The Mountains of Yangshuo

The guidebook says, "Many people reflect after travelling all over China that Guilin is the most beautiful part of their trip." I can not agree more. After practically drowning in the concrete ocean of Shanghai, I was thrilled to get out into the mountains. Mountains they are, karsts, limestone creations that have actually been worn away by the dripping and flow of water. A geologist, I am not, however, so I simply marvelled at the mountains as majestic creations. These pictures are views from the very "rustic" hotel that Dave and I stayed in. Dave is Japanese-American. Looks Chinese-ish. We travelled together and people simply began speaking to him in Chinese. I explained in my Chinese that he was American. They continued to talk to him in Chinese until after MANY minutes that truly, he did not speak Chinese. People just couldnt get it. Furthermore, they assumed he was my husband. Then when I explained that he was my friend, one taxi driver said, "oh... just flan... yeah, just flan...". Friend, flan, same thing. We went hiking, walking through mud, adventuring and laughing down the street, trying to shake off the most aggressive water seller in the history of the business. She followed us up the mountain, sure that we would buy water at the top. When I pulled water out of my backpack she did not look as crushed as I expected. She whipped out a book of postcards and hawked those my way. Well, I am a sucker for postcards, and China being the place where people buy stuff constantly, I bought a book of postcards at the top of the mountain. Let's say I was supporting the local economy. Last day, I went climbing and my flan Dave meandered and took photos. FABULOUS! I will go back for 5 days in May to camp. More on that later...