But first, Guilin. We thought we were prepared for what was in store because our guidebook described it as the worst tourist trap in China. In fact, we had hoped to pass right by it and stay 20 miles down river in the town of Yangshuo -- also a tourist trap, but a smaller one. Guilin is, to my mind, the most impressive natural scenery of this entire trip. It consists of a flat plain of gleaming green rice paddies surrounded by dramatic, steeply sided hillocks that have the shape of giant haystacks. They are a centerpiece of countless Chinese scroll paintings. The best way to see these remarkable limestone sculptural hills is to take a boat down the Li river from Guilin to Yangshuo, and so thousands of tourists flock to Guilin just for the purpose. Like Yosemtie, it spoils the experience, but also like Yosemite, in the end the natural landscape is so fabulous that it is worth enduring the overpriced tourist locales just to see it.

Our original plan was to arrive in Guilin on Saturday night to be ready for a boat trip on Sunday, but the cave excursion at Dazu prevented us from getting a late afternoon flight. So, we rallied to the cause and caught a 7:15 am flight from Congqing, arriving in Guilin at the timely hour of 9:00. Even at this early hour numerous would-be guides assured us that we had missed all the boats for the day, but that they would help us find a hotel in Guilin. We ignored these "well-wishers" and selected our own taxi driver, having decided we were some judge of the trustworthy (or at least the less bloodthirsty) of the bunch. He took us to the docks and seemed to understand from our Chinese that we knew the "tourist" boats had left for Yangshuo, but that we would take a "small boat" and pay the tourist price if it would promise to get us safely there.

The driver got us to the riverbank, where there were a variety of boats, no signs in English, and various people shaking their heads. Suddenly a man in a yellow cap appeared. We assumed he was another taxi driver and he spoke some English, He and our driver scurried along the docks, with the two of us trudging along at a skeptical pace behind them. There was one woman on a barge who seemed to have some information, and a telephone. She would call. After further discussion we were told we had to drive to a different pier, but we could get a boat that day, and the taxi driver would take us for $12.50 in US money. We agreed, since it was a beautiful day, and we didn't want to chance our luck on waiting until Monday -- this is the rainy season in southern China.

What followed was the worst of our cab experiences, made worse by the fact that we had been in China long enough to know better. Our "honest" taxi driver got into the car, with Elene in the other front seat and me in the back. Suddenly the man in the yellow cap got in the back and said he was coming along, no charge, to make sure we got the boat -- he would translate. He said the taxi driver was going to pay him 10 yuan out of the 100 yuan we were already paying. For the next half hour we drove through breathtaking landscapes through the rice paddies and in between these little mountains. Suddenly I saw the river out my window and realized that we were on the wrong side. I complained immediately, in English and Chinese, pointing to the pier which was clearly marked on the western side of the river.

Again and again I was assured everything was OK, we would meet the boat a little further on because it was late, the boat would cross the river, etc. Finally we ended up in a tiny town where a nasty man wearing an undershirt and carrying a red flag demanded five yuan. The taxi driver yelled at him something about Americans and on we went to a pier where indeed there were boats, but no ticket windows. Mr. Yellow Cap insisted he would get the tickets if we gave him the money, which we were totally unprepared to do. After some discussion with various boats, it became clear that there was no way to get to Yangshuo with any assurance, and our best bet was to get our driver to take us back to Guilin, check into the hotel where we indeed had had a reservation, and wait until Monday for our cruise. We insisted to the driver that under no circumstances was the man with the yellow cap to come in the car with us -- he had lied and tried to cheat us, and wasted a good deal of our day. There was an angry moment when he tried to get into he car. When he finally succeeded in getting one of the back doors open, I decided my only recourse was to get out the other back door. That was enough for him to back off, and so our driver took us back through the idyllic pastoral countryside to the Holiday Inn.

Along the way we discussed what to pay him. On the one hand, nothing might have been appropriate. We had paid him for the first ride across town, and this ride to the distant pier was at his suggestion and had produced no boat. On the other hand, we thought the man in the yellow cap was the real troublemaker, so we decided to give him the 100 yuan promised, plus 25 for the ride to the Holiday Inn and a little for good will. We said thank you, and got out of the car. Suddenly he realized we were not paying for "both ways" to the pier and he was furious. We explained again that there had been no boat and it was his idea, but I have to admit my limited Chinese doesn't do too well after the "no boat" part.

