Long’an County, China

We had a choice of a big boat or a small boat for our “cruise” to Yangshuo. Being budget conscious we opted for the raft, which turned out to be plastic pipes lashed together…and there were hundreds of them ready and waiting at the dock when we got off the bus! The trip up the Li River was still pretty amazing, although the Irish man on our four seater raft likened it to the Whacky Races. The limestone karsts are everywhere, along each bank and in the distance, very beautiful scenery. This is the most touristy town we have visited and the whole place is geared up for a massive influx of domestic and international visitors each year. Prices along the main tourist streets are much higher, there are numerous bars and every one of them has it’s own musician…you wonder how they can all survive! But the visitors seem to love it! We climbed one of the smaller karsts today and that was enough…it was very hot work…still walking over 12,000 steps most days…but opting for push bikes tomorrow.