Our next stop.........Guilin

Up at 5 a.m. to meet the bus. Yes, meet the bus!

Here we are in Nanning, with a new baby, and we get on a bus for our next adventure. The trip would be 4 1/2 hours. As it turns out, this was definitely an adventure to behold.

We traveled on one of the newest freeways in China, from Nanning to Guilin. It wound through the rural areas that we would have never seen, otherwise. We saw the Chinese lifestyle up close and personal.

There were farmers with their water buffalo in the fields, but there were no motels along the way. I inquired about this oddity. The answer that I received made sense. Since cars are relatively new to China, not many people travel. Therefore, there is no requirement for motels. You have to go into the cities to stay.

We saw quaint villages with houses that looked like they were from a fairy tale. Some, however, were extremely modern.

As we got closer to Guilin, we began to see the type of scenery that has lead to it being called the most beautiful area in China; if not the world.

The limestone mountains rise right from the valley floor to thousands of feet in the air. There are no foothills.

Our first view of Guilin was spectacular! We crossed the Lijiang (Li) River and proceded down the main street of town towards our hotel.



We would be staying at the Royal Garden Hotel. This was a beautiful five star hotel.