Chongqing to Guilin-Monday 16-SEP

Carrying the bags off of the boat.

Today we disembarked from our Yangtze river cruise in Chongqing.  The steps up to the street level were hard to believe.  Not only were there very many, but they were ridiculously wide!!  There was bus parking right near the top of the steps, but that did not happen to be where OUR bus was.  So, we walked about a half mile up the street lugging our bags to our bus.  Then we headed to the airport.

Disembarked over pontoon bridge, to steps (the dark area).

Very modern construction with traditional.

Traditional building.

Walmart (behind the tree) and the building we stopped to see.

On the way, the bus stopped off at some neat looking building, but I never caught what it was exactly, and I did not really get any good pictures.  But, we also passed a Walmart, believe it or not, on the way.  It was the ONLY Walmart we had seen, and we were told previously there are only like 50 of them in China.  I tried several times to get a good picture, but couldn’t quite.

So many cities in China have these cookie cutter skyscrapers.

Chongqing Airport.  Smokers see fit to light up inside!

Our flight was on Xiamen Airlines, and a 737 (finally, a Boeing!).  It was a fairly short flight to Guilin, right about an hour.  This would be E to F on the map.  Guilin was by far the smallest place we visited on the tour, with a mere 1 million residents.  (all of the other places ranged from 3 to 7 million).  It sits along the Li river, with bizarre gumdrop shaped mountains all around. 

If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going!  (Except all the Airbuses we also flew.)

Our first stop was the Reed Flute Caves, which used to have flute shaped reeds at the mouth, but a number of years ago the reeds were all taken away.  It was an OK cave, with various shaped stalactites and stalagmites, many purported to look like something.  I found it more interesting that there were writing that dated back about 2000 years.  During one of the wars, several thousand of the residents hid deep in the cave and avoided capture.  But the whole place was lit up in garish colors that, to me, made it look fake and cheap.  There was one spot though, which I thought looked great.  There was a shallow pool, and the far wall was lit up nicely.  So, the pool reflected the far side, making a kind of horizontal Rorschach test.  (I have a psychologist friend, so I won’t say what it looks like, as she might make a conclusion!)(if she is reading this!)

2000 year old writing.

A beautiful view from our room, kind of ruined!

After checking into our hotel, we had the rest of the day “free”, including figuring out where to eat dinner.  There was a restaurant in the hotel, which several of our tour group chose.  Later, we heard many complaints that it was bad, until one couple noted all the people that complained got “western” dishes, but the Chinese food was excellent!  We saw a replica of the “Spaghetti Bolognaise”, and, well, yikes!!  Fortunately, we opted to head to the market street across the river to a restaurant our guide recommended.  The cab was supposed to be only 7 Yuan, but the driver tried to get us to pay 20, so we just walked the 20 minutes.  Actually, that was the better option, as we saw much more.

The Li River.

Along the way, we saw several people fishing.  One man had a pole, one was swimming with a spear, and another was in a “bamboo” boat.  We saw a large billboard with Jackie Chan, too!

Rather well dressed fisherman.

Fisherman on bamboo boat. 
They used to be real bamboo, but now are mostly PVC.

People swimming in the Li River.

The restaurant had a variety of things, but it was sort of difficult to find something that sounded particularly appetizing and unique.  I got the duck, but it was small, and mostly fat, skin and gristle.  Theresa got the fried rice, and we shared a large beer.  We avoided the strange collection of items on the back page.

On the way back, the river was lit up on both sides in various colors (no clue what they were), which looked interesting, but did not photograph well.  It rained a little during dinner and sprinkled off and on while we walked back, but we did not really get wet.  We did see a funny thing, though.  Lots of people have scooters, and they take as many people as necessary.  Theresa saw 3 on one, and we saw lots of pairs, and even a couple with their dog up front.  But as it was a little wet, one scooter pulled over and the driver pulled out a poncho, put his head through, and threw the back over his girlfriend on the back.  She pulled it over, and out popped her head in a second hole!!  It was a two person poncho for scooters!! 

Apparently the second line is supposed to be "pork" but I
don't wish to find out what part!
Not sure if that is a real lion head, but the next line is real!

Possibly the smallest McD's I have seen!

After a few public toilets without "happiness", this truly is!!