Guilin

Guilin

Guilin, China, YangShuo, hostel, where to stay, travel

I stayed at Green Forest Hostel on Zhongshannanlu 中山南路。Dorm beds start at 35 yuan per night and there are 4 beds per room. Each room has it's own bathroom with 24 hour hot water. The wifi isn't accessible in the rooms but you can lounge in the common area. There are plenty of outlets for charging yor phone, as well as an outlet by every bed.

Green Forest Hostel is 3 minutes by walk from the bus station and about 10 minutes by walk from the train station so it's pretty convenient located.

Search and book on hostelbookers.com or Hostelworld.com

How to get to Jiankou

Jiankou is one of the most beautiful and unrestored sections of the Great Wall of China. Located about 2.5 hours north of Beijing, it is definitely worth seeing!

From Beijing to Jiankou, you can go to Dongzhimen (东直门) station on line 2 and take exit B. You will exit in front of the Dongzhimen Bus Terminus and you will need to go to the North (北）Platform to take bus 916快 to Huairou 怀柔北大街stop and take a car to the beginning of the Jiankou trail. When you get off the bus, drivers will ask you where you want to go. Just tell them Jiankou and they will know where to take you. For a compact car, it is 15 kuai per person if there are 4 passengers. Basically, it costs 60 kuai for the car and you split it with how many passengers are inside. There are also minivans but I'm not sure how much the price is for that. Don't pay more than 15 kuai though for the minivan, unless you are the only passenger.

Bus 916快 takes about 1-1.5 hours to get to 怀柔北大街 Huairou Bei Da Jie and then the compact car takes about 30-40 min.

The hike up to the Great Wall from the drop off point takes 2-2.5 hours and is all uphill. It is quite strenuous so bring plenty of water and rest along the way. Follow the yellow ribbons and trash along the trail. There are multiple times when the trail seems to go into two separate trails, but they all lead to the same destination. One trail tends to go around some of the rock formations and another trail goes right on top of the rock formations.

There is camping allowed at Jiankou and we set up on top of one of the towers getting a nice view of the towns below and the stars above.

We had left Donzhimen station at around 4pm and arrived at the wall around 6pm. We had to really keep up our pace to get on top of the wall before sunset. Luckily at around 8pm there was still light out so we were able to set up camp in time.

The next day we woke up around 6am to the nice cool breeze and had breakfast and packed everything up. 

We started our 4-5 hour journey to Mutianyu to take the luge/toboggan down the wall. I say 4-5 hours because we stopped along the way to rest and also did a lot of stops to take pictures of the beautiful scenery.

From Zhengbeilou tower (the tower closest to where you climbed the ladder to get onto Jiankou) it is 2 hours (4km) to the start of Mutianyu section and then another 2 hours to the luge. It's 60 kuai to take the luge down the Great Wall and 50 kuai to take their two person ski lift contraption.

This is when you'll know you've reached Mutianyu:

The Spanish and English speaking toboggan conductor:

To get back to Dongzhimen after getting off Mutianyu section, go to Parking lot #1, should be the first parking lot on the right after Subway. You can take bus #867 at 2pm back to Dongzhimen Bus Terminus. It also makes stops along the way like Sunhe (line 15) and Sanyuanqiao (line 10). The bus takes the Beijing metro card, but if you don't have the metro card, it is 16 kuai/yuan and there is an attendant on board that can provide change.

Alternatively, to get to the Great Wall, you can also take bus 867 for 16 kuai/yuan outside of the Dongzhimen subway station and it will take you directly do the Mutianyu Great Wall and you can get to Jiankou by walking north along the wall. The hike would take about 2 hours. To get to Zhengbeilou tower would take 4-5 hours and there's a lot of uphill.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions! Sunsplat@icloud.com

Erhai Lake

Erhai Lake is a beautiful lake located in Dali, Yunnan Province, China.

To visit Erhai Lake, you can rent a driver to take you around the whole lake OR you can rent a bike like I did.

