11/09/18 The hostel is great, despite the old and smelly buildings around it Great food and a nice livingroom area. I booked a tour a few days ago and the tour guide for the Li River cruise picked me up at 8am on a coach with a mix of Chinese and other tourists. He told us a few facts on the way to the cruise. The Li River is on the 20rmb note and will take us to Yangshuo before bringing us back to Guilin.
On the boat, I met Patricia, a french lady who sat just next to me and we started to chat. We were both happy to have someone to talk to. Her son has a bakery business in China and she is travelling on her own. We booked an afternoon tour in Yangshuo together to visit Shangri-La village, and I was proud as I bargained a little to get cheaper tickets.
The boat had a big upper deck so we had great opportunities to take pictures. The cruise was very nice as it is very winding and we pass along small villages. The landscape is very uncommon and a Dutch passenger travelling with his wife who went to Vietnam said it reminds him of Halong Bay. We passed a mountain named Hello Kitty, due to its shape with 2 pointing ears.
After arriving at Yangshuo, Patricia and I had to rush through the centre (made of 1 main street 700m long), very cute and full of shops and restaurants, to meet with the tour guide for the second tour. On the way we stopped for some freshly cut fruits I hadn’t seen before but wanted to try.
The second tour was very touristy, a mini cruise on a bamboo boat with some local performers waving at us along the way. Then back on shore the pathway lead us to souvenir shops and free mini shows and performances with the locals, where I danced with a group of 20 tourists and locals. Later, a bus dropped us back to our hotels and I checked the local market before going back.
