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| Guilin |
Once you have the visa you
can cross the border to Shenzhen, the process is easy and smooth. Our
main destination was Guilin, and there were a few options to get
there:
1- Flight: is the best option. It's a bit pricey for budget traveling, but believe me, it will save you a lot of trouble and time.
2- Rent a car and drive
there.
3- Sleeping bus: if there
are two words that meant hell on the road, this would be it. The trip
takes about 14 hours and it was the worst 14 of my life. I'm 167cm
and 57 kg, not big, right? I was huge for the sleeping “bed.” I
had to bend my knees all the way. The blankets the bus driver
provided smelled like a dead animal. I could feel the feet of the guy
behind hitting my head. The worst part of the trip was the rest stop
toilets, there were none. A hole in the ground, literally. No toilet
papers, GROSS ALERT, poo was everywhere in the hole. Saving a few
bucks isn't worth this trip, I learned the hard way.
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| Sleeping bus |
Once you get to Guilin the
beauty of the city will capture your heart.
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| Li River |
Dozycat Hostel Review:
The owner and the staff
are just lovely and kind. We arrived around 7am, hours before the
check in time, and I was tired from not sleeping on the bus and I
needed to use a decent toilet. The owner let me use the toilet, which
was clean, and he let me sleep on the couch until the room was empty
and cleaned. There are many cats and they were very social and
friendly. The staff was very helpful. They let us borrow hats to
protect us from the burning sun of summer, they helped us with
recommendations and directions, they helped us to order food to the
hostel. The room was comfy. The only thing I didn't like was the
shared toilets. There were two toilets only. One of them was a
squatting toilet which was hard to use and the second one had a
western toilet seat. The Dozycat hostel was friendly, cozy, had a
nice atmosphere and was very affordable. If you go to Guilin you
should stay there.
Things to Do in Guilin:
1- The Elephant Hill and
Surroundings: the rock looks like an elephant drinking from the
river. You can hike to the Puxian Pagoda up the hill, and don't
forget to stop by Water Moon Cave. Admission fee is 40RMB.
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| Elephant Hill |
2- Caving: there are some
caves in the area. If you like exploring underground, a visit to a
cave would be the right thing for you.
3- Guilin Zoo: the zoo
itself was sad. However, we went to the garden, which was pretty and
on hot day sitting under a shady tree was ideal.
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| Loose Monkey at Guilin Zoo |
4- Street Markets: just
walking in a traditional street market is a fun experience. You don't
have to buy anything, though shops owners will chase you to buy their
stuff.
5- A Walk by the Lake:
when the sun starts to set it's a perfect time to walk by the lake.
Locals just go out, escape from the summer heat by jumping and
swimming in the lake.
6- Pagodas: there are many
pagodas in the city, go and explore them.
7- Floating on the Li
River on a Bamboo Boat: you can't miss this experience, it was the
highlight of our trip. The bamboo boat is the cheapest choice. It
costs 180CNY, about 29$. The trip is from Guilin to Yangshuo. The
cruise will take you to a different world, the karst standing high
above the river.
For tourist information
and attractions, please visit the link below:
Eating in Guilin:
I always recommend street
food. It's delicious, cheap and fast. However, I'm not recommending
it today. Eating in a small restaurant in China is very affordable. I
got food poising from street food in Guilin, so I avoided it for the
rest of the trip.
Important Notes:
1- Drink bottled water.
2- Shops will rip you off,
so you need to haggle and haggle and haggle.
3- Public toilets are all
squatters.
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