Cruising Down the River on a Sunday . . . . . Morning

Sunday 27 August

We were awakened about 06.15 by my phone ringing – it was a marvel we got the call, as my phone was only switched on because I had put it on charge the night before. Juz, Jean and Ray were singing down the line, while out celebrating my birthday at home. It was great to speak to them, and they were in great spirits even if I was a bit dozy this end. My cold is definitely at its worst in the mornings – I think the air con aggravates it.

We were only spending one night here in Guilin, so we had hardly unpacked anything from our suitcases, but they still seem to be getting heavier as we pushed them to the lobby. This morning we were going to cruise down the Lijiang River to Yangshuo, which meant we had no time to wander around and see anything of Guilin town – I had been told it was really nice here, so I had been looking forward to seeing it – but we had to keep to the schedule.

It was still raining when we got up, but by the time we left the hotel, it had stopped, and was just misty. Jeremy emphasized that the mist is caused by the weather conditions, not pollution.

When we arrived at the “docks” there were six large river cruisers all lined up. We were booked on the one furthest away from dry land and having traversed across all the other boats, we found our seats at a table sharing with six other people – only four arrived – a young Chinese couple and I think a German couple – we never actually got to have any conversation with either couple. Most of the journey was spent up on the top deck or the mezzanine deck over the kitchens at the back of the boat. There weren’t that many people on our boat – a large group from Angola who were in great demand by the Chinese to have their photos taken with them, a few Europeans and some Chinese - which was good as it meant you could get to watch from either side of the boat very easily.

The river rises in the Cat Mountains north of Guilin and runs down, about 100 miles to join the West River and eventually spill out into the China Sea. It is about 83 kms from Guilin to Yangshuo and here the river winds between thousands of towering limestone peaks (karst I think this landscape is called), some looking just like elegant hills seen at home, others like grotesque statues rising above you. The river is a deep green colour and very fast flowing, and although there is plenty of water here at present, there are stretches where it is quite shallow. The area is, of course, a well know beauty spot, and there were lots of people here today to see it, mostly on the other boats.

We all set sail together in a long crocodile line, but after a short while, other boats came up close behind, sounded their horns, and overtook us – once we had boats on either side – the channel didn’t seem wide enough to take three across, but they slowly passed us to go single file again. We carried on with this cat and mouse game, all the way down the river – I suppose it gives the pilots some fun.
The scenery was spectacular in places, and because all the peaks are pointed cone shapes, you could see inland to loads more coned peaks – there literally were thousands of them. The area reminded me of The Three Gorges trip, condensed into one morning – there were towering cliff faces of sheer rock, but there were lower peaks, covered in trees and bushes as well. Further down from Yangshuo there are even locks, but I am sure they are not on the scale of those at the Dam. I think the actual scenery was more interesting than the Gorges, although not so grand, but more interesting – lots of things to watch. All the way along the river, men on bamboo rafts would ride alongside the boat, hook up and try to sell their wares – usually jade Buddhas and vases, or lumps of crystalline rocks. I don’t think anyone actually bought anything, but they were fun to watch, as they balanced with one foot on the raft – about five bamboo poles tied together – and one foot on the edge of the boat. Also at one point, a fishing boat hooked up to the back of the boat and sold panfuls of shrimps and small black crabs that would be cooked and offered at lunch time. They fry them both whole and you eat everything!! Not for me, thank you – but the Chinese couple had a plate of the shrimps – eating heads and eyes and tails seemed very crunchy. There were also lots of ducks and water buffalo (several in swimming) as well as women doing their washing, boys fishing, and hikers and trekkers making their way along the river bank. We still saw very few birds.

We passed a few villages, where people were gathered on the bank waiting for the river taxi to collect them. These were the usual sampan style boats, with wooden shelters and fast motors that sped up and down the river. We also saw bamboo rafts with chairs affixed that were taking tourists for pleasure rides – customers lazing back watching the world go by while two men poled the rafts up and down the river. At one point there was a deserted village which could be easily seen from the boat - most were hidden behind dense foliage - where the wooden houses were rotting away – apparently about ten years ago there was a massive flood in this area and it covered this village and destroyed the settlement. Many lost not only all their belongings, but their families too.

We had lunch about twelve – another buffet – with aubergine/egg plant, featuring heavily. There were also some delicious corn cobs, deep fried onion rings, and beef with chillis. Another helping of this very bony fish which we keep encountering everywhere (I think its carp) – but it is worst than kippers for bones – and of course the obligatory water melon – delicious at the end of a meal.

We arrived at Yangshuo at about 13.00 – after three and a half hours of gentle cruising and watching the world go by. My first impression as we approached Yangshuo was of a tiny cluster of white buildings on the river bank. I knew this was going to be provincial – but just how provinicial?

