I think Catherine has us up at some ungodly hour. I'm not fresh. Anyway we head across the road for breakfast and I go for dumplings. In an odd move this involved the husband jumping on his bike and going home to make them. Odd. Meant I had a bit of a wait before I got my breakfast, though when it did arrive it was delicious. Good start to the day. On we go walking in to town to catch our bus. On the way we pass a couple of places offering tours down the Li River. This is something we are planning to do tomorrow, we had checked out the price in the hostel and we looking to compare. It looked like a better deal here, so we sign up. We are told we will be picked up at our hostel at 8, probably, maybe earlier, maybe later. What?!?! What does that mean? I'm baffled at the lack of a time. Apparently that is just the way things are done. Now, I'm not normally one to sign up for tours, but given it is national week and that from my research you have to book with someone, I take the plunge. Hopefully it'll be alright. We follow the map given to us by the hostel to find our bus. To say the map is vague is an understatement. There appears to be no method in which streets are shown, named or detailed with any sort of scale. After bumbling around for a while and asking countless people we eventually find the bus stop. We ask the bus driver which stop to get off at and he is about as much use as a chocolate candle. We just get off at what looks like the right place. Lucky for us it was.
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Lot of development going on en route to the reed flute cave, walking through building sites and a few banners with interesting English translations. Never fails to amuse. We get to buying our ticket, of course me at full price and Catherine with some sort of student card. Once we get in to the cave it is awesome. A whole host of stalagmites/stalactites and at various points pools of water. All tastefully illuminated with strategically place lights. The place is enchanting! Of course with this being China they turn the lights out after a period of time, to keep the group moving. Cheap. I found myself to the back on a number of occasions, trying to get a photo minus a heap of Chinese, then the lights go out. I have to revise my strategy! It is quite a lengthly cave, I'm sure we were in there for about an hour. Of course, at particularly picturesque spots we have some professional photographers offering to take a good photo for you in front of whatever. I'm not interested, though many Chinese are. We even have the opportunity to nip in to a sub cave and see some turtles, of course this is another ¥5, but we decide to give it a go. I felt pretty sorry for some of these turtles, out on a wooden platform with 100s of Chinese patting them and screaming at them all day. Poor b*****s. I really enjoy the cave, like nothing I have seen before, and on such a large scale, I just wish I had my tripod.
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Afterwards we exit and of course have to pass through the gift shop. Then as we descend back down I have some woman practically jump on my trying to get me to buy a book. Like proper hanging on my arm. After I had her surgically removed we cross a boardwalk along a lake, where again we are being bombarded with offers to ride a bamboo boat. The scene is fantastic and gives me a real taste for the river cruise tomorrow. Back on the bus and back in to town.
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On the way back down the street we stop off at this BBQ shop. You walk in and get to pick from a whole selection of prepared skewers, they they get dropped in the deep fat fryer for a few minutes, then smothered in spicy sauce, on a plate then in to your hands. Wow! Absolutely delicious. Loadsa meat, chicken, lamb, pork, octopus and fish balls. Super tasty. We head for a walk to the sun and moon pagoda, just in a lake not to far from the hostel. They look beautiful, though I think it is at night when they will really come alive so we nip back to the hostel for a couple of hours until its dark. My suspicions were indeed correct. At night they are both lit up different colours, the sun pagoda exuding a yellow glow, and the moon pagoda eminating an ice white aura. From the far side of the lake the reflections stretch across the water, and with little light pollution or background skyscrapers, makes for a scene from ancient times. We decide to pay to be able to go inside the pagodas, it was the right decision. We walk across a bridge, overlooking a waterfall, before wandering through a path lined with rocks and bamboo, before reaching the moon pagoda. 7 floors later and we get to the top. A great view over the lake, extending out to the mountains in the distance. With live music being played just along the lake it was a great atmosphere. After the moon pagoda we head to the sun pagoda, the two being connected by an underwater tunnel, nice. There is a lift in the sun pagoda, much to Catherine's delight. The sun pagoda is 9 floors high and is the largest copper structure in the world, apparently. Again I am treated to beautiful views of the night skyline. Although one of the hotels along the river has modern neon lights streaming across it, somewhat out of context given the rest of the setting. When we come back down the lift we get off at the first floor, where there is a woman in traditional dress playing the Gu Zheng, the Chinese guitar instrument that lies flat like a keyboard and gets plucked by the musician. It emits a great eastern sound and we sit down and look out over the lake for a while.
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After this it is time for bed, with a long day tomorrow, down the Li River. I'm not really too sure what to expect, but I am excited regardless. I'm sure I will be the only foreigner, as we are doing to Chinese tour, but that doesn't bother me. Alarm set, 7am.