Day 105: Li River to Yangshuo

Li River lit up outside the hotel in Guilin
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After a quick overnight stop in Guilin (proper hotel with duvets and pillows and everything) we’re picked up by bus to head out to the ferry pier for our boat ride to Yangshuo on the Li River. This trip is on a pretty basic boat with a non-descript Chinese banquet lunch, but the scenery is amazing. This area is covered in karst rock formations (very steep standalone mountains) and the Li River weaves through hundreds of them on all sides.

Our journey also lets us see a little of life on the river, although more tourist than traditional orientated on this stretch. It must be absolutely filled with tourist boats in peak season as even in November we’ve a few boats in formation ahead of us and another 4+ behind (possibly many more but can only see that many as we meander round river bends).

Li River
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Once arrived in Yangshuo we have a couple of hours to kill before getting a cab up to the Li River Retreat, our base for the next four nights, as it sits on one end of the town down the road currently packed with market stalls. Thus until the day trippers from Guilin catch their buses back we’ve little to do but join them around the traders. I do manage to find a Basketball game somewhere which not only counts the hoops made but also has targets of points to reach in a given time to hit the next level and get more time. The level requiring 130 points is so close to being attainable, but after 3 attempts and scoring around 110-115 range my arms give in. I’ll be back I’m sure.

Li River
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Li River Retreat is nice, more rustic than basic and has a nice relaxed feel out the town by a couple of kms. It has a restaurant and bar so little need to go anywhere else for the evening.