The Li River and the Tourist Police

On my final day in Yangshuo(and I did not want to leave) I went to do the Li River cruise. This cruise is famous as it has these same limestone peaks that are in Guilin and Yangshuo along the river. Thus making for a beautiful trip down the river.

Now, this trip is only supposed to be run out of Guilin, for 450 yuen(50 dollars). But, there are many tour operators that will sell a similar journey(basically flipped, so that the turning back point is the starting point and ending point) this one out of a town called Xingping. Well, from time to time(probably once a month) the tourist police from Guilin will come down the river and fine these illegal tour boats. This happened to us. So, we were told to go and hide in the tours' restaurant and wait until all the paperwork was finished. Then it was back on the boat at a secret location up the river and on with the journey. In the end it was quite an experience and a good laugh.

That night I said my farewells to the many people that I met whilst in Yangshuo and got on a night bus to Hong Kong where I would meet back up with Chris and prepare to leave for SE Asia.....................