Today was the official day of touring. We woke up at an astounding 9 o'clock since we didn't have to be ready to go until 10. Our day began with a bamboo rafting trip – "real bamboo, not fake like for tourists" – down one of the rivers that runs along the beautiful Yangshuo scenery. Although I was initially unsure whether or not the driver was going to talk to us at all, he ended up being super charismatic and fun. He made us stop all along the river and took a ton of pictures for us. It was like being rowed through a painting, with brief and somewhat annoying interjections from people trying to sell you things. I guess I shouldn't complain though, since we ended up buying from two of the vendors. From the first, we got a picture – you know, classic souvenir picture. It's great. From the second, we bought some fresh fish! The guy who was selling it was the worst, but I must admit, it was pretty tasty. Overall, it was a relaxing trip and a great way to end our adventure in Yangshuo – I think we spent the perfect amount of time there. It's pretty tiny and I think we hit all of the highlights, thanks to ABA getting it done like she always does.
After our not-so-white water rafting (although there were a few drops here and there!) we boarded the Golden Dragon for the hour and half drive back to Guilin. Now, if we had an average tour guide, this could have been like any mundane drive, but not with ABA. She used the time to instill her wisdom upon us. First, she told us the driver's life story (because she misinterpreted a question Lauren had asked her). She would ask the driver about a detail of his life, then turn around, tell it to us, and then tell us why he had made the wrong choices. Once she had finished tearing down all of the driver's accomplishments she told us some life lessons: 1. Stay at same job for 5, 6 years. Don't change jobs like the driver. Get to know the manager. 2.Get a good education. Find good job. Don't be doctor – I think it's good job but then I think you have to see sick people all day. Ew. That would make your face change. 3. Be busy, but don't be too busy. I think economics, banking, you too busy. We have a Chinese phrase for busy – it means "heart dead." After imparting her wisdom, she wanted to know more about us. Once she found out Lauren is Jewish she got really excited and told her how Jews are the smartest people in the world. We somehow got to talking about World War II, and she told us how she thinks Hitler started disliking Jews because, you know, they're all rich, and when he was young, he was shining a Jew's shoes and the Jew bit him. You're right, Annie. That was probably it. Once we moved on from Lauren's heritage to mine, she was equally as excited. When I told her part of my family came from Italy she exclaimed "That explains it!" When I asked her what she meant, she explained that all of her Italian tour groups love food, and want to try all of the weird, local stuff like the snake wine. Normally, Americans are disgusted by it, so she figures it must be the Italian in me that wanted to try it. Over the rest of the ride, we continued to learn about her opinions and about ourselves – by the time we got back to Guilin we had a lot to think about over lunch.
We went to the restaurant where Hilary and Chelsea Clinton had eaten while Bill was making that speech in the park we went to a few days ago. (Apparently they were too hungry to attend the speech themselves?) The highlight was definitely the soup – which was a mix of green tea and chicken soup, and somehow in the shape of a yin yang. Delightful.
After lunch, we went to a nearby Chinese bank to try to help the driver exchange his American dollars another tour group had given him for yuan, because he said they wouldn't take them when he tried. We felt we were invincible with our passports – we figured that since we're actually Americans, it would somehow make them suspect us less of counterfeiting American money. It turns out that logic was not foolproof as they didn't accept the money from us either. They said it wasn't good enough; it "looked too old." I have never heard of something like that happening ever, anywhere. Luckily, I had a few American dollars in my wallet which they accepted, so we were able to help him out, but really China? I was pretty vocal in my disbelief – so much so that I think the banker understood what I was saying even though she didn't speak any English.
We had the afternoon to ourselves. Being back where we were just a few days before, we did what any logical person would do. We went and took more pictures in the photobooth. It was a great life decision. The woman running it recognized us (we're regulars now) and even laminated these ones for free. They're equally as hilarious as the last ones, and we had just as much fun. It was a great way to spend some time. On our walk back to our hotel, however, we realized how this day had been particularly sedentary between the boat ride and the long drive. We decided to go for a nice, long walk so as to not feel like we belong to the super fat. We explored some new areas, and eventually Lauren found a massage place she wanted to go to. As I mentioned before, I have promised to allow people to touch my feet in Shanghai but they are mine alone until then, so I bid her adieu, walked around a bit more, and headed back to the hotel to attempt to get the wifi to work for a few minutes. (No success.) Around 8:20, I headed out to the Waterfall hotel. As we had never made it there two days ago, I was careful to not miss the "show" again. I didn't quite know what to expect and it started off like any other show involving water – with a bunch of little fountains spraying up water to music – same old, same old. ..until, the coolest thing happened. When they say waterfall show, they mean it. Tons and tons of water started pouring over the entire hotel from the top. I turns out that this hotel is in the Guinness Book of World Records for running the biggest artificial waterfall ever. It was fun to watch, and Lauren even caught the tail end of it after her massage ended. I got a few pictures and videos – hopefully they came out well, but I fear it will be tough to capture the immensity of it.
Newly rejuvenated, we hit the streets once more, in search of a little something to eat. We each got a mussel in garlic and split some rice balls with pork in them. Both good and cheap. We washed it down with a delicious, delicious Crème Puff. Don't judge us – we basically had to as they're on the food list and we hadn't hit it yet. Sadly, time is running out. The bright side of this, however, is the fact that we're off to Shanghai tomorrow! It's the city to which every city thus far has been compared to. I certainly hope it lives up to all I've heard about it. I wish Annie were coming along, but I'm sure she'll offer us some parting words that will serve as all the guidance we'll need!
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