Was a free day….after breakfast we said goodbye to
Joyce and Val and Jim who were leaving for home today. Then the 4 of us
set off for a walk by ourselves to Fu Bo Hill (Football Hill Cache). We
felt like little kids as this is the first time we have really gone
anywhere by ourselves making our way through the maze of streets and
even crossing the busy streets was an adventure without a guide leading
us. Fu Bo Hill was about 2 kms as the crow flies from the hotel, it is a
karst on the banks of the Li River in the middle of Guilin. It would
have had a beautiful view had it been a sunny day but today was foggy
and cloudy and misty but not cold. It was a pleasant walk to the hill
and a rigorous stair climb to the top of the hill (about 300 stairs). We
walked there past the downtown shops which are very much like ours at
home and walked back along the river. We made it there and back in a
little more than 2 hours.
We met Marg and Bryan, the couple that was left of the group and our
local guide Rebecca at 1pm after we checked out of the hotel and walked
to a local restaurant for lunch. Rebecca ordered a lot of things that we
hadn’t had before like a shredded beef that you could make into a wrap,
tempura pumpkin, fried dumplings, a sweet and sour short ribs and a
barbeque pork dish. Then it was off to the airport.
Marg and Bryan were going to Hong Kong and we were off to Chengdu. We
flew China Southern airlines which was a pleasant flight except for
some turbulence. They served us food which didn’t compare with what we
have become accustomed to!
We arrived in Chengdu and were met by Jason our new local guide. We
thought it was a small city but it has 12 million people living in the
city and the surrounding area…not so little. We are now in Sichuan
province which is the most populated province.
We are now being driven in a small 6 seat minivan, a far cry from our
40 seat bus that we started with in Beijing. Our hotel rooms are
great….except that Maureen and Pam have a pint sized room compared with
the spacious accommodations that Barb and Carol have. Then we went to a
delicious supper in the swanky hotel café…Carol, Maureen and Pam had a
chef salad and Barb had a herbed chicken dinner. We even got delicious
mushroom soup to begin our meal. Then off to write the blog in the
bigger suite! We are just now being reminded of home - it is pouring
rain, hopefully it will stop before the morning as we’re off to see the
Giant Panda.
PS Happy Birthday Curtis!
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