Make that 7 months...: The road to Guilin

Back on the boat, we sneaked in a couple of hours sleep before being rudely awoken at 3am for the bus to Wuhan, the nearest big city, for a bus down to Guilin (where we are now).

Well that was the start of an adventure:

3am - we get on the bus, to find it doesn't start.
4.30 am - along rocks up another bus. Do we all get off and get on the new one? No - but after some detailed maneouvering, we jump start ours.
4.35 am - we drive off, dumb-arse driver stalls.
4.50am - second jump start successful, a more competent driver takes over and we are on our way. Unfortunately, competent driving skills equals no sense of direction. Our new bus driver doesn't know the way to Wuhan.
6am - we drive around the same town for a third time, looking for the exit to the highway.
8am (due arrival time) - several irate chinese passengers, an argument we don't understand, and a sign for Wuhan, 110km.
9am - we turn back from a highway that appears to be closed.
2pm - 6 hours late, we arrive in Wuhan.

The plan was to get straight on the sleeper train to Guilin, to arrive the next morning, but that was never going to happen. So we checked into a cheap and pretty nasty hotel for the night, and ate lots instead, before getting on a train the next day. With some more champion snorers.

I was beginning to lose faith in China, at times everything can feel like such a hassle, getting things done is an effort, and to top it all off, it was bloody snowing, 2 weeks after we sent home all our cold weather clothes. But isn't it amazing the way things look up when the sun comes out!

We arrived in Guilin yesterday, and it has been glorious. We spent the day wandering the town, climbing some very steep, rocky hills and walking through parks. The scenery is spectacular - the town feels flat but there are these random big rocks jutting out of the ground and the surrounding landscape is hilly and beautiful.