Tag Archives: solo female travel China

Escape From Ganzi to Dege, Tibet: Hotel Horrors and Hotel Highs

So when we last left off, I had just had a complete nervous breakdown in the middle of Tibet and was told that I would be leaving Ganzi in a shared minivan at 8:00 the next morning.  You can read all about that here.

Well that morning was this morning and I should probably start off by telling you that I did indeed get out of Ganzi (YAY) but the story is a bit more complicated than that.

I knew I was supposed to be leaving at 8:00 so I planned to leave my hotel at 7:30.  The shared minivans gather about ten feet from the door.  I woke up at 6:00 am and was just about to eat a Cliff Bar and drink some milk tea when someone began knocking on my door.  What the hell.  I open it and it is a dude standing there who says “Dege” to me.  I say “I thought we were leaving at 8:00” which he does not understand, as if it mattered anyway.  He does a driving motion and says “Dege” and points down, meaning “come on, let’s go.”

If I wasn’t such a maniac, I would not have even been awake yet.  I could in theory have set my alarm for 7:30 and still have been outside by 8:00.  As it was, I was only awake for maybe five minutes.  So now I have to rush like even more of a maniac and pack and get out now.  I am ready in five minutes, but I am all shaky from doing too much when I was only awake for five minutes in high altitude. Plus, I had consumed zero calories.  But hey, I am getting out of Ganzi so let’s go!

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Guilin, China: Bamboo Raft Ride on Fanglian Pool and Reed Flute Cave

Today’s plan was to go to Fubo Hill. To get there, you need to take bus #1. I could not find a bus stop for this line. So instead, I changed my plans and took the #3 bus to the Reed Flute Cave. Buses in Guilin are only 1 RMB, which is about fifteen American cents. Total bargain.

I was able to follow along the stops by simply looking out the window when we would stop and reading the name of the stop we were at on the bus stop sign. When we got to where the next stop was mine, I stood up. A Chinese man made gestures to show me “NO” and motioned for me to wait. Um, okay. In the end, it turns out that the stop for Reed Flute Cave is at the parking lot. The one right after leaves you directly at the entrance. Thank you kind sir!

I got off the bus and lit a cigarette. A man approaches me to try and sell me a ride on a bamboo raft on the little Fanglian Pool across the street. No matter what I said, he would not leave me alone. If I were not smoking, I would have walked away. Finally I decided it was easier to just take the damn ride (5 RMB = $.85 USD) than to sit there arguing any longer. For less than a dollar, it was worth it.

Fanglian pool bamboo raft ride outside Reed Flute Cave in Guilin China

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Guilin, China: Elephant Trunk Hill Park

After my oh so exciting first sleep on mainland China, I was up bright and early for my first day in Guilin.  I could not have been more excited.  I went outside to stare at the Li River from behind my hostel.

Li River outside Green Forest Hostel, Guilin, ChinaLi River Guilin China

From here I went walking around the streets near my hostel.   Just about instantly, I met Jerry.  Jerry is a tour guide who offered me lots of options for tours to take in and around Guilin.  I was not interested in any of them, since I already had everything planned out before I left home.  I ran into him regularly for the rest of my trip.  At some point a couple of days later, I was pretty far away from my hotel just walking around and I hear “HELLO JENNIFER!” being yelled at me from across the street.  Oh hello Jerry.

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Macau, China: Final Gambling Chapter Featuring MGM Grand and the Venetian

So after spending a day doing touristy stuff, I earned my right to continue on being Gamblor!  Hopefully I will do as well as I did on my first try, which you can read about here.

My plan is to play $100 HKD (just under $13 USD) in each of the five casinos I plan on visiting.

Where better to start than in my own hotel?  Lisboa’s casino was offering $20 HKD free play to new sign ups.  This is about $2.50 USD.  I also got a free cookie and a little change purse.

Lisboa casino swag

I lost my $20 free play and my allotted $100 (and an extra $100 for good measure.)  I went to cash out my last few cents and found out I had played enough to earn $50 HKD in free play.  Lost that too.  BUMMER.  When I went to collect my change, there were two women working the cashier’s cage.  One was obsessed with me and you could just tell she was dying for me to go to her window.  She looked SO EXCITED to see me walking up.  So I decided to get some good karma by obliging her.  No one has ever been happier to speak to me in my entire life.

Back over to Wynn.  Surely I will win here, since I did last night, right?  Maybe.  I lost my $100 in a Code Red slot machine and put in a second.  Because I said I was only going to play $100 and now I am playing $200.  This got me $1000.  That is about $129 USD.  This means I can put in another $100.  Cashed this one out at $900.

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