Horse Trekking!

Mama Naxi/Noxi (can't remember) was kind enough to set us up with a horse trek into the neighboring cliffsides. 

Sadly the horses already looked so tired and this was in the morning...

Nonetheless, we all were thrilled by the prospect of a chill horse ride through the wilds of China.

I was more concerned with staying on my horse....

The hills were treacherous but the horses were relatively steady despite the insane incline.

Of course the landscape was absolutely gorgeous.

They also provided a meal of an original hot pot... though it lacked flavor. Still we were happy to get some food.

We were then taken to a lake with horses in the front yard of this boat house type deal.

The sunflowers were huge and were all over the place!

This man acted as our tour guide of the lake. He also was the engine for the boat.

Lots of vegetation and sadly little dead fish that floated along the surface. Saw lots of beautiful dragonflies and other bugs that skittered along the lake.

Last on our day's schedule was a trip to a traditional Naxi village.

Few photos taken because the place was chock full of goods that we all got carried away in bartering.

A place to rest my head...

and to dance until I drop ;)

New destination... We finally caught up with our other half after our shenanigans in Guilin.

We spent the better part of the sunlight hunting down our hostel and finding some sustenance that wouldn't horribly upset already delicate stomachs...

The area was decorated here and there with these wall murals that were quite massive. You couldn't quite get a full capture of them because the streets were randomly narrow with tiny bridges over the vast waterways that weaved through.

A dear friend and I went hunting for some food and we stumbled upon this adorable restaurant that catered to a multitude of tastes.

Dancing, singing, karaoke, club, bar, and good ol' fun.

Most importantly... burgers.... :DDD

Water Buffalo Pools

After our river adventures, the group split up into two parts; one to get tattoos while the other went on a bike ride to hopefully go swimming.

We found a few water bison/buffalo just wading around in these pools with their nose rings tied with rope to a nearby tree.

They seemed so chill, which really fit the atmosphere.

This was our final destination. When we arrived a couple of people had just gotten out to leave for some other fantastic location. Everyone but me jumped in, which I now regret but I didn't want to swim that day. Perhaps I'll return to this amazing locale at some point in the future.

The bike ride was long but filled to the brim with amazing views of the landscape.

After our day in the sun we were forced to separate and choose once again as a problem occurred with train tickets. Either we could stand in a 17 hour train ride or wait a day and hope for tickets on another train( or two). Seeing as I felt horribly sick (contributed to my not swimming earlier) I elected to wait a day. I was a little heartbroken because that meant I would miss out on Cormorant fishing and potentially another site that was absolutely gorgeous.

Instead we had an early birthday celebration with lots of drinks, dancing, and awkward stories to tell the other group once we met up later on.

I even got roses out of the whole shebang :D

Guangxi to Sichuan Province - One hell of an adventure

Immediately following Beijing, I hopped onto a 14 hr train ride to Guangxi Province with 4 other people.

We lounged around the outside market streets

Which clearly had amazing views

It's just hard to believe such mountain formations can naturally exist. It was so gorgeous.

Cormorants! Such odd birds and such an eccentric man. He started to shake the pole they were tied to and yelled out YEEAEAAAAAA kind of like Lil' Jon.

I wanted a picture of some ducks because I hadn't seen any in the wild at this point of my adventure. Either they were alive and up for market or cooked on my plate. 

At first we thought there was some weird rock in the water that was really dark and random. Turns out it's water-buffalo.

He was a cutie!

 Our "bamboo" boats.

Our captain had these water squirters that were so much fun. 

We ended up attacking our other boat and eventually broke both the water wands. ><'

We also picked up a little friend as we skidded across the waters. 

 As much as I think bugs of any variety are terrifying and somewhat gross I have to say that s/he was a very patient model.