I HIGHLY recommend to rent a bike for the day and ride north along the lake edge. It costs 20 kuai to rent a bike and you can find a bike along Bo Ai Lu in Gu Cheng (Dali Old Town). I found one that was near my hostel and made sure they closed late in case I got back later in the day. Some shops open til 6pm and some til 8pm. You can also rent it for two days if you wanted to spend a night in ShuangLang. 

The bicycle rental I went to didn't have a name but it's close to the street where Bad Monkey bar is located. It was 20 kuai for a simple one-gear bike. They also require a 200 kuai deposit that will be returned to you when you return the bike.

It takes about 30 minutes to ride from where I was to the CaiCun port. From there to XiZhou takes 1.5 hours. The roads are well paved and flat so there's really no need for a multi-gear bike, though maybe it would be easier on your legs. The multi-gear bikes range from 25-35 kuai for a full day rental. Most bike shops open at 8am so if you wanted to ride a bike to ShuangLang, you can give yourself about 10 hours RT. 

You will also pass by many villages along the ring road that you can stop by and check out. Many of them have markets, you'll have to check out the schedule with your hostel to see what the times and days are.

You will want to follow the signs for the West Ring Road while riding your bike. The blue signs are very well located and easily seen so you won't get lost.

You will also be able to see the farmland:

Jinshanling Great Wall

Jinshanling section of the Great Wall (金山岭长城）

Jinshanling is the section between Gubeikou and Simatai (which is finishing construction and opening this year 2014). Both a mixture of restored and unrestored parts, Jinshanling is a great section of the wall to visit. It’s less crowded than Badaling and Mutianyu sections and also a bit harder to get to.

Getting there:
Go to line 2 subway station Dongzhimen (东直门）and then take the north east subway exit to get to the Dongzhimen bus terminal. Look for signs for bus 980快. There’s two different 980 buses, the difference is one is fast (快）and one is slow（慢）.

Bus 980快 costs 15 kuai and you will take it to the last stop, Miyun Bus Station. Make sure you have exact cash because they don’t have change. You can consider buying the blue metro card for 20 kuai to load up money on it as bus rides are cheaper with the card. 

There will be people trying to tell you to get off before the last stop, just ignore them, they are trying to trick you. They may even say that to get to Jinshanling you have to get off at a certain stop. Just ignore it.

The bus ride is about an hour or more. We left at around 8:15am and arrived at Miyun Bus Station around 10am I would say. When we arrived at the Miyun bus station we had a hard time finding the minibus that is supposed to take you to Jinshanling so we got a driver for 270 RT. We read online that the minibus would be 50 kuai per person one way (it’s an hour drive) so we felt like we got a pretty good deal by getting a driver for the afternoon. 

Our driver was really nice and gave us a map of the hiking section to follow. I’ll have to search for his contact if you want the same guy. He offered to wait for us at the same entrance or near the Simatai end so we don’t have to walk back to the entrance gate. We chose to have him pick us up at the East Gate 东门 that’s near Simatai. 

It takes an hour to drive from Miyun Bus Station to the entrance gate of Jinshanling. Entry tickets are 65 kuai per person. To walk from one end of Jinshanling to Simatai took us about 3-4 hours. We stopped for lunch at a tower and also stopped a lot to take pictures

When you see this sign, you can find the path to the left of the five window tower to exit to the East Gate (东门):

When we reached Simatai we couldn't go any further because they boarded up the tower entrance and there was a hairs inside to make sure we didn't cross.

Helen, GA to Unicoi State Park

Flowers of Helen, GA

Unicoi State Park and Lodge
1788 Highway 356
Helen , GA 30545
http://www.gastateparks.org/Unicoi

Helen, GA
706-878-2181
http://www.helenga.org/

Find the Unicoi Hill Park in Helen, GA, to start the hike from Helen to Unicoi. There is free parking in the lot and there are also public restrooms nearby if you walk down to the city.

Coordinates of Unicoi Hill Park: N 34° 42.096 W 083° 43.896

44 acre Smith Lake (aka Unicoi Lake)

Helen to Unicoi is a 3 mile hike one way, fairly moderate and flat. You will walk along streams and through fields. It is not very scenic but the hike does provide plenty of shade from the hot sun. I do recommend this hike during the fall season to see the changing of the leaves. Once you reach Unicoi, you can choose to walk the Lake Trail Loop, or walk the Smith Creek Trail up to Anna Ruby Falls.