We soon disembarked and walked to the hotel! (As I said small town.) Paddy Burt report now on the hotel (for those who don’t read the Saturday Telegraph, she reports on her visits to hotels, mainly in England, but some around the world:

“The Magnolia Hotel is in a street just off the river front. Our luggage was waiting in the foyer which was a great relief – the driver must have found his way. The first bad news was that there was no lift/elevator and we were on the fourth floor! As I have said before my case is getting heavier and heavier – it was over 27kgs at Shanghai airport! Two small Chinese women stepped forward to carry the bags!! The first – obviously a sensible woman chose the blue case – blue for boys – and started to struggle up the stairs. When the second lady tried to lift mine, she muttered something that sounded like “heavy”. Colin offered to take it, but it is her job, so off she struggled, up eight flights of stairs – even I was puffed at the top – she was nearly passing out.

Our room is clean, with white painted walls and looks out over the roofs of nearby buildings, but at least being up top we can see the sky and the peaks of some mountains. We can also see next doors washing hanging out to dry if we look down a floor. There are two beds – large singles - one with a slightly sprung mattress (the springs feel as if they are coming through the cover every time you move, a television that does not receive any English speaking stations, a desk (with enough room for Colin to stand up all my cards so I don’t forget how old I am), a chair and a stool. We do have a bedside light each, that works, and one bedside table between us. There is a large mirror on the wall over the desk. All the wood is very dark brown, but with a large window it is very bright. The bathroom is a revelation – quite large, with modern style round glass bowl for the sink, large corner shower and European loo, with paper. There is no wardrobe or space available to hang your clothes – although if desperate to unpack there is a cupboard under the television. There is no safe, no refrigerator, and no toiletries in the bathroom. Described by Oriental Travel as a 4* hotel, we feel this is somewhat lacking, but the staff are friendly, so perhaps it is better than being at the Best Western.

We were really hot when we arrived and although there is air con, it is somewhat antiquated and takes more than five minutes to kick in. It’s a bit slow, even then, but eventually the room cooled down and so did we”.

I took the opportunity to write some postcards and do a bit on the blog, after Colin had downloaded some of his videos (he has used nearly all his seven hours on the hard disk already). We filled the disks we had with us and will have to purchase more in Hong Kong. Around 17.00 we thought it might be a little cooler and went out to explore the town and find the Post Office.

The town turned out to be much larger than we thought – a small cove alongside the main river, proved a natural place for a settlement hundreds of years ago. There is a small tributary with lots of small pagoda style bridges, around which the buildings are clustered. Around the corner to the hotel is a pedestrianised street - West Street -lined with small shops, some selling really nice goods – clothes, shoes, bags, etc – good for browsing - and loads of bars and restaurants. This area is backpackers paradise as there are loads of small hotels and hostels over the shops advertising cheap rooms available. None of the hotels (including ours) does food. The Magnolia has a vegetarian restaurant attached to it, but all the restaurants have their menus outside, desperate to attract your custom – and they all do Chinese, Italian, British and Mexican food, cheap, but good. Many are now offering free internet access and air conditioning as extra incentives to eat there. We wandered around in what is a bazaar like atmosphere. There are lots of tourists here, of all nationalities, but most people speak some English, so we could be understood.

At the end of West Street, is a KFC – we’ve not seen a Maccy Ds yet. Opposite here was the street with the Post Office and post boxes, so we were able to send our communiqués back to Blighty. This street turned out to be the main high street, with lots of banks, mobile phone shops and lots of traffic – bicycles (single and tandem) and small motor bikes are popular here – they seem to ride together in great gaggles – so crossing the road has not improved.

Having wandered around for a couple of hours, we decided to find somewhere to eat. We perused all the menus in West Street – about thirty or more – and finally selected one that looked promising – called Marco Polo. I decided I would like duck and sweet and sour pork, but ended up with sechuan chicken with cashews and sweet and sour pork, and noodles. We ordered a couple of pina coladas, and although thin, they were decorated with lemon and cherries, and you could taste the rum – delicious, but when you are thirsty, quite lethal. We also tried yet another local beer – all the towns and cities seem to have their own breweries, and most seem to taste OK.

The standard of accommodation has deteriorated as this tour has progressed, and this definitely isn’t what I thought we were booking. To be fair we have only seen one or two other hotels here that may be of a higher standard (and I don’t think they have lifts), but I think they Oriental Travel should have been a bit more honest about the standard we should expect. Its clean and tidy and we are reasonably comfortable so I am sure we will continue to enjoy ourselves.

We have an easy day tomorrow – in the morning, at least – we are free to wander and please ourselves. I think we will probably just explore the town a bit more. In the afternoon Jeremy is taking us walking – it said motorized rickshaws in our itinerary, but apparently they have been banned by the local council as they cause too many accidents. He offered us bicycles, but Colin doesn’t ride a bike and a few hours at a time would be too much for me. We are going in the afternoon, to let the morning mist clear first.

Better get some rest before our next exercise.