Going to Guilin
Upon waking in Yangshuo the next morning, we checked out of our hostel and headed to Guilin to see the rice terraces. Guilin is renowned for its beautiful rice terrace fields. Since information about China is minimal, we blindly went to Guilin, hoping to book a tour to the terraces through our hostel. Upon arriving at the Ming Palace International Youth Hostel, we asked the receptionist if it would be possible to book a tour to the terraces for that evening. Bear in mind that we checked into the hostel at noon, so this didn’t seem like an unreasonable request. The hostel receptionist immediately started laughing at us. She then promptly told us that it would be impossible for us to go to the terraces because they leave in the morning, and that we made terrible travel plans. She continued laughing and acting condescending toward us for not knowing that it takes three hours to get to the terraces. The receptionist told us that we wouldn’t get to see anything in Guilin; basically telling us that we were stupid for not knowing about Guilin, and the way things work there. All six of us were irritated, upset, and insulted after the whole encounter.
Dejectedly, we climbed six flights of stairs to go to our room, where we discovered that the room was also terrible. As we entered the room, we found the maid still “cleaning” the room. I put that in quotes, because nothing about that room was clean. The room was dirty, covered in mold, and most of the doors and beds were broken. The mattresses were stained. The bedding was stained.
The bathroom was its own nightmare. The bathroom door was broken, and the lock on that door was broken. A slightly frosted glass window was the only divider between the bedroom and the bathroom. It is also important to note, that this room is a mixed dorm room, with six beds. This means that if you don’t rent out all of the beds, like we did, you could have random people sharing the room with you. Normally, sharing a hostel room isn’t a huge deal. I’ve done it before when we were traveling through Russia and Scandinavia. My issue is that if I was sharing the room with strangers, I would NOT feel safe with a broken door, and a semi-private bathroom. No part of that is safe.
The interesting part of this whole thing is that Ming Palace had a 9 star rating on Hostelworld.com. Maybe we had a fluke experience, but we didn’t enjoy our time there. My review of Ming Palace on Hostelworld is the lowest of their hostel. 4 stars- would not recommend.
And Then There Was a Dead Body
Despite the disappointment of not being able to go to the rice terraces, and the frustrations of our crappy hostel, we all tried to keep our spirits up. Since we didn’t know what to do or see in Guilin, we decided to book a night boat tour through Guilin. Throughout the day, we wandered aimlessly through the city. We spent about an hour at the river, enjoying the scenery, while participating in some nice people watching. However, our stroll along the river ended abruptly as we encountered a dead body. Plot twist! Luckily, we weren’t the ones to discover the body. Some men were pulling his body from the river. A van and security guard showed up shortly after. They then zipped him into a body bag, and literally tossed him into the van. It was a very disturbing thing to witness.
Since we were all a bit shaken from seeing a dead man, we went on a hunt for smoothies and ice cream. This hunt took a very long time. It also resulted in a few purchases of crappy smoothies, before we found anything that tasted remotely good. After enjoying some decent ice cream cones at Burger King, it was nearly time for our boat tour.
Guilin River Boat Tour
We had low expectations for the boat cruise. That low expectation could be due to the fact that our whole experience in Guilin had been a bit weird. The boat tour ended up being really cool, though. Although the whole tour was narrated in Chinese, we understood that the tour led us through Chinese history. Every so often, the boat would stop at a dock, where men and women would perform some kind of dance that was traditional to that era. Interestingly, many of the performances had elements that I would typically associate with Native Americans and with Polynesian culture. There were totem poles; there were grass skirts and seemingly Polynesian dancing. Overall, it was a fun experience, and made our time in Guilin feel meaningful.
Although Guilin was somewhat disappointing, Yangshuo was absolutely amazing. I loved seeing the whimsical mountains, and the lush greenery. The city was so charming, and the people were so sweet. Almost everything about that vacation was dreamlike in its beauty. Despite our disappointment in not seeing the terraces, we are planning on returning to Guilin specifically for the terraces. Since we only live a few hours away, this is a completely realistic goal. I’m excited for our future travels, and am thankful that I have the opportunity to experience so much of what China has to offer.
As a side note, we are about to leave for yet another vacation! This next vacation will be taking us to Beijing, where we will see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City; to Xi’an (Pronounced She-An), where we will see the TerraCotta Warriors; and to Chengdu, where we will visit Mount Emei, and visit the Giant Buddha at Leshan. Can’t wait to tell you all about it!
Until Next Time,
Madison and Jordan
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