when life gives you lemons, hop a train to guilin

our foreign coordinators sprung a vacation on us this week. they sprung it on us only a week in advance and they took days off our vacation. and there's nothing we can do about it. originally, we were going to take a train down to xi'an, where the terra cotta warriors are, on our way to guilin, which is supposedly "the prettiest city on earth". so we had to choose between guilin and xi'an. BUT we found out train tickets to guilin were sold out. xi'an it is. i was trying to perk myself up about it, but since i've spent the last three months reading about, planning for, and looking at pictures of guilin, i was pretty heartbroken. i guess my idea of a vacation is not really tourist destinations. sure it's fun to see them, but i would so much rather go to an obscure, local town and see the scenery. hike mountains. do the things the locals do. i don't get hyped about tourist spots. don't get me wrong: it's fun to say i've been to those places, but they are not where the charm of a country lies. i think i should quit school and be a backpacking bum. give me a map, a kayak (if forrest gump can run across the entire country, i can kayak across the entire ocean, dang it.) and some lembus bread to sustain me. anyway, kindra, the girl i've grown the closest to here, has the exact same mindset as me. everything she says, i think "yes! exactly!" we have the same travel plans. we've already planned to travel the world together. i'm pretty sure we're kindred spirits! well, after the x-word was dropped, i shuffled into her room and we sat on her bed for a few minutes, slumped over, just the most pathetic sight you've ever seen. and then, the words she said were the sweetest ones i've ever heard:

"wanna backpack around china when school gets out?"

"yep."

so i skyped my parents to see if they were on board (they didn't even hesitate before saying yes; they're the best :) ), sent in my flight change request, and we mapped out our three week course after everyone goes home: take a train to guilin, rent bikes to get around, explore the number one ranked underground cave, swim in the li river, take a bamboo boat to yangshuo- asia's number one rock climbing town, rent bikes again, rock climb, brown up a bit, hike the renowned mud caves, take a train to huangshan and hike the yellow mountains- that's where they filmed "crouching tiger, hidden dragon", take a train to beijing, do some last minute pirated-movie shopping, fly home well seasoned travelers (just kidding).

so i say....when life gives you lemons, hop a train to guilin! (and buy a standing ticket at that- we can't afford sleepers, so we're going to sit on the floor for 25+ hours. yes. i'm all for the experience.)