I know I said yesterday was my favourite day in china, but yangshuo keeps surprising me. Another amazing day and something I will tell for the rest of my life! It comes at the end of the blog though! Firstly, we woke up around 9 am and got ready for the day. Our friend Katie from Guilin was coming down from yongshuo also so we hoped at some point we would bump into her. I wrote out granny and Grandads cool card and cycled into town. Mel and I tried to book our train into Vietnam but apparently they don't do it anymore from other places, that means we have to wait until the 14th. It may be quite difficult to get a train the next day so we might have to wait a couple of days. After the train station I cycled up to the post office and got stamps for my card . It only cost 6 yuan so 60p to send to Northern Ireland! Bargain! Hopefully it reaches them in two weeks. I then picked up a mango smoothie for breakfast and Mel had a salad.

We headed back to the hostel as our legs were still pretty busted from the previous days cycling, and sitting on the bike was quite sore! We read and I blogged. We then decided that today was swim day! Luckily on the way down the stairs we bumped into our pal katie, so we invited her along . The li river is luke warm and not very polluted so it's not like swimming in the manky river Lagan! We grabbed our costumes and cycled down to the steps, and locked up our bikes. Mel got in first and I lingered behind for fear that it was going to be ice cold. When she reassured me I jumped on it. It was incredible! I've never experienced anything like the freedom of just being able to swim In a river alongside boats and bamboo rafts, all in 35 degree heat! It was really lovely. I also jokingly said to Mel to do a little mermaid impression and sing the song from the movie, and it has to be the funniest thing I have ever seen. So funny that when I have Internet access I will be uploading it and she will be a success in no time. Mel, Katie and I swam for an hour or so and took some snaps and really had a great time. Katie mentioned she'd like to swim at 5am one morning and watch the sunrise and I agreed that would be a must.

During our swim we obviously were drawing the attention of the local Chinese folk! We chatted for a bit and the decided to head back once our hands started to go weird and pruney. We got showered and headed out for dinner . I had some chicken fried rice which was tasty. We discussed what we would like to do and Mel has been wanting to do KTV since she's been in china (karaoke tv). I loved the idea of that so we went for a few drinks to get Dutch courage. We headed back to monkey janes were we were last night and played some card games which included kings and cheat. We met a gay couple last night called Simon (ha) and Gavin who we invited out tonight so they turned up at half 8 rearing to go!

We walked down the street and started bargaining for KTV places. One place tried to charge 900 yuan which is a complete joke, so we swiftly moved on and went somewhere else. The thing which makes KTV cool is your own group gets a private booth. You sing your heart out and don't really have to worry about making a fool out of yourself! We found a place, and I managed to get the price down to 400 yuan. Easy! We immediately started singing such classics as 'Barbie girl', 'single ladies' and Lionel Ritches 'hello'. I don't even have the words to describe how hilarious it was. We were jumping about the place, and I of course thought I was beyonce after a couple of drinks. Hilarious. After our two ours were done, we got an invitation from the booth next to us to join theirs, which we accepted as we Didnt want the party to end!

The booth was filled with a group of about 20 Chinese girls and guys all about my age to about 26. As soon as we walked in they made us feel like celebrities. They were handing us drinks and telling us to have a go! First up was Mel and Simon. They sang 'my heart will go on',and I have never heard cheering like it. Everyone was clapping and saying 'wooooo'. Next was my turn and I opted for lady gagas 'poker face', and again the same screams and cheers from all our new Chinese pals. What's awesome is they were just so accommodating, they genuinely were happy that a few westerners wanted to sing with them! Katie, Mel, Gavin ,Simon and I had one of the best nights ever and the boys even thanked us for inviting them.

We then left KTV about 2am and dandered to a local bar to play the dice game. A guy walked in who just arrived in yangshuo called 'Kim'. He was a nice guy and he definitely had the eyes for cousin mel! He was smitten. Me and Katie were laughing the entire time, and I even fashioned a veil out of a shopping bag for Mel. Innovation at its best. Kim Mel Katie and I chatted for a couple of hours and it got to 4am. Katie then suggested that it would make sense To do our swim in the river and watch the sunrise. It made perfect sense, so we made tracks.

We made our way down the river and walked to the spot were we were swimming earlier. Luckily I spotted somewhere else which was more safe and had steps down into it as I Didnt want anyone falling in! It was pitch black all around us and the only thing illuminating the river was the stars. It was incredible looking. It made me think of dads star we named for him so I had a look over them for a while and picked one out which I decided was his! We were floating in the pitch black and talking about what a magnificent moment this was. All four of us bobbing in a famous river at 5am watching the sun climb up from behind the mountains. It was one of those moments where I felt completely happy and at one with the universe, like you belong and are part of something incredible. As cringey as that sounds! An hour or so passed and finally the oranges and pinks starting rising from behind the mountains. The Stars started disappearing while the sky gradually turned more blue. People started stirring and coming down the river for morning exercise and swimming. We all sat together and watched the final bit of the sun emerge, and just like that it, was morning.

We clambered out of the river and by this point it was 6.15. I barely recognised my hands and I was starting to get a bit cold now but it was worth it. We walked a twenty minute walk back to the hostel, had a shower then headed to bed at 7am. I remember dad saying to me before I left that when I was travelling, there would be a moment when it would become clear why I was doing it, and today that moment happened.