Guilin : Part 2 - River Cruise to Yangshuo

Tomorrow is the start of a long weekend. Well, tomorrow evening! We have a long weekend! It's the Prophet's birthday on Sunday. Hence, Monday becomes a public holiday. Then, Tuesday is another public holiday because it's Thaipusam. It was commented that Malaysia has the highest number of public holidays! And for that, I am happy to be living in Malaysia. Once upon a time, it was my dream to live in England. I love the English ways of living. Come to think of it, it is still my dream to live in England. :-) 

Let's continue about Guilin! Here is Day 2 - 10 Feb 2011. And our destination was to Yangshuo. 

We had booked a Li River cruise to Yangshuo. While waiting for our person to meet us, we had instant noodles for breakfast. I love the interior of the YHA. Comfortable.

After breakfast, a van picked us up to bring us to the pier. It turns out we are part of a bigger group! And our guide is Daniel / Yang Yang. He speaks good English and Mandarin. Teaching English is a common thing in China now. My friend went to China to teach English. Our boat ride costs us RMB380 per person. Good experience. On that ride, I saw one of the scenery at the back of a China currency note. It is the RMB20 note.

We got lunch on the boat too! I love the meal.

This is the scenery behind the RMB20 note.

And Yangshuo we have reached! It was a 4 hour and 30 minutes ride. Pretty long. At the pier, our guide warned us not to buy anything as they were 99% fake. We walked along the street towards our inn. It was a nice walk.

After checking in, we booked ourselves for the rural village tour in Yangshuo. While waiting for the other passengers, I looked behind and snapped this random view. The village tour we were going to is Yulong Village.

The community clinic. One just pay RMB30 per annum and can use the clinic anytime. The signs explain - The government supports safe sex, hence one can obtain free condoms.

We reached Yulong Bridge and it has an amazing view! As soon as I went on the bridge, I was speechless as I looked at both my left and right...

Next up was bamboo rafting. It was serene view to behold.

Then, came the fish catching performance. With the cormorant birds. The bird swims underneath and catches the fish with its beak. The bird keeps the fish in its very large throat, swims back to the owner, opens its mouth, and the owner pulls out the very large fish from its throat.

Then, the raft had to make a turn to go back to the beginning. So, the boatman has to pull the raft up this land. The raft is heavy, hence 2 boatmen are needed to carry the raft to the other side.

We were back to Yangshuo town. It was a walk back to the inn. Walked along the famous West Street which is about 500m long. It is for pedestrians only. Since it was so cold, this piping hot delicacy looks tempting.

We found a place to have dinner. And tried the must-have beer fish i.e. fish stewed in beer.

Walked back to our inn. Our inn is located in a back alley. But it is safe. I have travelled to some countries, and I still find Malaysia the most unsafe country. Maybe because I was robbed like twice. And I have a scar on my face to be reminded of that.