We are allowed a late start today, so we leave the hotel at 9.30am Our room looks out toward a school,and the road in front of the school is being resurfaced. As the kids start arriving for school at about 7.30 there is a woman set up with her mobile kitchen and she is making hot wraps Goreme the kids for either breakfast or lunch. She puts the mixture, like pancake mix on a round hot plate and spreads it thinly. Then she adds vegetables or other toppings and rolls it up, puts it a plastic bag and you're good to go. She certainly gets through quite a few while we are watching. Meanwhile the road workers have arrived with their shovels. There is a big pile of rocks and sand to be spread out on the new road and they are going to do it by hand. By the time we return from breakfast, the pile has been dispersed into smaller piles and distributed along the new road. Some of the workmen are only wearing plastic sandals for footwear, no steel cap boots here! On the bus this morning we are travelling just 10 minutes to the countryside to see the village and agriculture, We walk through this village and farmland for about 2 hours and it is very hot here today. It's only around 10am and it's already in the 30's. The people of the community certainly work hard and it's mostly manual. No tractors or machinery here. It's rice harvest time so the rice that has been harvested is spread on the concrete in front of the house to dry and the stalks of the rice are tied together in sheaths ready to be bought in for good for the buffalo or to line their barn. The crops grown here are mainly grown for the families and the community. There is rice, peanuts, soya beans, pomelo, persimmon, corn, taro and chickens and ducks roam free. We come across a family peeling taro on their front steps and there is what looks like a whole pig that has been butchered ready to be cooked. They tell us through our guide that they are having a big celebration tomorrow and the whole village will attend. It's to celebrate the 1 month anniversary of the birth of a baby girl in the family. For the first month after birth the mother and baby stay at home. The mother does not wash or brush her hair or anything in that month. They have this celebration to present her and her new baby to the community. The older Chinese are quite shy and don't want their photo taken but if you ask they might agree. There is a river that runs around this village has been dammed and this is not only the water supply for them and their crops it's also a source of tourist income probably mostly for the government. There are hundreds of the bamboo rafts like on the river yesterday that give people rides up and down the river. It's clearly run by the government because of the number of security officers there keeping an eye on the proceedings. Once we return to the bus we are taken back to the hotel to freshen up before lunch. Lunch is at a restaurant close to the market place so after lunch we are given the opportunity to wander around for awhile or return to the hotel. We decide to stay in town for another hour and walk up and down the market street. There is nothing different to see and you can't stop to look at anything without being approached. After the hour we get the shuttle ( a golf cart that seats 10) back to the hotel. This is an adventure in itself! Tonight we are having dinner in the hotel and some people may go back into town for a traditional Chinese body and foot massage. When Glenn asked Vivian about the cost she said it's about 120 yuan and sometimes there is a happy ending!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure he has signed up or not. Tomorrow it's back to Guilin to fly to Xian where we will spend 3 nights. We have been so lucky with our times and have had no really early starts. It's very easy going.