My oh my. Where do I even begin? The past week has been AMAZING! We didn't have classes this week due to the celebration of National Holiday. I spent the first two days in Changsha hiking and relaxing. The mountain near to my campus has ancient Chinese buildings and shrines which I found. I'll have to share pictures another day because I'm sure I will be there a lot. :) On Wednesday I left with Kamilla, Mila, and Lilli for the train station at 4 AM. Yehaw for early mornings! Also, I ordered a taxi by myself for the first time and I am so proud. *self high five* Anyway, the train ride was about 4 hours on soft seats, which was very nice. As we approached the city of 桂林(guilin) I realized I was looking at the most beautiful mountains I had ever seen in my life. They look as though they belong in a Dr. Seuss book. Because of the holiday, there were SO MANY PEOPLE but we found our way to Elephant Trunk Park. The weather was so nice! It wasn't
hot. Of the girls that went on this trip, I was the one that loved hiking the most. Shocking, I know. They left me for about an hour so I could hike to the top of one of the mountains. BEST VIEW EVER! After the hike, we explored the park a bit more and got to tour a Chinese temple. Also, there was a portion of the park dedicated to animals and
apparently these are giraffes? I don't know, but they look cool, right? Honestly, I love talking with people. Right after I took this picture a gentleman approached me and asked why I was in China. I responded in Mandarin and we talked about the language for a few minutes. Apparently it's rare to find a blonde American who can speak Mandarin. :) By the time we left the park, we had been there for about five hours and we
we ready to eat! We found an authentic Guilin noodle restaurant which included: rice noodles, boiled egg, duck, beef, beans, cilantro, peanuts, and a little bit of chili to give it a kick! SO GOOD! I would say they were close to the best noodles I've had. After lunch we made our way to our hotel. Picture this: you are given your room key then told to walk outside the office, turn left, go about 200 steps down a dark, secluded, small walkway to an elevator where you take it to the seventh floor and your room is the one with the door with only one hinge... that was our experience. :) The view from our hotel
was quite nice once you looked past the buildings that some may say are dirty looking. For me, it's normal because that is what China looks like everywhere! :) My favorite part of the first day in Guilin was our sunset hike. Literal tears fell from my eyes as I looked out at one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen in my life. All night I continued
to think about how extraordinary this place was and how grateful I am I got to see it all.
I was all smiles watching the sunset and loving life. :) On the way down we decided to slide down the mountain. Yes. Slide. We had tarps tied around us as we took the "Good Luck Slide". It was so much fun! However, it was completely made out of stone and it turned every so often... I have a couple bruises from running into the wall. :) What an experience. NOW, for dinner... We were walking through the streets and I saw things crawling in a bowl inside a restaurant (they were scorpions). As I walked closer, I realized they were preparing all sorts of critters to be barbecued and eaten. Naturally, I tried the most disgusting looking ones. :) CRICKET, SCORPION, SQUID. I loved them all, but the cricket was the most interesting. It exploded in my mouth. No joke. And it's guts were a deep green color. It tasted good, though! Are you squirming yet? :) The rest of the night
we explored Guilin and the several temples near the city center. It is considered a big
city, but it is small compared to Changsha. I loved the atmosphere. It seemed very busy, but I think it was simply the holiday. So many musicians were playing on the streets and
I loved it. The next morning was another 4 AM wake up time! Yehaw! We headed to LongJi to tour rice fields! As if I didn't already think about rice on a daily... Now, every time I eat rice I think of the beauty on the orange mountaintop. To get here, we had to
hike through several villages. The Chinese are able to fit a whole lot in a very small
space. :) I quite enjoyed meeting the people of these villages. The highlight of the entire week was talking with a lady that sold us passion fruit. Before I could walk away, she pulled me close and gave me hug whispering "good luck" in my ear. I couldn't stop
thinking about how different our lives are but how much love she had for her circumstances and the people she called hers. It was such an humbling experience to learn from her. I was so giddy the entire day, I even heel clicked through the rice fields.
What an experience! Whew. So much to write about! SO, the next day we woke up at 4 AM (yes, I am exhausted) to spend the day in Yangshuo! I was the only one besides the driver that stayed awake as we were driving. I got to watch the sunrise through the Dr. Seuss mountains... SO BEAUTIFUL! When we first arrived, we headed to our guide's
favorite mountain to hike. We took the back way so there weren't took many people.
When we were about a quarter of the way up, I knew I was going to love the views... Also, we hiked during the sunrise which made it even better! Now, these pictures were
taken after I "climbed" to get to the highest peak. Worth it? Heavens yes! Be warned: if you are afraid of heights, don't look at the next pictures. :) To get the best views you
have to climb, right? :) Seriously, look how pretty these mountains are! OH MY! We also
found the scene that inspired the picture on the back of the 20元 bill. Such a neat
experience to stand in the same spot (or pretty close to it). Also, I think I had the best passion fruit juice I will ever try here in Yangshuo. It was a perfect blend of sweet and sour. After the hike we decided to go on a river tour which was spectacular! I am so in
love with these Dr. Seuss mountains. *heart emoji* I'm also sure the boat was at least a hundred years old but I lived, so it's all good. :) The smile lines around my eyes are
coming in strong and I love it. There was a guy that let me try on his hat and hold his birds on a little island we stopped at. Not only do I speak Chinese, but I now look
Chinese too! :) After the river tour, we decided to head into town and walk around West Street. I found an antique shop where I purchased an old painting of Guilin and
Yangshuo. It is SO beautiful! I am so happy I found it and I practiced my bartering skills! *self high five* We continued to walk for a while but wanted to find a cafe to get drinks. As we walked into a door I saw my best friend! I got to surprise her with a bear hug and it was my favorite. Turns out she and her group of teachers went to that cafe quite a bit during the week (they were there for the entire National Day holiday). It was so fun to see her and the girls and it made my day.
The last night and next morning we were back in Guilin exploring the city. I loved this trip. Every single moment.
I am so grateful that I not only get to be here to challenge myself and improve my language skills, but I also get to experience the country. I am so grateful...
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