September 3, 2025
We had a couple hour drive to Yangshuo today but there wasn’t a big rush as Michael told us it would be fine to leave around 10AM. We had breakfast at the hotel which included some good dragon fruit that turned our tongues pink. The other breakfast entertainment was watching a man out the window as he jack-hammered a small rock hill while wearing sandals and smoking. I have no idea why he was bothering to do the work at all other than boredom or attempting to lose part of his foot. A lot of the people working in the hotel were taking a break while we ate breakfast so they could watch the big military parade on TV. Kind of odd sitting there with them watching all the countries that don’t get along with the US have a summit and parade.
We headed back to the room to pack and get ready to meet Michael. The boys were exceedingly unhelpful and I was quite frustrated with them by the time we got all the bags downstairs. We took the same open-air shuttle down the mountain to the normal van which took us the rest of the way down the twisty mountain.
There was time for more of Harry Potter on our drive but we eventually made it to a short hike in Cuiping Village. As soon as we got out of the van it was insanely hot and humid. As we started the climb up to the scenic lookout, I felt so hot I didn’t think I would ever feel cold again. A feeling I am sure will repeat itself in Southeast Asia. The boys were extremely hot and Michael had been walking next to them using an umbrella he brought to create a breeze for them by opening and closing it. A feat I couldn’t imagine doing as we walked. After multiple water and power-up breaks we made it to the top. The view of the dramatic tree covered mountains was different than any mountains I had seen before. It did my best to appreciate it while melting…
We headed down which I was hoping to be an all-business trek but Michael must not feel temperature because he was stopping to make crowns for us all out of bushes growing along the trail! The boys loved it and we got a family crown picture before getting back to the protection of the van and its AC.
After a 30-minute drive we made it to our hotel which was right on the Yulong River. There was a steady stream of bamboo rafts going down the river, with the mountains in the background. Once we were settled in the room, we decided to get back to home school with the reward being some free time afterwards. Lenny strongly disagreed with this and fought with me about it for 20 minutes. Ollie powered through and wrote a letter to his cousin Zach. While Ollie got his free time on the iPad I took Lenny outside to throw the rugby ball. We lasted for 10 minutes before we went to explore the little park at the other end of the hotel property. Eventually Lenny wanted to play hide and seek but after a few rounds he disappeared when it was his turn to hide. I tracked him back to our room where he was watching Ollie on his iPad! For the next 30 minutes I battled to keep him from getting to watch the iPad with Ollie. Enforcing any punishment is worse for us than it is for the kids!
We showered and headed to an early dinner at the hotel before going to a light show on the river. The hotel is very Western friendly, the staff all speak English and the food they offer is both Chinese and Western! We ordered a variety of things from both menus but the green beans where the favorite. Once we got Lenny to eat one, he devoured the rest of the plate.
We met Michael after dinner and headed to the show. The drive was only 20 minutes and Ollie convinced us to listen to more Harry Potter on the way. The fifth book is really getting good now so we are all very much on the same page with telling Lenny he has to deal with it.
The Impression Sanjie Liu Show was in an amphitheater type structure but instead of a stage it was looking at a very wide part of the Li River with the mountains in the background. The creator of the show was the same person who directed the opening ceremony of the Olympics in 2008. We had a nice little booth to ourselves at the top row of the amphitheater with 4 fans going full blast, it’s so hot even when the sun is down. The show captured the kids’ interest in the beginning but Lenny quickly fell asleep. Ollie was interested but by the end was begging to look at Pokémon and/or leave hoping there would be more Harry Potter on the way home.
Once it was time to go, I picked up Lenny to carry him to the van but quickly discovered he was soaking wet. I planned to take both boys to the bathroom and have Ollie give his underwear to Lenny but he told me he wasn’t wearing any! In the bathroom I gave my underwear to Lenny and when came out Kayleen used a hair tie to keep them tight on his waist. A memorable show and wardrobe change for Lenny!
