The first order of the day was breakfast and so we set out to wander the streets in search of a very cheap Chinese breakfast of steamed buns and rice porridge. We turned left and walked around the block finding nothing and as we got closer to the hostel having come full circle we found what we were looking for but our Chinese failed us or perhaps it was a misunderstanding between dialects. Instead of pumpkin buns we got spicy pork but the red bean buns were good. Then it was on to Fubo Hill just around the corner from the hostel which we chose over the Solitary Beauty Peak because entrance was half the price (40 Yuan), it is next to the Li River and from a distance they look to be the same height.
Panorama of Guilin looking West from the top of Fubo Hill
Panorama looking South over Guilin and along the Li River from the top of Fubo Hill
Margaurita and I on the top of Fubo Hill, Guilin
The temperature was already up in the thirties and it wasn’t even 10 o’clock so we took an air-conditioned taxi and headed for the Reed Flute Cave which is a little way out of the town. Once again there was lots of tawdry lighting but the cave itself was quite impressive with some large caverns, formations and even a laser light show casting shapes on the ceiling of the largest hall. We tagged onto the back of another tour group who had an English-speaking guide to pick up on a few things although there was nothing about how old it was or how it formed but rather what imaginary thing the formations resembled. They even pointed out a mound of limestone that they had labelled Father Christmas.
Some of the impressive formations in the Reed Flute Cave, Guilin
One of the large caverns with coloured lighting
The lighting actually made this cityscape formation and reflection look pretty cool
So much for beating the midday heat as we were finished at the Reed Flute cave before 12 o’clock. The heat was pretty stifling so we took the opportunity to head back to the hostel and ask for help booking our train tickets home, still not sure how many days in advance we could buy them. They said they could help us but with a 30 Yuan service fee (for the middle man to take a taxi to the train station and stand in line) which we thought was a bit steep. We decided we would try on our own as well as trying to find a travel agency to book a bamboo raft to Yangshuo. After walking around for half an hour we still hadn’t found a travel service when I looked at a pamphlet we had and recognized the building and where it was. They couldn’t help with the bamboo raft but they had a train ticket office however they said the soft sleeper tickets were all sold out until the 15th and we needed to leave on the 11th. They then suggested we try the train station offering no explanation as to why, if they had no tickets, the train station might. Slightly panicked we caught a taxi straight to the train station were the queues were all 20 people long and the board with the train schedules above the tellers showed no tickets for any of the trains on the dates we needed. After standing in queue for a while it became apparent this was going to be a lost cause and so we went outside. Not knowing what to do we tried an official looking China International Travel Service (CITS) office in the station parking lot. The guy behind the desk spoke very good English and said the trains were indeed all sold out but why don’t we take a soft sleeper bus. He told us it was faster (15 hours), slightly cheaper(10%) and there were 2 buses everyday. Sold we handed over 840 Yuan for two tickets and got a hand written receipt with his cellphone number on it and he told us to come back at 3:00pm the following Monday (30 minutes before the bus departs) to collect our tickets. My suspicion was first aroused when I handed over the cash and he gave me change from his wallet and the lack of actual tickets concerned me somewhat but what else could we do. We thought about a flight but that would be twice as much. Having helped us with tickets home we asked about the bamboo raft but his prices were no better than the hostels and with my doubts on the authenticity we decided to just book the raft through the hostel.
In all the panic and stress we hadn’t had a chance to get lunch so we had a late snack at 4 and deemed it too late to get to Tunnel Hill Park so settled for the Elephant Trunk Hill, a must see according to guide books, and it was actually pretty good. We were lucky enough to catch the afternoon show of a cultural performance and the soft late afternoon light which made for some good photos.
playing a Reed Flute
standing on knives
Elephant Trunk Hill with Tunnel Hill Park and pagoda in the distance
posing with some Cormorants that locals still use to fish in the river
Looking down the Li River from the top of Elephant Trunk Hill
Karst peaks surrounding Guilin, silhouetted in the afternoon sun
Margaurita and I in front of Elephant Trunk Hill
It was a nice way to end off what had been a stressful afternoon and once back at the hostel we booked our bamboo raft cruise to Yangshuo for the next morning with pick-up at a decent 10:00am.
