11-1-2009（星期日）晴天
（荔莆、阳朔）
荔莆的冬天夜里温度降至0℃，花草冷至结霜。早餐后乘船游览“荔江弯景区”的山水，人手一桨赛龙舟，就不觉得那么冷。同一地点参观“天宫岩”，这个天然形成的岩洞有无数个由地下水冲刷而成的水潭，各种倒影美不胜收，被誉为“洞中九寨沟”。洞内温差太大，相机镜头模糊一片，结果无法拍摄。
接着再到“银子岩”参观另一个溶洞，洞内恒温26℃，全长两公里，第一次在桂林汗流浃背。
下午到遇龙河观赏鱼鹰捕鱼，三只颈项绑着绳子的鱼鹰一动不动地站在竹伐上，渔夫一个手势，只见一只鱼鹰“嗖”一声潜入水中，不一会浮上水面，颈项涨得鼓鼓地。渔夫以长竿上的鱼网将鱼鹰捞起，再由颈项挤出一尾半公斤重的鱼。
在遇龙河，擅唱山歌的现代刘三姐向我们透露：「冬天游客非常少，船夫需等待三天才可安排到一次撑船的工作机会，而每次只获得人民币十元。」而她则领取固定人民币600元薪水。我们向她探听“印象刘三姐”节目是否临时取消了？她睁大眼睛说：「每逢冬季休息一个月，导游没理由不知道！」真相大白，小丽这个老千导游睁着眼睛说瞎话，希望中国有关当局注意这些导游的素质，别让国家的名誉被这群不负责任的导游给破坏了！
下午三点半离开荔莆，乘船游览漓江，两个小时后经过“印象刘三姐”剧场才到达阳朔码头。晚餐后，我们由酒店徒步到不远处的“西街步行街”。这里是特地为游客而设的旅游区，餐馆、酒吧、小食、纪念品、冒牌货琳琅满目，治安并不如导游形容般差劲。
11-1-2009 (Sunday) Sunny
(Lipu, Yangshuo)
In winter, Lipu is picturesque as weather drops to 0 degree Celsius. Flowers and meadows were all enveloped in snow, very frosted indeed! After breakfast, we took a boat ride and tried to be the oarmen. Our bodies warmed up with a little activity. Nearby was the famous Tian Gong Cave. This is a natural cave with numerous underground lakes, a spectacular scene but could not be captured on the cameras due to the freezing condition.
Silver Limestone Cave (Yinzi Cave) seemed rather imposing as it stretched for two miles into the interior. It was a warm trip at 26 degrees Celsius and we had beads of perspiration, probably for the first time in Guilin.
In the afternoon we watched how the osprey angled for the fisherman. Three birds stood upright on the bamboo raft. The fisherman released a bird and the bird plunged into the water sliently. Shortly, it came up with a swollen neck. The fishermen scooped up the bird with his net attached to a long pole. He quickly removed a fish of about half-a-kilo in size from the bird's neck. Simple yet amazing lifestyle in a laidback region but rich with culture.
At Yulong River, we truck up a conversation with a local commentator. She revealed it could be very difficult to make a living during the cold season as tourists were few and most boatmen could only have work once in three days. Tourists packed into one boat and each boatman earned only a pitiful 10 Yuan, and she has a salary of 600 Yuan monthly. The commentator also told us: "The stage performances were normally closed for one month and this is nothing new." We felt ripped-off as our guide had pretended not to have a clue. She should be banned by China's Tourism Board as one rotten apple could tarnish hard-earned efforts created by others.
We left Lipu at 3.30p.m. and had a boat cruise. Some two hours later, we went past the open air stage where "Liu San Jie" performances were normally held. As the boat docked at a nearby harbour, we went for dinner. Later, we walked to a popular tourist destination known as West Street, the home of restaurants, bars, cafes, souvenir shops, stores sold a variety of imitation goods. This place does not seem to be as crime infested as what our guide had told us earlier on.
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