Earlier in the afternoon, we had bought the tickets to the night cruise from a local agency. The tickets cost 120 yuan (RM57) each. The lady at the agency had reminded us to be at the wharf by 8pm.
After our dinner at Hao Da Ma Restaurant, we had walked back to Central Square and not once did we think we would not be able to reach the wharf in time for the night cruise. But as luck would have it, we somehow got lost and could not find our way!
However, luck must still be on our side when halfway, we bumped into the lady from the agency! She was actually riding on her motorbike and when she saw us, she was surprised why we were not on the cruise. After explaining to her we lost our way, she quickly pointed the direction to us and rode off to delay the cruise for us!
What happened next must be the most unexpected thing I ever did on a holiday. We ran as fast as we could, hardly stopping to catch our breaths, as if we were criminals on the run in a foreign country! Gosh! This must be my first time running like that during my travels! Thank God for the horse meat I ate earlier - perhaps that gave me the strength and speed, haha!!
By the time we reached the wharf, it was already 8.30pm! Needless to say, I was breathless and completely drenched in sweat! But thank God and thank that lady from the agency, we managed to get onto the cruise! Phew!! What an experience on our very first night in Guilin!
The above is the route of the Two Rivers Four Lakes cruise. Sorry it is all written in Mandarin. I could not find one with English translation.
Like its name sake, the Two Rivers Four Lakes scenic area consists of a water loop of two rivers and four lakes that enclose downtown Guilin. The two rivers are the Li River (漓江) and its tributary, Taohua (Peach Blossom) River (桃花江) and the four lakes are Rong (banyan tree) Lake (榕湖), Shan (Chinese fir) Lake (杉湖), Gui (Osmanthus) Lake (桂湖) and the Mulong (wooden dragon) Lake (木龙湖).
From the Li River, our boat entered a lock area, where water was admitted to raise the boat up several metres.
Once the water level in the lock area reached the same level as the lake, our boat continued with the journey. If you have been to Mines Wonderland and took the lake cruise, you would know the same concept being employed there.
The first lake we entered into was Mulong Lake. This is the view of the lock area as our boat was leaving it to enter Mulong Lake.
The waterway system was beautiful with buildings, trees and plants decorated with coloured lights. But since it was night time and the boat was moving, my photos did not turn out well. I guess this was the best I could do.
I managed to capture this nice looking Mulong Pagoda (木龙塔).
After Mulong Lake, we entered Gui Lake, followed by Rong Lake and Shan Lake respectively.
I learnt that there were altogether 19 bridges connecting the two rivers and four lakes! Wow! Sure beats Putrajaya which has only 9 bridges! Haha.
Now if you will excuse my poor photos, here are some of the bridges. I only managed to capture a few.
The above is the ancient twin marble bridge which separates Gui Lake and Rong Lake.
Some of the bridges were styled after some of the world's famous bridges.
Do they remind you of bridges you have seen somewhere?
And then I saw the most awesome looking bridge - the Crystal Bridge at Rong Lake! It sure looked as if it's made from crystals!
Now if you think those bridges are interesting, wait till you see what is underneath them!
Carvings, images and chinese characters on the walls and ceilings! Awesome!
Buildings beautifully decorated with coloured lightings lined the lakes.
I am not sure if this is a boat with a dragon head or a building on water! What do you think?
OK, I don't know why I include this photo here. It must be me feeling dizzy trying to take photos in the dark on a moving boat! LOL!
Finally, we came to the famous Twin Pagodas on Shan Lake! These two pagodas were the most magnificent structures that stood out that night.
I was so mesmerized by these pagodas I went back to capture more photos of them a few days later. More about them in my future posts!
After Shan Lake, we entered another lock area which brought us down back to the lower levels of Li River. We were then transferred back to the wharf. The whole cruise took about one and a half hour.
Coming up next : My 2nd Day In Guilin
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