We flew in to Guilin from Xi'an this was cheaper and easier than getting the train.We got the airport shuttle bus and then we had to jump in a taxi to get to the hostel we were booked into.We walked the wrong way at first then had to double back on our self, eventually we checked in to the dorm.We took the only empty two bunks Wayne in the top one and me in the bottom (I couldn't climb up to the top one!).We decided to have a walk along the river, where there were people swimming on both sides and on our side some guys fishing but we could see that ever though the river was wide it was not particularly deep.We walked to the end of the promenade and sat down with our legs over the side, as soon as I sat down the water rippled and I was soaked!We got back to the hostel and then took a short walk into the centre, a pedestrian area with shops.Although this time there was not a designer store in sight. The town centre was not too big so we found somewhere to eat and had a few beers before we got back to the hostel to book our trip on Li River and our sleeper bus to Shenzen (Hong Kong).We settled down to sleep after chatting to one of the other guys and then in came this man saying that Wayne was in his bed - which he wasn't, he stormed off and poked his tongue out .We had seen him downstairs laughing at himself, definitely a strange man!

We slept really well and went out for a few hours to Elephant Hill.Elephant Hill is a peninsular which goes into the river and looks like an elephant is dinking from it through its trunk.It is said that the elephant was an imperial elephant that was ill and turned to stone rather than return to the emperor and the army.Up the hill there are lots of places to stop and admire the view of the river and in one spot a Chinese family asked if they could have the photo taken with us, after about 10 snaps and lots of questions about home we headed down towards the river.Where the supposed trunk hits the water there is a hole so we thought it would be a nice area to watch the river and riverbank activity from.We then crossed on a bamboo raft back to the land, there were a lot of these boats making the short crossing as well as ladies with cormorants trying to persuade you to have your picture taken with them.On the way back to the hostel and the town we walked through Elephant Hill Park which had some nice gardens and bridges over the river tributaries.Back at the hostel we were asked whether we wanted a private room as the dorm was full we said that we would move but we wouldn't pay any extra as we were happy to stay put and they moved us to a double en suite for the same price.We went for lunch in a little cafe, we were the only two in there and 2 sandwiches took over an hour!We found a department store but it wasn't that good, but we decided to buy a headset and webcam for £5 to make it easier to contact home.For tea we headed to a place recommended in the Rough Guide when Wayne's Schezuan fish came out it was full of dried chillies and incredibly hot, my meal was scallop (actually crab) and pea and was really bland not the best meal.We wandered back past Shan Hu Lake which has 2 pagodas in the middle which are lit up at night one red and one green, it was a really pretty place and at its best at night.We then found a market selling souvenirs and a bar where there was live music.