Emerging through the thunder, lightning and torrential rain, we touched down in Guilin, very relieved. Not relieved to be out of the storm but relieved that we had actually got to Guilin. The flight was 5 hours delayed and after waiting for 3 hours in the airport we were taken to an airport hotel ...for an hours sleep before being dragged back to the terminal to wait some more before being able to board the plane. Arriving in the airport at 4 in the morning to find no taxis and torrential rain, ourselves and another westerner managed to find a car who took us to our hostel. It was hard work getting to Guilin (especially with a fully fledged cold) and maybe it was a sign as the following 9 days would prove to be slightly different to how we'd planned....

For the first time, our detailed research had let us down. By all accounts Guilin is a sunny, warm place and this time of year should be a pleasant 20 degrees celcius. What we actually found was a chilly 12 degrees celcius with rain and and fog forecast for the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow, as we leave, the forecast is Sun.

In between days of rain and days in bed with colds in Guilin we managed to hop on a river cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo where we met the super lovely 'Erin' and her father. Erin translated for us, chatted through many aspects of Chinese modern culture and looked after us generally fending off the touts and making sure we got the best of everything. Twisting down the river on a boat was not a bad way to see the strange and ever changing shapes of the Karst hills around. We ended up in Yangshuo and whiled away the afternoon people watching whilst drinking tea and then wandering up a peak in the local park where we were recruited to correct Chinese men's English homework before chatting with them until sundown. It is very apparent how money orientated the Chinese are. Or 'realistic' as they put it. One of the men we were chatting to had been brought up in the countryside and had worked as a carrier. He realized he had no prospect of a wife and a nice house so he had set up camp in Yangshuo to learn English so he could then go to the city and get a good job and a wife. "No money, no honey" as they put it.

Our next trip to Long Ji terraces created another serendipitous encounter with Erin and her father. The Long Ji terraces are where the stepped rice fields snake round and are given names such as 7 star and 1 moon and 9 snake 5 dragon terraces. Unfortunately, zero visibility (fog) meant we were not able to fully appreciate these man made wonders but a stop on the way to "Long Hair Village" was quite entertaining: girls only cut their hair once in their lifetime. Luckily they do have a choice of when they can do it, either when they turn 18 or when they get married. Their abodes were quite unusual too where the livestock sleep on the ground floor and the humans on the floors above because of the risk of snakes.

After another bout of illness we then shuffled along to Elephant Hill where the hill looks, as might be expected, like an elephant drinking from the water.

After Guilin we headed back to Yangshuo to stay for a few days and in between food poisoning bouts we took a bus to "Moon Hill" where rock climbers and view-seekers coexist peacefully and took a walk through some locals villages which involved a stick fight with some local children and some more amazing views of the river. Yangshuo and Guilin have been a bit of a wash-out compared to what we had planned but hopefully after several days forced relaxation we are strong and healthy and ready for our next adventures. Tonight we take the sleeper bus to Shenzhen and then a train to our next stop: Hong Kong (again!).