We chose to walk the Lake Trail Loop (2.5 miles). You are able to rent canoes on the lake, and there is a small swimming/beach area as well. 


In total, Helen to Unicoi(RT) + Lake Trail Loop = 8.5 miles and approximately 4 hours.
You can also choose to walk from Unicoi to Helen and back. 


This is what the trail looks like:

And this is the stream that you walk along near the beginning:

Tallulah Gorge State Park

Tallulah Gorge State Park

338 Jane Hurt Yarn Dr

Tallulah Falls , GA 30573 

http://www.gastateparks.org/TallulahGorge

Park (706) 754-7981
Camping (706) 754-7979



For camping 1 night in a tent, $16 +$3 parking fee. Cash or Check; no credit or debit.

$1.50 - bag of ice
$4.00 for bundle of firewood
Camping office is open until 10pm for check-in. After 10pm, cannot leave and re-enter.

The $3 parking fee is good for the whole day you are leaving as well as the night you arrive. 

                   Camping was fairly easy to set up; we had to fill out a form at the front and were given a parking pass (that is also good until midnight the day you leave, so we didn't have to worry about paying $5 to park at the interpretive center) . The camping site on Jane Hurt Yarn Drive is operated by Georgia Power and not the park itself. We arrived around 6:30pm and there were plenty of camping sites available to choose from. There are bathrooms, showers, as well as water pumps at each camping site. The camping sites are also located fairly close together and there is enough room for RVs. Each camping site also has a picnic bench for seating and a fire pit. We were able to find lots of left over firewood from all the empty pits in the camping site. The office also sells bags of ice for $1.50 and bundles of firewood for $4.00. Just be sure you have cash on hand because they don't accept credit cards. 

Park Hours: 8AM-Dark.
Interpretive Center Hours: 8AM-5PM 


Permits:Free permits are required to access the gorge floor and can be obtained at the Interpretive Center. Visitors must wear proper footwear to obtain a permit -- no flip-flops or crocs. Permits will not be issued after 4 p.m. 
Permits limited to 100 per day. On busy days, permits may run out early in the morning. Permits are not transferable.
Groups of 20 can get permits on Saturday and Sunday only. Groups of 30 can get permits Monday through Friday only. To protect the natural resource, no groups larger than 30 are allowed. 
Weather and water flow conditions can restrict gorge floor access.

The North Rim Trail (3/4 mile) starts at the Interpretive Center and you can view L’Eau d’Or Falls, Tempesta Falls, Hurricane Falls, and Oceana Falls along the way. If you were able to obtain a gorge permit, you will be doing a lot of rock climbing and jumping. Your shoes might get wet, but the gorge trail is well worth it! Wear a bathing suit because at the end of the Gorge trail, you can go swimming and sliding down a rock into the swimming area, which feels nice on a hot summer day.

To return to the Interpretive Center, you can walk back the way you came or continue onto the Sliding Rock Trail (a new trail that isn't on the hiking maps). WARNING::: Sliding Rock Trail is VERY strenuous!! You will be walking up a very steep incline, and may need to use your hands in some parts to climb. Bring plenty of water with you. Once you reach the top of the Sliding Rock Trail, you will follow the South Rim Trail back to the Interpretive Center. 

The whole hike (roundtrip) should take about 4 hours, longer if you decide to swim for a minute.

Amicalola Falls State Park and Lodge

Reservations (800) 864-7275
Lodge Reservations (800) 573-9656
Park (706) 265-4703


A great half day hike, of moderate level. The best trail to take if you want to hike along the creek to the bottom of the falls and then all the way to the top, is the Appalachian Approach Trail (blue blaze). It is the most scenic as well as the longest at 8.5 miles, including 604 stairs.


http://www.gastateparks.org/AmicalolaFalls

The beginning of the Appalachian Approach trail:

Walking along the creek at the bottom of the Appalachian Approach Trail:

View from bridge looking up at Amicalola:

View from bridge looking up at the falls:

View from the top of the falls: