After kicking it in Kunming for 3 days we moved on to Guilin. We took an overnight train from Kunming to Quilin which took about 17 hours. On this train the highest class was the “hard sleeper”. It was pretty posh with the beds already made and really comfy linens. There were 6 beds to a berth and Blake and I had the very top bunks.
I pretty much enjoyed the Chinese train experience. It was much nicer than some of the overnight trains I did in India but just as noisy. Little by little passengers got off at stops between Kunming and Guilin so by the time we woke up in the morning the train was much more quiet and we even got a berth to ourselves by the end.
We stayed at the Riverside Hostel in Guilin which I highly recommend. It over looks a river and we were able to get the balcony room. After getting cleaned up and having a walk around town we stumbled upon this restaurant where we had dinner.
We had spicy tofu and beer and marveled at how crowded and buzzing the restaurant was.
The next morning we walked up one of the main roads, Zhangshon Rd and chose a coffee shop for breakfast based on a pic of cornflakes and coffee advertised on their sign. I had a tasty pot of Lavender tea, fruit salad and french toast stuffed with peanuts and served with condensed milk for syrup.
With fuel in our bellies we walked over and up Guilin’s Solitary Beauty Peak.
On our way out of the Solitary Beauty Peak area we came upon this sign with some interesting rules for the citizens of Quilin to follow at tourist sites.
One of my favorite parts about visiting China has been the abundance of bubble tea places. I’m almost having at least one a day and my Mandarin for Green Milk Tea is getting better and better.
Walking from the Solitary Beauty Peak to Elephant Trunk Hill we found a path with great views of the Sun and Moon Pagodas.
We reached Elephant Trunk Hill around midday and followed the path up and to the backside where a cave overlooks the trunk, walked through a nearby temple and did a quick run through a Chinese wine museum and tried one of the rice wines for sale.
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