My first destination in Guilin was the famous Reed Flute Cave (Lu Di Yan in Chinese). Reed flute cave is located about 5km northwest of Guilin city center. My hotel is located right at city center, and the taxi ride took a little under 20 minutes - so it's quite close to the city. Also, Guilin is not a very large city.
The taxi driver dropped me off at the public parking lot a few hundred meters away from the entrance, and I walked to rest of the way to the Reed Flute Cave. Being there and walking on the muddy road, it feels like I'm in the country side on a small farm land surrounded with mountains, and lakes filled with green water.
During this walk, you will most likely (almost definitely) be approached by some locals asking if you'd like to take a ride on a bamboo raft. I would recommend trying it out, if you're not too panicky about riding on small rafts - I certainly had a lot of fun.
On the way from the parking lot to the Reed Flute Cave entrance, there's a small lake, and there are many small bamboo rafts that tourists can ride on for $8 yuan. A local will ride along and row the raft toward the cave entrance. Of course, you can simply walk if you choose, but I decided to have a little fun and take the ride.
Bamboo rafts are very common in Guilin, since it's surrounded by water. The photo above is me sitting on a bamboo raft holding a long bamboo that's used to propel the bamboo raft, and it was quite fun moving the bamboo raft with it.
About Guilin Reed Flute Cave
The Reed Flute Cave is located halfway up to Guangming Hill in northwest Guilin. It got its name from the reeds growing outside of the entrance. Because of its unique and colorful stones inside the cave, the Reed Flute Cave is one of the most popular tourist spots in Guilin.
After reaching the entrance of the Reed Flute Cave, you pay $60 yuan for the entrance ticket, but you need wait a little while for the organizers to form tour groups. Because it's dark and wet inside the cave, tourists are assembled into tour groups of about 15 to 20 people, and a tour guide is assigned with each group explaining the various scenery inside the cave.
Rock formations inside the Reed Flute Cave.
As you enter the cave, you’ll immediately feel the cool breeze coming from inside the cave. The day was hot and humid outside, and once inside, the cool air felt relaxing. Inside the cave is wet 365 days a year, and there is always water dripping from the top of the cave, so you can expect to get a few drops on your head here and there.
Blue lights light up inside the cave creating an amzing scenery.
The rock formation in the front doesn't have any colored lights attached, so that you can see the true color of the cave walls. Far in the back are some blue lights to add some color and contrast to the scene, and in front is a pond of water. The water is very cold, although not bone chilling. This photo is taken of one of the very famous spots inside the Reed Flute Cave named "The Crystal Palace". I used my flash on the camera for this shot, so it shows the true color of the cave walls. If I didn't use the flash, the entire picture would look blue.
The entire tour of the cave took around 30 to 40 mintues. At the end, I almost didn't want to walk outside the cave back into the humid heat. |
