Li River Cruise

For me the trip was broken up by seeing a raptor up close. The guide said it was an eagle, I thought it looked more like a hawk (reminded me of an osprey), regardless, it was a fine looking bird.

After the raptor came a couple of iconic scenes.

The scenery along the Li River is the misty karst hills that are well known from Chinese paintings…so well known that the scene on the 20 Yuan note is from along the river.

Yangshuo environs

Since it was a national holiday Yangshuo, a pretty town where the Li River Cruises end, was jam packed. It looked like it might be fun to explore in less crowded circumstances. It was a tangle of streets wound around karst hills.

Our guide took us to the countryside nearby, to a village along a tributary to the Li, instead of battling the crowds.

All in all it was a day to remember

A guardian angel or spirit must have been guiding our plans because, while it rained on and off it wasn’t terribly heavy, like it was the next day, when people saw virtually nothing. Also, while not warm it wasn’t so cold that I couldn’t be up on the top deck for most of the trip.