We wake up in the morning in beautiful Feng Huang, to a crisp temperature of 15 degrees, celsius and not a cloud in the sky. After having a couple of hours of the previous night to explore, and having seen how beautiful everything was, we were keen to get out and about. However as many other mornings the 7am alarm got snoozed to an 8am wake up! No regrets!
We venture out by about 9am and are immeditaly greeted by the many food stalls and vendors we had seen the night before. The city was equally as beautiful during the day. You could now see the mountains closely surrounding the river and ornate riverside bars and hotels. Its hard to put nto words the feeling you have walking around this place. Its kind of like stepping back in time to what china would have looked like once upon a time. Without the over industrialization it suffers today. The only thing that brings you back into the present are the many coloured lights, which no doubtedly complement the atmosphere. And the tourists of course. Which thankfully are relitively few this time of the year. I will let the photos attached attemp to fill the gaps! Although even those dont do it justice. I feel like without the smells and sounds you are missing 2/3 of the moment.
We spent many hours today walking up and down the river. Getting lost amongst the back streets. Testing our stomachs with the street food. Compared to Guilin, pretty much no one speaks a word of english. Which in a way is good. We have also seen only one or two other westeners, so altough it is a very touristy town, we feel like we have penetrated into the less western China we have been seeking.
After about 5 hours of walking and another 15km under our belts. We stopped for a feed and Allisha has opted for a nap. The temperature has reached a sweltering 30 degrees now. I have posted myself at one of the cheaper bars near our accomodation for a well deserved cold beer. It is quite expensive in Feng Huang. Being a very tourism based town. And you can easily pay 40 Yuan for a standard western beer, that comes to 8.70 AUD! However if you seek out the local beers at a medium quality venue (you still have river views), they will only cost you 10, so a quarter of the price fpr 2x the beer! It seems there is always a cheap option available. You just need to go looking for it. Maybe I try my luck at some Saki and see if thats better value for money while Allisha has a nap! ;)
Later in the evening while watching the moon rise on a beautiful balcony, drinking local beer, We both observed how slowly time is going now we're on holiday.
Its been less than 2 days since we we're at Guilin underground in the Reed Flute Cave and less than 2 weeks since we left our home soil, Australia. More and more I feel its this timelessness that is the true pursuit of happiness. And something we will spend our lives chasing. Careless freedom.
- Tom
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