Wednesday 9th March
Last night we organised a driver for the day-we decided against paying extra for a guide and asked for a driver with English。 We worked out our itinerary （with the help of Bin Bin - staff）for a full day。After breakfast， （5 dollars for coffee、tea， fresh local orange juice， a hot plate selection and fruit，）Sam arrived at 9am （as we wanted a sleep in）。 We were escorted in a luxurious heated mini van with seatbelts （nice！） for 6-7hrs。Sam's english was great and he was very good at pointing out places to stop and taking back roads for a more interesting trip。We never felt rushed- he was very patient and happy to snooze in the car each time we went out exploring。Here's where we went：
- Jiu Xian Village。 An ancient tranquil/rural village， JiuXian was a step back in time- can't remember if it dates back 800 or 1000 yrs - the majority of houses were 200 years old。We were dropped off on one side to walk through and around small rice lots。 We didn't seem to get noticed by the elderly men sitting around doing nothing- were their wives out working？We entered an old， partly delapidated building which led to housing amongst alleyways-it was very cold in there- don't know how they manage in Winter as it does snow here。 Loved this place and we had it all toourselves！
- Fuli Town。 Another ancient town with a few locals prepared for visiting tourists- tables outside homes with souvenirs ready，mostly dusty and uninteresting although this is where many of the local fans are made and painted and we were able to watch the process in one family business。I made my first purchases including a painting of bamboo。There was a beautiful loop walk around the town， passing a river， buffalo， spring water depot and women walking through the fields with their baskets balanced across shoulders on bamboo。We mostly had this place to ourselves too！We didn't try the local specialty-dog。
- Xingping。 We arrived here on market day- not what we were expecting though- more like a big town market than a rural one with mini washing machines for sale （as well as the meat markets etc。）A large town， built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties （300-500 yrs ago），it was a mix of bustling streets and rambling， busy alleyways which were gorgeous and accommodating for visitors- again along a river。This place was full of tourists- from Chinese bus tours as well as boats and rafts stopping along the Yulong 。It was definately worth the visit but we avoided the street food （only men there？？？）and found a travellers‘ cafe。We shared a steaming hot and scrumptious chicken and veg woodfired pizza followed by a banana pancake at “The Old Place” while the rain continued to drizzle outside。 We spent quite a few hours here while Sam got a decent nanna nap。
- Moon Village。 We mainly came here to get a good view of the infamous Moon Hill which was too wet and dangerous to climb on this day。
- Big Banyan Tree。 Had to pay 3 AUD to see an old tree here- but it was great！The tree is meant to be 1500 years old and has incredible roots sprouting from the branches and meandering down to the ground。There were a few other things to look around here including a small cave， plenty of souvenir stalls and dancing， costumed monkeys。
After a long and rainy day out， we were relieved to enter the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat to find the fireplace roaring and took up seats by the fire before the 50 students from a HK international school returned from their adventurous day。Had another delicious dinner-sizzling beef and rice then grabbed a DVD （Smart People）and watched it in our heated room- 24 d。c。！！！
A great day！It did cost though -for the luxury of a driver （with English）for a full day was nearly 50AUD each through this hotel- but worth every cent。
