We left Emeishan early on Friday to board our public bus to Chongqing. Another great experience of Chinese driving skills..! We arrived early afternoon but fortunately our boat was ready so after some food we were able to board around 4pm. I had heard horror stories about this part of the trip but apparently due to complaints they have recently upgraded the boat used on this tour and I was pleasantly surprised. Basically it was a cruise liner. We sorted cabins and then started to explore.

First things first, food and drink. We arranged to have dinner on the boat but prior to that we investigated the different drinks packages they were offering versus BYO. For £26 I got all inclusive drinks from 8am to 10.30pm for two days three nights, I figured I could get my money's worth? After dinner we went to one of the bars and started to use our all inclusive status :-)

Saturday morning was our first excursion off the boat to Fengdu, the ghost city. We saw the temple and walked around though it was a little like a conveyor belt of tourists unfortunately. Back onto the boat for lunch and I managed to wait until 2pm for my first glass of red wine. I haven't been on a cruise before but I think this experience has confirmed that I would like to do one (not just because of the booze!!).

We spent the afternoon relaxing and chatting, I also learnt how to play Mahjong and then treated myself to a massage. Not brilliant as my shoulders were pretty tender but ok. After dinner we had a show put on by the crew of singing and dancing and then we danced the night away in our own private club in the 'ballroom' of the boat. Many red wines flowing as well. It all got a bit messy (all inclusives are dangerous I think) and eventually I went to bed.

Fortunately out next excursion wasn't until Sunday afternoon but we were entering the three gorges area at 10.30 so I managed to make it up for that. We saw lots of beautiful scenes through the gorges, including the goddess peak. After lunch we boarded a different boat to take a trip up one of the tributaries of the river, Shengang stream. We then transferred into small boats which were 'powered' by four locals rowing us. Before the river was flooded from the dam, this was the usual mode of transporting things/people and they would sometimes pull the boats through the shallower water. We got back onto our main boat in time for dinner.

After dinner a few of us hired a mahjong table and played a few games, much to the delight of some Chinese woman who wanted to help us play. After mahjong we had a few more drinks and then some dancing in the ballroom again before heading to bed.

Monday morning and straight after breakfast we left the boat to head on our way. We boarded our private bus to drive to Wuchang where we were to catch our next overnight sleeper train. It was a bit of a painful day traveling but we arrived for a late lunch and to wait for our train. We boarded the train mid afternoon but unfortunately we were in cabins that had already been used so wasn't as good as previous trains. To amuse ourselves we came up with different Halloween costumes using our basic possessions including a mummy, a ghost, a spider, a bat and a zombie. We enjoyed ourselves but I think we confused the Chinese passengers a little!

Tuesday morning, early, we arrived into Guilin and got straight onto another bus to travel to Yangshuo. Yangshuo is a beautiful, small riverside town that is very well set up for tourists. Not in a tacky or busy way but in terms of facilities etc. We arrived at the hotel, dropped our stuff off, freshened up and headed for some lunch. Stoney, our tour leader from beijing had to leave us early as he was starting another tour so we met our new leader Harvey. We said goodbye to Stoney and then started with our activities.

I signed up to quite a few things and first was an intro session of Kung Fu. We walked to the park across the way from the hotel and began learning ten positions of Kung Fu. It was exhausting but great fun and seemed to entertain some of the locals too. After that I had also signed up to do learn tai chi but was the only one so I continued to have an hour, one on one lesson learning the first six positions of tai chi. I really enjoyed that too though quite different to Kung Fu.

After my lessons I had a bit of time for the Internet and then we met for dinner. We went to a local bar for some food and drink and much to my joy, they were serving gin and tonics for £1.50. We had dinner, played some pool, had some more gin and eventually I stumbled home very happy :-). I think I am glad they aren't always that cheap though!!

Wednesday morning we were up for a bike ride, not quite what my body was wanting to do given the gin the night before but I struggled through. We cycled through the countryside admiring the views and the karst formations along the riverside. We then met up with our bamboo rafts and enjoyed floating down the river for a few hours. It was beautifully sunny too so we enjoyed the scenery and relaxing as well as the fun of going down mini waterfalls! The cover shot is a view from the river.

We met with the rest of the group again and went for a home cooked farm lunch and then cycled some more to moon hill. We walked up the 800 steps to the top and enjoyed the view plus the moon shaped hole in the rock at the top. Beautiful. Walking back down the hill and then finally cycling back to the hotel. A good day. I had booked a much needed massage for that afternoon but unfortunately with the Kung Fu/tai chi of the day before and then cycling and steps my muscles were already a little tender so it wasn't so relaxing!!

The next activity was a light show across the river. Calling it a light show doesn't really do it justice though. It was set on the river with the back drop of 11 karsts (mountains) and had a cast of 600 locals performing on the water with dances and singing. It is choreographed by the guy who did the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony and was really impressive. After the show we met back up with the rest of the group for a few drinks and some more pool and then bed.

Thursday morning and we had another full day in Yangshuo before getting our final sleeper train to hong kong. My activities today were a Chinese cooking lesson and then calligraphy. For the cooking lesson, we started with heading to the Market to buy ingredients. This was fascinating, the vegetables were so brightly coloured and fresh and the meat hall was also an experience. There were a number of live animals around as well as varied types. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea but interesting to see.

After the Market we headed to the restaurant for our lesson. We made three dishes, Kung po chicken, sweet and sour pork and vegetable dumplings. All of which were a success and we enjoyed eating it all for lunch too. After that it was a quick turn around for me and then onto my calligraphy lesson. This was also great. I learnt to write the numbers plus a few key words and then had my name translated into Chinese.

After calligraphy there was a bit of time for some Market shopping before meeting the group for an early dinner before the transfer to the train back at Guilin. We will arrive into hong kong tomorrow for our last bit of china before ending the tour.