Day 186: Guilin
Today marks the beginning of “Golden Week” – the National Day week-long public holiday when EVERYONE in China has vacation. If we thought China was crowded before, this week is supposed to be “nightmarish” for tourists. We had no illusions about visiting any attractions today – our only goal is to return to the city of Guilin in one piece, and get a good night sleep before our escape from mainland China tomorrow morning.
New guests hadn’t yet arrived at our hotel, so the morning was still pretty peaceful – we enjoyed our al fresco breakfast and took our time packing our bags and checking out of our room. We expected a huge line for the buses back to Guilin, but luckily we seemed to be travelling in the opposite direction as the masses – everyone in China was on their way *to* Yangshuo, we were the only ones leaving!
Igor is super excited for his perfectly cooked sunny-side up fried eggs
Igor enjoys our hotel view one final time before we check out
It’s the beginning of Golden Week, and while this is the second busiest travel week of the year in China, everyone is going *to* Yangshuo, we are some of the only ones leaving, so we have a near empty bus ride to Guilin
Our hostel in Guilin was located in a (relatively) quiet neighborhood outside downtown. On the downside, we were not within walking distance of any grocery stores, pharmacies or fast food chains (sadly, we were really hoping for some KFC…), but on the plus side we were close to a walking trail that lead us on a loop through several little villages along the river. The attractions weren’t very exciting, but that probably helped keep the number of tourists low
Taking an afternoon walk along the outskirts of Guilin
Igor does his best “Chinese tourist” impressions: snapping selfies and hiking up his t-shirt when he gets sweaty – so charming.
We’ve been in China for a month, and we are still baffled as to the footwear the Chinese select when going for a walk.
We usually ignore the souvenir stands, but there are some impressive artisans outside the Reed Flute Cave! We watch a man create glass figurines with a blow-torch, and a woman hand-stitch elaborate silk murals
Dozens of local tourists, enjoying the flower fields outside Guilin
We try to ignore the dozens of touts calling, “BAMBOO?” at us as we walk around the pond
Igor indulges in a bottle of fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice – YUM!
After nightfall, we venture out of our hostel in search of dinner. We bypass the public stage (where a Chinese opera is in full performance) and take a table at the “Often Full House” – indeed, there were quite a few tables full, so they get props for accurate advertising!
Our waitress brings us our Saran-wrapped dishes and a couple of menus. We are *really* hoping the “Fried Dog” is just a really bad English translation…
NO, WE DID NOT ORDER THE DOG MEAT.