I woke up and discovered my trousers were ripped, great as all of my things my sewing kit was now in my suitcase. I dozed a bit more until 5.30 and the train announced something and lots of people were packing up, were we there already? My maps wouldn't locate me inside the train so I got my things but there were people blocking the corridors and I had to get past them to my suitcase. Everyone got off so I did as well, the station was called Guilinbei, not Guilin north as I expected. Still maps started working and it was the right place. I went to get a bus and there were coaches but I couldn't see any buses. There was a main road not too far away so I decided to go there dragging my suitcase. There was a bus stop and I got on the first bus a number 32. We went down the road and then got to a junction and turned left, my Zhuhai luck was not with me. I got off at the next stop and had to walk back to the main road. 2 buses turned up but they both left before I could get on so I made sure to get on the next one which had turned into the road from the left so if anything it should go west and my hostel was a little to the west so it should be ok. The bus did turn west down a small road on the map that wasn't so small in real life. Then it turned back to the main road which was good but then it turned off to the east so I had to get off again. I was a bit tired as it was hard dragging the suitcase and it was still 1.5km to go so I got another bus. It was close to the hostel and I was about to get off and walk the last 500m but I saw there was a bus stop closer if the bus turned so I tried to ask if the bus was going straight, right or left. A girl who spoke English said right so I stayed on and the bus went straight. To be fair it didn't make that much difference to the distance and I found the hostel which had a sign in English. I had booked for 1 night on booking but asked for 2 nights however as I'd got a really cheap rate they asked me to book another night online so I did that and it was $6 instead of 3 but altogether it was 59 yuan which is not bad for 2 nights, I had to leave 50 yuan key deposit as well. I had the top bunk at the back of the room while a bottom bed looked empty. Still it had a curtain and a locker so it was ok although the stairs down were a bit hard to find. I had a shower, got my things together and went to leave. It was raining and they let me borrow an umbrella so I did and I got a map from the hostel as well. I had forgotten to buy my onward railway ticket this morning so I planned a route to go there and buy the ticket. I stayed on the west side of town and went to a temple which was not good. I turned left towards the river and found an entrance to a place so I went in and up a hill. The views were average from the top and as there was no path onwards I went back and took another path. I got down and realised I was at the same place so I'd gone back down the same path, I should pay more attention. I went round the outside and found a small cave with Buddhas inside. Then there was a lake and a zig zag white bridge. I saw there was another path up and back so I had a quick look before going over the bridge on the lake. On the other side there was a map of the place so I used it and went up a hill but the path stopped and became a dirt path. I carried on and it had stopped raining so I took my jacket off but the bushes still had water on them and when I ducked under I got wet so I put my jacket vack on. I got to the top of hill with some ok views but there was quite a bit of mist and clouds around and there was one hill higher behind me which was really misty. I was wet from sweat and it was rocky at the top so I headed back down and at the path I went down and across to a pavilion. Then I followed signs to a stone forest but there wasn't much to see. I went down and back across the lake to the first hill where I tried the other routes and found sone small caves. There were windows and vents on the hill so there must be a big cave in there but when I found a door it was locked and there was a boat for the water access but nobody around and it didn't look used. I left the place and there was a massive queue of people buying tickets. I walked along the road to end of park area and crossed the road towards the river. There were loads of coaches parked there and sn entrance which looked like it might be for the same place which was confusing as we were across the road. I went through an arch towards the river and the streets were fairly empty, buildings but no shops or many people. The path came to the river and I got to walk along it a bit then I saw lots of clovers, no 4 leaf ones so no luck for me and the path came to an allotment and a dead end. I went back and slipped crossing a small stream but somehow I managed to get my feet on the sides and not get wet. I headed back and tried another path but it ws another dead end so I had to go all the way back to the coaches. It was a bit late now 11am as I had a few places I wanted to go to and an approximate schedule. The coaches were there for the landscape tour park which cost 100 yuan although it did have some nice looking newly built temples inside. I walked along the road which was not great as there was no pavement and I came to a pearl museum. I went inside snd a lady fave me a very brief demonstration cutting sn oyster open to show its pearl. Then she led me to the shop area where they sold all kinds of pearls. The south China sea is apparently the place for pearls but I checked online snd Amazon had a necklace for a similar price. I carried on the road and there was a ASEAN place with lots of people there for something. It was all Chinese so I left. Next was Taohao bay, a tourist area with a stone boat and lots of food at higher prices although I bought sausage for a normal 3 yuan. I went back on the road again when cutting through would have been quicker but I might have got lost. I came to Reed flute cave which was 110 yuan. I wasn't sure but I didn't thibk I'd come back here tomorrow so I went on bing and tripadvisor and on a website of the 25 best caves this was number 9. 