Queen of the River in a crown of flowers rescued from the Yu Long He. Lisa had her turn, too. Photo by Jon.
This was a day to play as we made our way back to Guilin. After breakfast and some shopping in the market (Lisa put her bargaining skills to good use for me!), we hired bamboo rafts and had a two hour trip down the Yu Long He. Jon & I swam alongside the boats for maybe a kilometer, but while I climbed back aboard and stayed put, he jumped back in at least a dozen times. I don’t know too many people who like the water as much as Jon.
Me, Zoupi and Lisa in front of Moon Hill. Photo by Jon.
We stopped for lunch at an open air restaurant near the raft terminal and had a look at Moon Hill. This was another instance of Mr. Fong knowing just the right thing. As we drove along the village street near the restaurants, he told us to look out the window at the hill with the stone arch in it. He speeded up the car, and we watched the moon change phase as the hill behind the gap shifted relative position.
My sunburn islands
Maybe I should have swum with Jon some more because I ended up with a rotten sunburn from sitting undressed on the raft. When we reached town in the evening, we sought out some after-sun cream at one of the Guilin department stores and had a bowl of Guilin’s specialty—rice noodles in spicy broth with bits of duck.
Our hotel, the four star Lijiang Waterfall Hotel, had broadband access, so Jon and Lisa holed themselves up in their rooms and worked for part of the night, then we all went out for a late walk along the shopping street before heading to bed.
Posted by kuri at July 11, 2005 04:33 PM