Today I write this from my bed looking at the view of a mountain and the sound of the river in an air conditioned room at the lovely temperature of 17 degrees.

After an early morning we woke to another interesting breakfast in the Guilin Bravo Hotel (see previous blog) as per usual I stuck to my trusty toast and New Zealand anchor butter. I may sound like a philistine but Chinese really do not do breakfast well from what we have seen! After checking out we met our guide "Summer" and driver (who remains nameless) for a short drive to the harbour to board our boat for a 4 hour trip down the river Li.

The boat ride was one of the highlights of my trip so far. Swapping the hustle and bustle for a more tranquil experience with amazing views, that I hope my poor photography skills do justice. It was also a nice surprise to find most of the guests were British or American and swapped the cold stares we had been receiving in Guilin for conversation. We were sat with a Spanish lady who spoke excellent English who just so happened to be seeing many of the sites we were on our way to see. I must confess I was glad to move from the area which I can only describe as comparable to something from East Germany during the 1980's. However, it did have its redeeming features such as the waterways and lovely night time lake walk ways.

We docked (slowly crashed) in to Yangshuo harbour, the town appears to be very touristy. However, our driver was waiting for our short journey to the Yangshuo mountain retreat hotel so exploration will have to wait until tomorrow. The retreat is by far one of the most relaxing places I have ever seen and with our huge window having a breathtaking view. The staff are friendly and welcoming, everything the opposite to the Guilin Bravo hotel. Dinner was in the restaurant where for the first time I think I have truly enjoyed commercial food in China, having traditional Chinese dishes of fried bamboo shoots, beef in ginger, steamed tofu with pork and local rice. Surface to say Laura and I gorged ourselves, now ready for a relaxing evening.