13 was puerto princessa underground river, 14 the deer cave in mulu and 17 was Phong nha. So I went in and the cave was nice, lots of formations and the coloured lights did show them up more. I had to get past large tourist group but managed so I had the cave to myself most of the time. There were some water pools and lots of signs saying what rocks looked like and had been named. I left cave through the gift shop and there was a man painting with his hands and did a quick demonstration, he also spoke good English. I was heading towards the railway station but there was a hill attraction on the map and I walked on the road around a hill and looked at a possible shortcut but it was muddy and might not work. I was behind schedule by maybe 2 hours in total and found the hill which had a path up and a lake but I didn't have time to go up. There was a stall selling bananas for 2 yuan but per 500g (is how they measure), still I got 600g for 3 yuan and went to a bakery and bought some cakes. I saw a road not on the map that might be a possible shortcut, but it came to a fence at the railway lines so I walked along and came to a building site. I was almost there and the diversion was going to be quite a bit and as the man there looked a bit relaxed when he told me I can't go through I went through. At the end it got muddy and then there was a fence with barbed wire on top. I saw a gap in fence though and went through and was at the road only there was quite a drop down. I had a look and then went around to the other side where it was only a 12 foot drop which is easy when you lower yourself down. I headed towards the station and stopped at a shop but only bought water. At the train station I joined the mid-length ticket queue and the girl behind me seemed to be in a rush so I let her in front but then the next woman seemed to think I should let her go as well and tried to push through but I blocked her. I made sure to buy a window seat so that I might be able to sleep better and then headed back on bus 100. I took my shoes off and my feet were wet and really wrinkled. These shoes had had it and were just letting water in. The bus went past the lake park where I saw a hill with a hole in it. I had planned to go there but it was late, around 3.30pm and there was slow traffic. I got off and went to the solitary peak which had an entrance and cost 120 yuan. Seems it also had the palace inside. I walked around towards the river and there was Fubu hill which cost 28 yuan. Seems everything in Guilin costs. I went down to the riverside and there were people swimming and no way in to the hill there so I headed south along the river. I was nearing the elephant hill but went inland a short way to see the sun and moon pagodas which looked good on the lake but there were lots of slow people so I went up on the barrier to walk past them. After I went to elephant hill but couldn't find the entrance so I went across a road bridge and round to the main entrance where it cost 70 yuan. I went a bit further to a temple but it was part of the elephant hill area and cost to enter. I headed back on the main road and stopped at a chicken place where I got what looked like a nice breaded fillet skewer but turned out to be lots of bone and cartilage. I was trying to cross the road but couldn't see a crossing until I saw a passage down and found an undeground market where a shop gad a suitcase for 170 yuan. On the other side I walked to the lake where there was a crystal bridge that cost 20 yuan. Further along was the ancient gate which gad a banner in front blocking a lot of the gate. The lake had a bridge to a small island so I went ad had a look there before coming back to the gate and went up on top of it. I went back down and round the back was a toilet I visited with my wet shoes. I decided to see some more of town and look for suitcases so I went to a shopping area and went underground as the mall looked pricey and found a few places selling chicken but 1 yuan cheaper. Above ground there were more shops and a pavilion I tried to get a photo of but a homeless person was in the way. I was also looking for shoes as mine were done and I found a Peak shoe shop which wasn't so cheap. Apparently the brand was China's equivalent of Nike, and I didn't want to pay for branding people wouldn't recognise.
I made it back to the solitary peak and Ming palace area and walked in. It seemed places were closed so it was free. The peak was also closed so I headed back and passed 2 girls. I saw a building being renovated so I walked through so that I could say I'd been in a Ming palace building and the girls followed me for some reason despite all the bricks lying around. I went to the cathedral which was not so easy to get to and was next to a construction area so I had to go back the same way and then went back through the central underground shopping area. I thought about getting some chicken but instead got steamed dumplings and rice wrapped in bamboo leaf. The rice was good but one of the dumplings tasted a bit doughy and undercooked. I would say buying it had been a half baked idea but it had been steamed. I walked back a different route and stopped at a shop where I got some small mangoes, juice and cakes. I went past the hostel to another shop and got water and nuts and was back at the hostel around 8pm. I rested a bit but fell asleep and was tired so I read a bit and went to sleep around 11pm.
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