This discussion continued in the he lobby of the Holiday Inn, where three clerks calmly checked us in, totally ignoring his rantings. When we had a room key safely in hand we explained to the hotel clearly what had happened and said that if the taxi driver wanted to call the police we would be happy to talk to them. Otherwise, we considered the issue closed.

By this point the security guard had arrived to make sure he didn't follow us to the elevator, and we headed out of sight, wishing we could take a shower and begin the day all over again.

Upon reflection, probably the taxi driver was also scammed by the man in the yellow cap, but he told us himself the man was to be trusted, so he has to take some responsibility.

That aside, we had a restful afternoon in Guilin and a fabulous dinner with some of the best Sichuan food I had in China -- better than anything I ate within Sichuan province.

Monday, we had assured ourselves, would be a new day on the river. We made sure to book our trip through the hotel and headed off at 8:15 for the pier on the right (western) side of the river. Some guidebooks say the six-hour trip can seem boring, and I imagine it might if you get a rainy or foggy day. We had a mellow humid haze than burned off by 10:30, and except for a brief shower around two, we had bright blue sky and cumulus clouds the whole way -- a veritable Kodak moment.

What wasn't in our guidebook was the fact that the trip is only 4 hours on the river and 2 hours in a cave along the way. At first I was skeptical, particularly since there was an additional $8 (US) charge for the cave after we had already paid $60 (US) for the boat ride. If you take the point of view that one cave looks much like another, it's easy to conclude that this was an unnecessary diversion from the beautiful countryside; but in fact the cave was amazing. The first third is the traditional stalactite-stalagmite routine with a variety of colored lights. The guide used a laser pen to show us rocks in the shape of pandas, lions, etc. I rarely saw the image except near the end when there was a section that did indeed look like an American eagle with full wingspan.

The best parts of the cave were two sections further on. The first were narrow caverns that we toured in Disney-world style train cars along a tiny track and the finale was an underground river that we explored in sampans. This section of the cave had no lighting, so each passenger had a small flashlight wired to his/her seat. With a dozen of us in each sampan we could light up whole sections with an concerted effort. My video of this part is amazingly good considering.

Back on the river, we were served an extensive lunch and beer (considered a soft drink in China). That left two hours or so up on the top deck to take in the ever-more dramatic scenery as we headed for Yangshuo.

The finale of the trip is supposed to be fishermen using cormorants to do the fishing for them, but we arrived too early for the daily ritual, and were hurried back onto tour buses despite some protests, that we had been promised some time to see the scenery of this famous town. Yangshuo is not world renowned, but it is considered the backpacker capital of China. American expatriates have restaurants here that offer things like banana pancakes and other western delicacies which used to be a rarity in China in the days before Starbucks. It was also made famous when Clinton stopped here on his China trip last year.

In any case, we managed to pick up a few souvenirs, and enjoy the 45 minute bus ride back up to Guilin, where the swimming pool and Sichuan restaurant had their own appeal.

After dinner I had the notion that since it was only one night short of a full moon, it would by nice to climb one of these famous hills and view the scenery from on high. We took a taxi to one within the city limits which our hotel guide said would have plenty of people, and we need not fear being there at night. However, in the end, we decided to keep closer to the mainstream, and settled for walking along the river. It was a hot, muggy night, and lots of locals were doing the same. Some were swimming -- the Li is not perfect, but much cleaner than the Yangtze. Others were social dancing, or practicing their Karioke, and needless to say, dozens were selling their wares in a night market. Both Elene and I made a few last minute purchases, knowing that we were leaving yesterday and that Hong Kong prices would not be the same.

The next morning I finally did manage to get to the top of one of the hills for a fabulous view, and enjoyed one of Guilin's many parks. I had my first taste of how useless my hard-fought battle to learn Chinese was going to be in Hong Kong, when I met a teenager who wanted very much to talk to me, but the only language that communicated at all was English. The difference between Cantonese and Mandarin is not, as I had thought, like the difference between Italian and French, but more like Italian and German. It is only the characters that offer a common tie.

I have no good words to say about Hong Kong yet, except that the train ride in from the brand new airport was fabulous. Perhaps by tomorrow I will be ready to offer a perspective on this most western of Asian cities.