guilin in guanxi province

i took the 24 hour train from shanghai to guilin, a pretty big town in guanxi province in south china. the city is full of natural beauty, which is kind of a nice break from the manufactured beauty of the gardens and temples i've been seeing in the east. here there are limestone mountains just jutting up out of nowhere throughout the city and it has a great effect reminiscent of what i would imagine rio to be like. anyway, i met some people on the train and we had a good time so the time passed. one girl from guilin offered to show me around so the first day we walked around to a couple parks and mountains. they were beautiful. we split ways around 6pm and i began walking in the direction i thought was home. i came across a chinese boarding school where kids were playing basketball. i joined in and before i knew it every kid in the school was gathering around watching the game. it was a lot of fun though. i left and got lost as the sun went down. i started to get worried i wouldn't find my way and being dehydrated and having sunstroke (it is like 40degrees and humid here) i decided to take an offer from a guy on a motorcycle to take me in the direction of home. this was the first time i have been on a mortocycle believe it or not. it was fun though. anyway, i made it home and i leave for yangshuo today. hopefully it won't rain because i think i left my raincoat in shanghai. i am trying to load pics but it is taking forever, i will keep trying though.


the elephant drinks hill in the back and a pair of black birds with fishing lines tied to thier feet in front.