Review of 3 Days Guilin Essence and Li River Tour by Peter

Hi! Me and my girlfriend can only recommend this tour. Guilin area is very beautiful. The elephant trunk hill is 5min walk from hotel, and looks just like on the pic on the website. The cave is a 20min drive, and one of the most beautiful ones I`ve been. The 1day river tour is truly a spiritlifting experience. The food on the ship is not going to satisfy everyone, (chinese food cooked on the ship) so you might want to take something to nibble on just in case. The ancient city is interesting, and offers many tours and programmes. You can take an electric car tour around the city, which we did. Interesting tour, you can see the fields with the irrigation system and the hills around. We took the bamboo raft tour as well, so we didn`t spend much time in the city. You can also hire a bike. The bamboo raft tour is not to be missed!!! As an extra we choose a day tour to Longji. Wow, that`s a miraculous place!!! The journey there is a good 2 hours, but well worth it! We took a lovely walk up the hill through the village, along the way bought some of the local`s food and a variety of fruits. Nice, fresh food. Arriving at the top we experienced a view of the terraces and hills we will always remember. We met the local women with the ancle-long hair, and (for little cash)we were shown how they handle that unbelievable amount. We opted for a theatre one evening. We really enjoyed it, would recommend it to anyone with interest in local dresses, dances, songs....The show included some acrobatic element, which were truly amazing. The theatre is only 5 min walk from the hotel. We have also seen an art \"museum\", pearl \"museum\" and a silk \"museum\". They all worth half an hour from your time and you might find something interesting to purchase. The hotel we were staying is qiute good. First we got a room which had a window looking to the interior hall of the hotel. For some people it might feel a bit claustrophobic, as it did for us. They changed the room no problem, and then we had one with a view to the city and a lovely lake. Good deal!:) The breakfast was good with ample choice. Our tour guide (Lucy) and the driver went out a long way to make sure that we were happy and comfortable. All and all, we think that for your money you get a comfortable tour with a good english speaker guide, and many interesting and beautiful places to see. If we had more days, would have opted for one of the longer tours offered in Guilin. Peter.B.&Martina.D.