17.9.13 Caves

Guide Jenny collected us at 10 am with a car and we drove to a cave system outside Yangshuo.  We had a tour through the "Gold Water" cave which has been illuminated with spectacular coloured lights highlighting the stunning formations.  Very pretty but not something that would be done in cave systems here. After lunch we had a free afternoon so went walking through areas we hadn''t already visited.  Saw some fascinating shops including a "fish kissing" shop where you can have your feet nibbled by small fish.  Cards and gambling are popular here and we saw many groups playing in a park we walked through and also in buildings open to the street.  An amusing incident occurred  when a water seller tried very hard to give us the wrong change and all bystanders laughed heartily when we insisted on the correct amount. Yangshuo is a picturesque vibrant town with hordes of bicycles, tandems, tridems (is that a word) electric and pedal, electric and petrol motor scooters carrying many people and huge loads. In the evening the streets are thronged with people, well dressed, strolling and eating.  Colourful stalls and restaurants everywhere.  There is no industry here so the air is clean.  The people live in small apartments in town.  The countryside is very fertile and grows many things so is intensively cultivated with rice, lotus, fruit trees, osmanthus, pomelos and much else.

 

 

Lighting in the Gold Water Cave