[Guilin to Yuang Shuo]

 

Guilin, Reed Cave, and Li River Cruise among the karst.

 

elephant trunk hill First stop in Guilin: Elephant Hill--sort of looks like an elephant dipping its trunk into the water for a drink.
locals posing for pictures The locals will pose with tourists for a fee--usually about 10 RMB (yuan), about $1.40. Not really much. But, if one cornered you, others jumped in, so the group rate could go up quickly if you didn't watch it.
Gold and Silver pagodas The taller is the "Gold Pagoda" and the shorter is the "Silver Pagoda," both so lit at night. I have some night pictures of these I will post later.
Guilin city view We climbed the Dragon Gates hill, to get this really good view of Guilin, or part of it. I think this one had 180 step to the top, so it wasn't too bad, even if only a few days after the race.
Guilin City

Didn't really start to make an ad for bottled water, but a slow shutter response does that.

Actually, all we drank was bottled something. There was even a healthy plastic re-cycling economy as people would approach you asking for your empty bottle. First time it happened was at an airport, and seemed really freaky. The kids on the race course were active at that, too.
island in river This is the Li River, from atop Dragons Gate hill.
island in Li River More of the Li River.
Linda and Jim atop Dragon Gate Hill in Guilin Linda and Jim at the summit.
a hill

I think this is one of  the hills near the Reed Cave, shown below. The story was this was well hidden, and known only to a few, until someone chasing a goat or something fell into it and reported it to authorities. I is a big tourist destination now

Plants from which reeds for musical instruments are made grow near it, or at its entrance, hence its name.
inside Reed Cave Most of the colors are from different lights in the caverns.
inside cave More lights
light show in cavern An even more elaborate light show in the biggest cavern.
light show part 2 Some reflective water in the cavern, too.
group reflexology room

Ah, the group reflexology treatment. This was terrific for our feet a few days after the race. Rather than making us want to take a nap, it actually energized us so much we came back for another treatment after our trip down the river. Cost: 120RMB each (less than $20) for 1hour.

(From front to back: Angie, Dallas, Donna, Rick, Linda and Jim.)
luch table Just a typical lunch, or the start of it. Most of our meals were served on these huge "lazy susans." I think that's roast duck in the foreground, but don't recognize anything else right now.
cormorant fishermen

Cormorant fishermen and their boats. If you look close and use your imagination a bit, you can see the bird near on of the lamps.

We went out for a short cruise to see the fishing exhibition. Those pictures didn't come out very well.
on the Li River This is early in the cruise on the Li River. The scenery just kept coming for the three-hour cruise.
on the Li River This area is said to be the inspiration for a lot of the "classic" Chinese paintings or scenes you see with mountains.
Li River Scene You can see why.
Li River scene  
Li River Scene  
Li River Scene  
Li River scene  
mountain on Li River  
Lunch specials on boat We had lunch on the cruise, too. This is the first mate, or someone, showing off some of the specialities. About the only thing I can recognize at this point are the silkworm grubs--the round, dark brown things closest to his hand.
Li River Scene  
Boat with sign

After a while you start to take pictures of the other tourists. They do the same

The Chinese have a very interesting way of spelling, too.
Boat going up stream This reminded me of the Blue Whale, near Catoosa.
Pagoda in Yuanshuo Yuangshuo at last. A frenetic market place preceeded this one.
group at Moon Mount

Another hike up a hill--Moon Mount. This one had 850 steps; well worth it.

Linda, Jim and Larry at the observation point.

More pictures from here to follow sometime later.