I just wanted to finish documenting the end of our trip so we would have a complete journal of the "experience of a lifetime". We hope all of you have enjoyed our journey.
Friday, Nov. 4th we boarded the tour bus leaving Guilin to take a ride on a river boat down the Li River ending up in Yangshou. Now at this point in the tour Bob and I have pretty much had it with the bus and people that don't want to share the best seats and the mad rush to get the best seats and all the germs flying around from so many that were sneezing and coughing. By this time most everyone was sick or had gotten sick including Bob, Sandy and Sue. I was thinking I was going to be lucky but I got it on the last day in Hong Kong which made for an interesting flight home, which took 19 hours! Anyway this river boat ride was supposed to be a highlight of the entire tour through some beautiful mountains found only in this area of China. We were the last to leave out of about 15 boats filled with tourists which meant it wasn't exactly peaceful and we were the recipients of everyone's exhaust. I couldn't believe how many boats were on this river all catering to the tourist trade. The ride was supposed to be 3 hours but ended up being 6 due to low river levels. There were a lot of 'not happy' people especially with the antiquated squat-a-potty's that didn't flush. We were all so ready to get off the boat and on with our day and I was looking forward to seeing Yangshou since Kari & Jason just loved this quiet little town when they were there 10 years ago. Well it wasn't quiet and it wasn't small and quaint as I expected but filled with all the tourists that got off the boat along with a few million other people, loads of souvenir stalls and lots and lots of people selling $5.00 rolex watches AND a McDonald's and KFC! Not a good day but it ended with the last of our 5 flights going to Hong Kong. Hong Kong was great with so much to see and do. We toured Hong Kong island on Sat. morning and I fortunately got motion sickness winding our way up to Victoria Peak so we were able to ditch the bus and have an afternoon on our own. We went to the mid-level escalators which go up Victoria peak for 1/2 mile. It's basically a people mover and went through some great neighborhoods. After getting off half way up the mountain we decided we would just hike the rest of the way up to see Hong Kong at night. Well it ended up being quite a hike and at times almost vertical but the view at night was fantastic. The line for the tram was so long that we decided to hike down hopefully in time to meet the Singer gang for the light show over Victoria harbor. It was a great night until our camera got stolen out of our backpack. We were devastated! How could anyone be so low as to steal a tourist's memories of their trip. We felt so violated. It was a sad way to end the trip but fortunately we had been backing up all of the pictures on our laptop as we blogged and only lost the last 3 days, plus Jim and Frank had been taking pictures so we downloaded theirs. Hong Kong for the most part was great and I would go back there again.
Bob and I had a wonderful experience in China and really enjoyed getting to know and understand the Chinese culture and people. Our time at the Maclellan center was definitely the highlight and we really wish all of you could have seen it and and met our new family there. The 3 weeks touring China was the icing on the cake. We still think taking a tour is the way to go in such a large and challenging country and for the most part Grand Circle Travel did a pretty good job.
Once again, thanks for joining us on this journey.
Hong Kong island
Farewell dinner
Light show over Victoria harbor
