Guilin

We arrived in Guilin last night and took a bus to our hostel, where we have a regular hotel room. This section town is very touristy, which means more selection of types of restaurants but higher prices. We booked a boat ride down the Li River then ate Chinese food at an Irish pub.

We got on a bus at eight this morning and were dropped off at our hostel at seven this evening. Of the eleven hours we were away, only three and a half were spent on the river. We basically joined a parade of similar boats all doing the same thing, which was taking people to see the scenery along one section of the river. It was pretty but we were frustrated that so much time was spent in buses and in Yangshuo waiting for the ride back to Guilin. Perhaps we need to take a break from viewing gorgeous landscapes.

While we were in Yangshuo, we halfway joined a conversation two American men were having about how advanced the technology is here. For example, hardly anyone uses cash for purchases. They use their phones to scan qr codes at shops or anyplace we might use cash or credit cards. Their trains run exactly on time, at least the fast trains do. They are rapidly expanding their high speed train system to cover the whole country. Most of the motor scooters here are electric. It is a different way of approaching things than we have. They have a long way to go to clean up their air, but they are even working on that.

We have no plans for tomorrow except to take it easy.