We were troopers this morning and got up at 5am for our impending balloon ride! Looking at the sky it didn't seem likely it would be a go-ahead, as it was really misty making the visibility poor, but the woman in charge seemed to think it was fine, so we handed over our money and dragged our tired selves onto the mini bus. Bobo came along too with Lucy and Christina so we were all really excited on the way! Suddenly we saw a burst of fire on the road in front of us, and there was the basket, the tiny little basket, they were starting to set up the balloon!! It had got a lot lighter at this point, so things were looking promising. We watched them inflate the balloon, getting giddier by the minute, and soon they were asking us to step inside, making the brace position, and leaving the ground!

It was absolutely amazing, and just the strangest sensation. When the gas fire isn't on, the balloon is so quiet, all you can hear is the wind, and birds. The view was pretty spectacular too. We struggled to get high up initially, and there was a moment where we seemed to be heading dangerously close to the mountain side. Then, disaster struck (again). We don't seem to be having much luck with this balloon business! It started raining, really heavily, dripping on all of us and making the balloon sink. We dropped lower, and lower, and lower, and soon, within 15 minutes of liftoff, we had to emergency land, with the help of 5 men on the ground pulling us to safety. It had been so brilliant until the weather!

Expectantly, we approached Bobo, and said, well, what's next? A rearranged flight later? A partial refund? But nothing. 120 quid, for 15 minutes in the air. All 4 of us were really annoyed. We insisted the driver take us to the manager of the hot air balloon company, where we sat inside the bus to escape the pouring rain, arguing with him about giving a refund for the disappointing ride. He did not seem to see that what we had paid for (an hour in the air) had not been provided - and he could not grasp that the dangerous conditions (the mist, rain, and now thunder and lightening) should have prevented us from even taking off in the first place. After Claire and Christina getting increasingly angry, we didn't get our of their van until they gave us at least half of the money back. When they finally did, an hour and a half later, we got out immediately, thanked Bobo for her translation help. And went back to bed.

Which has made us COMPLETELY give up any hopes of ever having a successful balloon ride with a company which actually cares about its customer service at all, and now we're going to save our money for something more worthwhile and reliable.

The weather in Yangshuo now is disgustingly wet, so we're chilling out in cafes this afternoon until the bus takes us to Chaolong tonight. Most probably not near the internet for a while now, so take care everyone and speak soon! Missing you all - but not wishing we were back in the UK :)