Day one in Guilin is the first day that we've not had a tour booked with a guide so it's the first time we've been able to relax and just chill. We went down for breakfast but then came back up and spent most of the day in the room.
I know, I know, we only have a couple of days here so why didn't we go out? Truth is, we were knackered and the room is so cool.
In the early evening we went out to get dinner and went to a higher quality local eating house. We ordered a beer and 3 dishes, duck, rice and noodles. We got enough stuff to feed 4 of us for less than a tenner!
Karron had a little trouble getting to grips with the fact that the duck was on the bone and that the head was on the platter as well but she did manage to eat a few mouthfuls and mainly stuck to the rice and noodles. More duck for me then :)
After eating we went for a stroll around the night market, this stew he'd over several streets and was full of colour and very busy and vibrant. Once again, the stalls owners were less aggressive than those in Beijing - although still very opportunistic with one guy trying to sell a bracelet to Karron for 40 yuan that at best would fetch no more than 5 yuan if a local was buying. All in all though it was a pleasant atmosphere and we enjoyed the walk around the hundreds of stalls selling everything from combs made out of buffalo horn to radio controlled helicopters!
On the way back to the hotel we had a strawberry milkshake from a small kiosk on the side of the road that tasted magnificent. It cost just 70p but I swear Mcdonalds would want £2.99 for anything remotley similar. Although, if they made them like this one, it'd be worth every penny!