Guilin Trip, Day 3

The third day of the trip started off rather.... "interestingly" would be one way to put it. I awoke incredibly early that morning because the night before, the group had been informed by our tour guide that supposedly it was well worth the effort to view the sun rise over Elephant Trunk Hill, the curious rock formation that looks like an elephant drinking from the Li river, and the natural wonder that also is the symbol of the city.

And so, shortly after 5:00 AM, I arose, showered, dressed, and headed downstairs to the lobby. Once I arrived at the first floor, I found four other TBC-ers who had also decided to forgo a few extra hours of sleep out of the hopes of starting off their day with a spectacular sunrise. Excited about the majestic spectacle we were about to view, we all piled into a cab and headed off the small park where the famous pachyderm-shaped rock was located. 

Although there was a park guard at the entrance, we had no worries due to the fact that according to the tour guide for the TBC group, those who arrive at the park before 6:30 are allowed inside for free. Surely she wouldn't lie to us....right?

Unfortunately, when the guard informed us that the park didn't open until 7:00 AM as he blocked our way in, we all received a bit of an unpleasant shock. Stricken with hurt confusion, we wandered off in a befuddled daze, hopping that we'd find another way in, or at least a spot outside the park from which we could both see Elephant Trunk Hill and the sun rise. 

Alas, we had no such luck, and turned back to see if we could convince the park guard to let us in. It was right then though that we noticed a most curious thing - a jogger running about.... clearly inside the small area surrounding Elephant Trunk Hill that was marked out as a park. Feeling as hopelessly puzzled as ever, our little group raced back to the entrance....where another jogger raced by us and right into the park, while the guard didn't do so much as bat an eyelid. 

Once we realized that there were several locals obviously inside the park, our confusion promptly doubled as we tried to figure out what in the world was happening. At first, a few in our intrepid little group hypothesized that joggers were allowed in for free, and thus they tried to jog in....and of course were halted promptly by the guard, while yet another local strolled right on in. 

Adrift in a sea of bewilderment, we mustered what Chinese we knew to try and ask the guard what on earth was going on. At first, it seemed like he was trying to explain that a local minority group had the privilege of entering the park without paying. Then we quickly realized that answer didn't make a lick of sense, because the guard obviously wasn't checking anyone for identification cards or anything for minority status. 

While we tried in vain to explain that all we wanted to do was watch the sunrise, more and more people freely entered the park - joggers, older folks going for an early morning promenade, a mother pushing a stroller - and every single one of them appeared to be a local and just entered the park quite freely, without paying an ounce. Meanwhile, the only foreigners there were still having a considerable amount of difficulty. Finally though, the guard relented, and said we could enter....if we paid the same fee that tourists need to pay for an entry ticket, which is about twenty-five yuan. By that point though, we felt far too snubbed to consider this offer for more than five seconds. 

Out of protest, two of our little group began doing tai-chi exercises in front of the entrance out of protest, which of course only attracted curious spectators rather than folks who'd advocate for our cause. Finally, feeling defeated and discriminated, we finally retreated back to the hotel for breakfast....where we learned that now some of the eggs in China now had melamine in them (as if it wasn't enough to have it in the milk. Now, I'm a firm believer that everything here has some amount of melamine in it, and it's only a matter of time before the media reports this.)

By 8:30 AM, everyone had checked out of the hotel, by about 9:00 group B was on a bus headed for the scenic little town of Yangshuo, nestled soundly amongst the karst formations. It's also very much a town whose economy depends very, very, very heavily upon tourism, as if all the foreigners and streets upon streets of souvenir shops, vendors, and restaurants serving overpriced, western-style food weren't any clue at all. 

Anyhow, after checking into our hotel, we explored the town and ate lunch on our own before piling back aboard the bus for the highlight of the day - a mini-cruise on the scenic Li River.

Well....our trip schedules called it a cruise, at least. We were all actually divided into groups of three to five and were then settled upon tiny little bamboo boats powered by little motors.

Not like that was a problem, or anything. Besides, the scenery was simply fantastic (and I only hope my pictures do some degree of justice to the natural beauty I saw that day).

It's a bit difficult to see them at first, but if you look closely, you can make out two water buffalo swimming across the river.





Let's face it, no collection of pictures is complete without a photo of ducks. 

Here was a most unexpected sight - a couple taking wedding photos. 

Now, at one point in our little cruise down the river, the rafts all docked onshore at one point, where there were several vendors waiting eagerly to either sell us their wares, or have us take photos with various things (like a water buffalo, with special fishing birds), for a small price. And I for one must admit....the temptation to give in to them was a bit too dtrong for me, as attested to by the following photos. 

After the simply spectacular little trip finally came to an end, everyone piled back aboard the buses and headed back to Yangshuo for dinner, followed by either a free night, or for those who signed up for it, Yangshuo's famous "water show", directed by Yang Zhimou, the same mastermind behind the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics. 

Once the show began, almost instantly I found myself absolutely blown away by just its setting alone, on the river amongst several lit karst formations. And the show itself was.....

Er.....

Here they....um.....with the red canvas, they....and they were dressed like fishermen, which represented....uh.....


And this lady, she danced upon this moon because......uh, because.....wait.....she was....

And this is supposed to be a....a....well, it was floating on the water, and.....and it....uh...

If any of you are confused by the poor-quality photos that I took of the performance, you're not alone. I honestly couldn't tell you what in the world this thing was about even if you threatened to shove a rabid badger down my pants unless I explained what I saw. There were just so many costumes, lights, peculiar floats on the river, music and singing I couldn't understand, and....words just fail me completely. Maybe I just should've bought the DVD they had of the show for sale...then again, maybe not, because if I brought that home and showed it to you all, I'd be doing little for than condemning you all to at least several hours of dizzying bewilderment. 

My intense befuddlement was more or less how I ended the day. But before I bring this entry to a close, I would like to do a little bit of Q&A. On my last blog entry, Stephan Staysniak of NY, New York posted this question:

"What does a karst formation taste like?"

Unfortunately, to my bitter disappointment, they taste a lot like the mountains back home in the states.  Ah well, it looks like the Staysniak Brothers' quest to find the Big Rock Candy Mountain continues.