YangShuo and the areas around Guilin were like the China of our imagination - Rice Terraces, misty Karst mountains, slow rivers and sunken farmlands - The stuff of dreams and fantasy films. We spent several days in this area walking or cycling through the countryside along narrow pathways through rural areas, returning on one occasion by bamboo raft negotiating several weirs. We hired Tuk-Tuks to explore the town and surrounding villages. The hotel itself was step up for us, top floor (third storey) with a balcony overlooking the river and no other buildings within half a mile. On one of our countryside jaunts, as we boarded a local ferry packed full of Chinese an Irish voice behind us said "Dan and Heather, what are you doing on our boat?" - By some outlandish chance it turned out to be the Irish couple Gerry and Anne-Marie, that we met in Beijing and later in Pingyao. We made arrangements to meet the following night for a few beers. In the evening we went out on the river with the cormorant fishermen, unbelievable though not quite the same as the HSBC advert and slightly disturbing in how they restrict the cormorants throat, to prevent it swallowing the bigger fish.

Back at the hotel we made friends with a British couple from Derby called Ron & Maureen and wiled away a pleasant afternoon drinking and shooting the breeze. Our meal with Gerry and Anne-Marie provided an excellent evening, slightly marred by the sight of a rat climbing a nearby drainpipe.

On the last afternoon/evening we attended a cookery class and prepared a six course Chinese meal - We thought this would provide a pleasant early night before our 6:00 am start the next morning - Wrong …… We met a Dutch couple Wilhelm and Gaby and had a farewell drink into the early hours …. Is there a pattern emerging?