Li River Cruise

The mountains in Guilin are absolutely breathtaking. We were so excited to cruise down the Li River and get a better look at them. 

A yummy lunch on the cruise boat :)

Sun and Moon Pagoda

After visiting Elephant Trunk Hill, we walked around a bit and found our way to the Sun and Moon Pagodas. I kept calling them padogas, but it's pagodas. :)

There are lots of markets/stores like these lining the streets.

The pagodas were in a beautiful park set in a lake. So pretty!

There were quite a few people there taking pictures with the pagodas, and as was becoming normal--we got stared at a lot. I was starting to get used to it, but it was still funny to me. The looks on their faces were priceless! haha And even watching people point at us and smile and chat with their companions haha it was an odd feeling. My favorite though was the reactions of the little kids because they have no filter! haha

We saw some people doing this pose, so we decided to try it. Well, I was going to make Caleb do it, but he insisted I do it haha

We walked along the lake on the coolest pathways, little bridges that were actually pretty thin. We crossed over to another side of the park to get a closer view of the pagodas.

The pathways were seriously awesome!

Yay! Pagodas! haha

I was getting a little worn out from the day, so we stopped here to rest on these rocks and then this lady came over dressed in a traditional costumes and was having her picture taken. It was really cute, so we watched her for awhile. While we were sitting there, this old Chinese man with bare feet and little bit of ratty clothing comes up to us and starts speaking to us in english asking us to help him with his english. At first, I was way weirded out and thought he was trying to sale us something (because there are TONS of vendors everywhere). He showed us these sentences that he had written in english and was asking our opinions on whether or not he was writing and saying them correctly. He did really well and then we start chatting more....and more....and more haha He was a very talkative man! He told us to call him Uncle Lee (or Li--not sure which is correct!) He had retired as a University professor and telling us a bit about that experience and then about his family. All while we are chatting with him, people are walking by staring, some are smiling seemingly saying "Oh, sorry you are stuck talking to a crazy old man with no shoes." He was actually very interesting to talk too. Then this one couple came walking by and they stopped and were listening. They looked like they were probably high school age or something, but the girl was fascinated and the boy was cracking me up!!! He got out his phone and started taking pictures of us!!! hahah!! I mean, it was quite the site!! Uncle Li finally ended the conversation and then we started talking with the young couple and walking through the park with them. They were so funny! We didn't get there names or anything, but they have a picture of us talking to an old Chinese man! haha They helped us figure out a good place to eat. You'll hear more about them tomorrow :)

We ended up going to KFC haha! 

We had to wait a really long time for Caleb's mashed potatoes and gravy. Apparently those aren't a hot commodity in China haha!

Then we walked back by the pagodas at night. EEK! They're so beautiful!!!

It was a lovely, crazy, fun-filled first full day in Guilin!

Climbing Elephant Trunk Hill

After making it down from the mountain, we had our driver take us to Elephant Trunk Hill.

This was quite the hill!

When you get into the park, there is a beautiful courtyard with the cutest elephant statues and beautiful landscape and winding paths.

And of course, elephant bushes haha!

The path led to an insanely steep staircase and some safety tips:

I love this one:

 These steps were incredibly steep, but they were gorgeous!
I love stones and greenery.
So pretty!!

 Like any lesson in life, the steep climb is worth it.

Check out that view!!

Notice my death grip on Caleb's wrist.

I did not want to fall down the stairs! haha

 It was a fun walk :)

There were a few different scenic outlooks, and we finally made it to the very top.

Since the Chinese were naming all the mountains, we named this one "Giant Sleeping Man"

After making it to the top, there were lots of different pathways to take, leading you all over that elephant! We took them all. It was a lot of climbing haha

This is a picture of us in the elephants eye. It was a really neat cave!

Cheesy ring and hand picture with the carved heart.

:)

Can you see it?

The outside of the eye cave

 This is the trunk part of the Elephant Trunk Hill called the water moon cave.

As we kept exploring, we found some worship areas on the hill.

It was really interesting, and honestly a little odd, seeing people worship idles.

I have never seen that in real life before.

This was where they would light incense.

There was so much to explore. We were told that the park closed at 4:30. We got there around 4 and thought we wouldn't have a lot of time, but I guess what they meant was that the gates closed at 4:30. We ended staying in the park a really long time. 

More cute elephant statues :)

We loved all the elephants around the park.

They were so cute!

This one was Caleb's favorite. ;)

After climbing all over that elephant, we got to the bottom and crossed the bridge to see more of the park. This is one of my favorite parks ever!

There were little shops everywhere. It was neat to watch them at work.

There was a sign leading to the Love Island, so of course we went there haha

  

 All around the park we found sculptures of couples kissing.

I can't remember what this was about.

Making glass figurines

Then we found a sign to a "Mysterious Village"

The Mysterious Village

 I think Caleb was posing mysteriously here....haha!!

 Caleb LOVES spiders ;)

This post is pretty long, so I will end it here.

That wasn't the end of our night, but I will make that the next post.

:)

:)