Where's the Swimming Hole?
First I would just like to point out that Katie is a creative writing major so please don't judge my blogs by hers. Today was a day of rest. Here are some pictures of what a few of us did today:
So after I slept for a good 15 hours, I felt a ton better. Breakfast was amazing, as usual, and then everyone was showered and downstairs all using the computer. A few people just sat around the cabin and chilled all day long, reading, journaling, talking, napping, and recouping. Some of us wanted to go find this "amazing natural swimming hole" that was near this amazing really old tree. After walking all the way into the village, we finally found the sign for the tree. It turns out this was a park that we had to pay for a ticket. So, after debating, we paid the 18 yuan per person to get in there. We found water and we found the tree and we even found authentic clothing for Danielle and Tyler to try on, but no swimming hole. We walked around this park taking pictures and laughing at all of the random things we saw including camels, monkeys, a child with buttless pants on, and peacocks. Danielle and I even bought dresses from a little street vendor. After we decided that we had looked around enough, we made the trek back to the cabin. Everyone else was still chillin'. We decided we wanted to go into town at 5 and come back at 10. After a near-death experience in the car ride there, we split up into the eating group and the shopping group. Then the roles reversed and the eaters went shopping and the shoppers went eating. After a little while half of the group was ready to go back to the hotel, but half of us stayed behind to share in the night life of the village. At 10, we jumped in the bus going back. Techno music blaring, I grabbed the video camera for blackmail footage. That was a fun ride back. After we all returned safely, we listened as Danielle presented the Terra Cotta warriors (which we will see soon). Tomorrow is Ed's birthday! Happy 21! And we are all getting foot massages after touring some caves in Guilin and before we take our 5th flight to Xian. I can't believe it's only day 6 of our trip. It's pretty much amazing. I hope everyone is enjoying the updates and that I am conveying what is going on. Love you all!
Peace out
Ashley
