July 21, 2014

GUILIN

For the first time in weeks the family was able to sleep in today. I think the girls could have slept until noon, but I got them up at 8:30 so they wouldn't miss breakfast. We then spent the rest of the morning in the hotel swimming pool as our first activity wasn't scheduled until 3:00 in the afternoon. We've been on the run nearly every day, so it was nice to be able to relax and set our own schedule.

For lunch we ventured out into Guilin to look for a simple meal. We settled on a shop that sold steamed buns, soup and sliced meats. The restaurant looked promising, but once the food arrived we were disappointed with its quality…and a little nervous about its cleanliness (especially when a noticed a roach crawling up the wall right next to Xixi). It wasn't clear how fresh the food was and while we aren't overly concerned with food safety…this place sent up some red flags. So, we paid our check and bolted for the door. We explored the neighborhood a little and stopped by little convenience store to by some snacks and sodas to complete our lunch.

Guilin is one of the most famous scenic areas in China and it lives up to its reputation. We arrived in the dark last night, so were really surprised to wake up this morning and discover how majestic it is here.   The hotel is located right on a local lake and is within walking distance to many local attractions.

Guilin

We met the rest of our group in the afternoon for a trip to Elephant Hill Park. It’s a park on the Li river. It gets its name from a famous hill that resembles an elephant drinking water (photo included). We spent time exploring the park and climbing Elephant Hill to see the views and get up close to a 600 year old Pagoda. It was a nice outing, but too short. We are not used to having so much down time and we were surprised to return to the hotel with no other scheduled activities.

Elephant Hill

We me the rest of the group for dinner and then we headed out on a walk along the river to the twin pagodas. It was a really nice evening walk along Banyan lake. At night, the entire walkway and bridges are lighted. Like in the rest of China – the locals use this park in the evening to come out and enjoy the cooler night air. On the way back to the hotel we stopped by a night market and shopped a little. Xixi bought a brush to practice her Chinese calligraphy. When we returned to the hotel, Jing and Dawn headed to a little spa next to the hotel for Chinese foot massages. Xixi and I decided to just go back to the hotel room and begin organizing our stuff as we head to a new hotel tomorrow.

While we feel so fortunate to have experienced such a great trip, we are all getting tired and are looking forward to being able to stay in one location for more than 2 or 3 days. Time is really flying by and we will have our last full day in mainland China tomorrow, before heading to Hong Kong on Wednesday.

I’ve been reflecting on this trip and what it means to our family, especially to our girls. When we are in Vietnam, and moving around a little less, I plan to read back through these posts, collect my thoughts, get the input of the family and write a recap of our trip. I’m not sure when the next post will come (hopefully from Hong Kong on the 23^rd).   If that doesn’t work out, you can count on hearing from us from Vietnam, unless these Typhoons that keep rolling through interrupt our travel plans!