Day 49 (12th July) Guilin – David Jenny Travel

After an excellent breakfast we went back to bed because it was raining. When the weather brightened up we went outside for a walk round the Shan Lake which is directly opposite the hotel and contains the Sun and Moon Pagodas, Shan (in this sense) means a cedar tree and the name of the lake derives from the trees surrounding it. We thought we had missed the massive crowds of Beijing and Shanghai but, on the far side of the lake, they caught up with us with a fleet of coaches and people holding flags aloft and bellowing through loudspeakers. Nevertheless we walked right round the lake and it was lovely.
In the evening we went for a meal at a nearby Chinese restaurant and ordered a plate of authentic fish casserole and two plates. The food came in an iron dish which was placed on a little paraffin stove to keep the food hot. The intention was to share it, but Jennifer wouldn’t eat much after I ladled out a bowl-full which consisted of a fish head staring up at her. I also had a fish head belonging to something called a “croker” caught in the River Li. I guess the casserole is made in a big pot and you take pot-luck when the chef doles it out: we got two fish heads and some lucky soul will have got none. Still the actual fish flesh was delicious. We then went for a walk to admire the Sun and Moon Pagodas which were lit up. I went on ahead to take a better picture, leaving Jennifer 20 metres behind. On turning round, I lost her among the immense crowd. I assumed she had gone back to the hotel, and I was on my way back when the heavens opened and the most intense downpour I have seen since the Indian monsoon in 1971 soon soaked me to the skin. I was sheltering with many other people under a screen when I saw this blonde lady struggling towards me. I must have walked past her and she was not well pleased.