I'm condensing the last week into one entry to shorten the catching up I need to do! Here's a quick overview on the rest of that trip; After my adventures in Changsha I headed down by bus to Guilin, a picturesque city surrounded by limestone peaks which rise from the flat ground giving the landscape a dreamlike quality. I stayed for a couple of days in which I walked around the city and travelled out to have a go on a dry luge run on the side of a small mountain...

In the morning I awoke early and thankfully only endured a short awkward silence with my bedfellow before Ali arrived to take me to breakfast. I left my bag in the room with the only man I’ve ever slept with without knowing his name and headed down to a local café. I figured if the guy had any intention of robbing me he’d have done it by now. I left it to Ali to order and wolfed down some tasty noodles in a beef broth. In the excitement of the night before I...

I checked out and was given back far more money than I’d expected from my deposit, which meant the room had cost me little more than a hostel. I headed across to the train station and found that the train to Changsha wasn’t until the late afternoon, so I headed across the road to grab an early lunch. I was given a table for four to myself and was quickly joined by a couple as the restaurant filled up. The guy was in his mid 20’s and immediately started pra...

We awoke to find football highlights on the TV in the room and caught the whole second half of an impressive win by England. Then it was time for the tearful goodbyes as Dave headed off for his bus. He was heading to Wuhan to fly down and meet his girlfriend in Bangkok. I consoled myself by watching an awful American B movie about superhero kids before packing my bag and heading for the train station. I arrived and found that, despite the Lonely Planet’s claims...

We were afforded a relative lie-in for the third morning of the trip when the loudspeaker only started at 7. The wake up this time was for the entry to the second gorge. Sadly it was even less impressive than the first and the droning girl on the loudhailer continued to grate. Thankfully, she’d talked herself out within 20 minutes and we were left in peace, as soon as she finished the crowd dispersed. We alternated between the deck and free tea in the bar as th...