Yangshuo, China
Cruising down the Li River was at the top of our list of things to do before we die – it was a little emotional to be able to cross that one off the list.
The karst mountain formations of the Li River area are indescribable. 300,000,000 years of weathering have left this former seabed as one of the most beautiful places on earth. Limestone mountains thrust vertically out of the river beds to form an almost surreal landscape. Think of every Chinese ink drawing that you have ever seen and they are most likely landscapes of the Li River.
There were about 10 boats moored together at the dock where we boarded our cruise. We were the second last so we got to sneak a look into each vessel as we passed. We were the only international tourist group on board our vessel. The rest of the passengers were from various areas around China. They were so excited initially that the noise level was slightly lower what would be expected to cause permanent hearing loss. We ended up having a blast and posing for pictures with several of the groups during the 4 hour cruise.
The group voted to do a 2 hour Bamboo Raft Cruise down a side river for the second event of the day. The other options were a motorcycle ride out to the country or a hike up a mountain to see a rock with a hole in it. As the temperature was in the mid-30’s having someone push us down the river on a raft was the best choice!
The raft tour was the most beautiful part of the trip. Slowly floating through an even more beautiful section of the mountains was spectacular. It was soooo hot – our poor drovers had to use poles to push the boats along and were dripping in sweat – a fact not missed by a few individuals on our tour.
For the evening’s event we attended a show staged by the choreographer of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony. 600 people take part in the extravaganza of light, singing and dancing. I had a nice nap in the middle of it but Andre was in heaven. We were too tired to hit the night market when we got back. I went immediately to bed and got my first full night’s sleep of the trip. Heavenly day and heavenly night!
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