we take the Li River cruise

so I met Larry for breakfast and then Phil joined us right before our departure time.. we have a drive through the country for 45 minutes or so to meet the boat for the day long cruise on the Li River.  This is the river and karst geologic formations that are so well known from classic Chinese paintings- the geology of the area is quite like the haystack rocks on the Oregon coast...

now because I have been remiss at getting these China posts done in a timely manner and they have been disrupted several times I will refresh you with where we are in the grand scheme of the trip-

we started our trip with four days in Hong Kong and did a single day trip into mainland China to Guagnzhou- Then we flew through Kunming to Lijiang where we spent several days before heading to Zhongdian - from there we flew through Chengdu to Guilin where we met Larry and now we are proceeding via the Li River from Guilin to Yangshou. Eventually we will head to Shanghai for several days and then Hangzhou before returning to Hong Kong - from which we will depart and Larry will go on for a day trip to Kowloon.

OK - so - now back to the river---- we and our ten thousand best friends of many nationalities boarded a series of touring boats all from the same departure dock - the place was a madhouse- but Christie found us the right boat and the right table - and helped us order some dishes for the large mid day meal (they serve a buffet but you can order fresh dishes prepared just for you/your table)

then we take off down river - a few boats ahead of us and dozens behind... the day is foggy - hazy - sort of shrouded in mist.... so the photos don't show the clarity or blue sky of the brochure but we have plenty to see as we make our way down river...

the red dot all the way to the left on the map above is DaXu ancient town where we were yesterday... we picked up our boat this morning at one o f the two wharf location on the map above to the left side below the river- then the boat followed the route shown on these two photos which were all one nice map but it was too big to scan or show unless I made it into two pieces- and our final destination (as is everyone else's LOL) is Yanghsou which is the red dot all the way to the right on the part of the map shown below...

OK so now you are all oriented to where we are and where we are headed- let's get to the photos - most of which speak for themselves but if they don't I will be sure to chime in-

we arrive at the dock-

the row of boats (above) each has a rear deck where the kitchen prepares the meals and where vendors go to hawk their fresh fish and produce- we ordered extras by way of river turtle and the local fish osmanthus-

as we "push off" and head down river everyone goes out for the view - I am sure our boat looked very much like this one we followed down the river-

fried shrimp? or maybe just french fries... since we passed this boat before the goodies came out of the pan we will never know-

finally we get into the heart of the landscape we all came to see-

smaller more local boats take people for just a few hours versus the all day journey on the river-

check out the foot wear on these two gals- not the standard nautical attire one might see on board-

the boat on the left- taking photos of us- and the boat on the right (where the high heeled ladies are seated) taking photos of each other! Who came for the scenery??? guess we all have plenty of time to shoot pretty much every thing we see along the river-

here a bucket hangs along a sheer cliff to retrieve water from a small wooden scaffold above-

there are places along the way were the smaller boats stop at shopping villages-

below is the nine horse fresco mountain- Christie pointed out seven horses but she said she doesn't know where the other two are hiding (maybe they galloped off!)

fishermen in the shade of a small tree and their cormorants tied to the raft-

"Ling Du Cola" -aka Coke Zero!!!

the turtle- had lots of bones so we mostly tasted and left it- Christie ate the rest- LOL- which made me think maybe we had committed a faux pas but seriously it was all bones!

the local fish was much better and we managed to down that dish in no time- the buffet was - naturally- less than stellar- LOL

a river gas station-

we arrive in the vicinity of Yangshou- where we turn around and dock in our turn since the waterfront is relatively small and there are many boats arriving at the same time-

so many photos-- so next post will have the Yangshou photos.... sorry this one took so long in coming--