Well after yesterdays successful encounters with the buses I thought today I would endeavour to get out and see a couple of the nearby counties....so off to the bus station I go ready to do battle language style again. Luck was on my side as I encountered the same lady as yesterday so we both know what we were doing...sort of.... I had my trusty map in hand and pointed to the counties I wanted to visit - that was the easy part - then I had to decipher when the bus was leaving and what time I had to return.....buses are not all that frequent in the counties. I parted with my 25 kwai (about $4) and set off on the first 90 minute bus ride.

It was awesome scenery so the time passed very quickly and then I had to change buses to get to the next county - Leye County where there are the most magnifient limestone krasts and caves of which I wanted to see the Daweishi Heavenly Pit as my students who live in the area tell me they are beautiful. Well no complaints from me...they lived up to if not surpassed expectations. Its hard to adequately descibe the area and I'm not sure that photos do it justice.

Then it was back to Lingyun county for a look at some well known caves - Nali Cave and Shuiyuan cave. Unfortunately my camera skills are not up to scratch and the pictures from the cavesdidn't work out.

All too soon it was time to return home but I had a great day and proved that I can do little trips by myself. Once again my students were horrified to learn of my days adventure when I got back to school in the early evening. They could not believe that I would attempt another trip "alone" after all their dire warnings from the day before!!! I assured them that I can look after myself and worse case scenario I have the phone numbers of the FAOs at school. Not sure I've convinced them as they are busy "booking" up my time over the weekend so they can accompany me......cant help but love their kindness and the sincerity of their actions.