
Our cruise ended in the village of Yangshuo. We walked through the town and it’s market and saw some of the Maio people, a minority group who wear very decentive clothing. Very much like the hill tribe people in Sapa, Vietnam which is not far from here.The mountain and cliff peaks that surround Guilin remind us very much of Halong Bay, without the ocean but a river instead
Guilin is the highlight of our trip. It is stunningly beautiful here. Today we went on a 4 ½ boat trip up the Lijian River which originates from Cat Mountain in the north. We travelled 83 kilometres from Guilin to Yangshuo. It was even better than the 3 gorges. The local people call the river a jade ribbon winding among the peaks. From the river we can see the towering peaks, jaggered cliffs, odd shaped crags often reflected in the deep jade green river.
Along the banks of the river we watched buffalo grazing and wallowing in the shallows. Fishermen were abundant all along the river, standing on a raft of bamboo poles lashed together, the water lapping over the top. Some had the trained cormorants and a basket with fish. There were small boats and large boats sailing up and down the river. Some of the larger bamboo rafts had bamboo chairs on them and were carrying passengers to and fro. Other boats were peoples homes, cooking utensils hung up at the back with huge woks and a line strung across with washing hanging out to dry. The larger boats were carrying tourists like us up and down the river to marvel at the scenery.
Our boat had a kitchen at the back where they prepared an excellent buffet lunch in a very small space.
All of the peaks have names, the first which we can see from our hotel room is Elephant Trunk Hill, then The Charming Hill, Yearning for Husband Rock, Beauty of Crown Cave and the most famous the painted hill of nine horses. If you use your imagination you can see nine horses. It was all absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.
Our cruise ended in the village of Yangshuo. We walked through the town and it’s market and saw some of the Maio people, a minority group who wear very decentive clothing. Very much like the hill tribe people in Sapa, Vietnam which is not far from here.The mountain and cliff peaks that surround Guilin remind us very much of Halong Bay, without the ocean but a river instead
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