Elephant trunk hill, Guilin, China.

Awoke this morning, later than usual @ 08:30, to 20 deg C, overcast skies, drizzle and gloom, and a great big question mark over what we are to do here. Guilin in the rain is not the cheeriest of places, and it is hoatching with tour ticket touts (TTT to coin a new TLA). These guys & gals are very persistent, and it takes a fairly loud NO THANK YOU and an under the breath "FO" to get them to desist.

With some difficulty we managed to buy a new Chinese SIM card at a market stall. I must have MUG written on my forehead, as the lassie also managed to sell me screen protectors for both phone and camera, dammit.

Tour desk in our hotel lobby was un-personed this morning, but we managed to glean from the receptionist that there are two levels of boat trip down the Li river. One, @ £50 ea. is for tourists, or MUGS, and the other, @ £25 each is for locals and brave tourists. Guess which we are taking tomorrow. Call me brave or call me a tight bastard, but at 08:00 hrs Tuesday 10/4/12, we go Native in China. Sue says the tour lady's eyes just about popped out of her head when I said No, we'll take the local boat, thank you. So goodness knows what it will be like. Suffice it to say that we will be thoroughly "abluted" before checking out of here.

We went to a city park this PM. It is centred around Elephant Trunk Hill, of which the above is the most convincing shot I could take. Lots of Chinese tourists thronged the vantage points, as did numerous touts and wide boys. One could purchase zillions of souvenirs of the tackiest type, at silly prices, or stick to a couple of ice lollies for a fiver! We did the latter, and thoroughly enjoyed them. 5 is only a number after all.

Sun came out for a while late afternoon, resulting in a sharp rise in air temperature and corresponding humidity. Difficult to know what to wear / carry, as it is threatening rain again. If it is poor tomorrow, we are still going down the river (Keep the "sold down . . . etc to yourselves!) to Yangshuo, as we already have an hotel booked there for 3 nights. That's back south a bit and the rain probability forecast is much less than Guilin over the next few days. Fingers crossed.

Tried to buy a new, cheap pair of jeans this morning. What a laugh that was. These folk are so skinny, and fashion so tight, that even when I found a pair @ 34" the legs were so tight I could only walk straight legged. Just wait till you see me in them!
Just joking, but I will have to find something if there is not an improvement back to shorts weather soon.

Lunched in a sort of canteen restaurant, which the SIM card girl would only say was OK. i.e: not "Good". It wasn't bad, but quite close to from our point of view. Trouble is that much of the food is unfamiliar or unrecognisable, for us, so it is difficult to identify non-meat dishes. You certainly cannot rely on the restaurant staff knowing what is veggie, as they'll eat (almost) anything.

Walkies tonight, but not far and not for long as we have to pack up yet again and be up early.

More to come tomorrow.
Cheers,
G&S