Treking Through the Silver Cave

Today we are picking up back up with our vacation to Guilin and starting with Saturday morning.  When we woke up, we were met with enchanting, misty skies and rain rain rain.

Emma was taking it all in before we made our way down to breakfast.

And so were we. This was the exact same view as the night before.  Just crazy to think about.

We had heard that the rain made this area enchanting, magical, dramatic, mystical and while beautiful- not ideal when you are vacation and most activities are outdoors.

So we consulted with Lily again, and we decided we would explore the Silver Caves that were about twenty minutes away.  The drive there really was quite spectacular.  The fog and mist rolling in while the rain was beating down slow and steady.

We decided that it was in our best interest to hire a taxi driver that would just wait for us rather than getting a one way ride there and a one way ride back.  He was the same taxi driver that helped convince them to let Everly ride in the boat, so we knew we were in good hands.  It was quite the journey to get to the entrance- a walk to the entrance that was about half a mile.  We had the girls, our backpacks and we were trying to stay dry, but it was a losing battle.  We were drenched, but we eventually made it to the entrance ready to explore.

The cave was quite large with stalactites running throughout representing the typical Guilin landscape with all the karst hills.

There were colored lights everywhere lighting up the cave for us to see - enhancing the natural beauty of the cave.

Loved watching my tiny explorers - Everly really loved the cave, oooohhhing and ahhhhhing at every turn.

The colors made every turn seem fun and interesting.

The cave goes through 12 mountains, with shapes of pillars, towers, waterfalls and curtains spread throughout.

When she reaches for my hand, it is my favorite :).

I sure do love this girl!

I loved this giant rainbow wall.

Each area had a catchy name - this was called the Great Wall (can you see it?).

The reflection on the water was absolutely stunning.  I love the pictures where you can barely tell where the cave ends and the water begins.

This is where the Silver Caves get their name - this was sparkly and silvery and just beautiful (because of the mineral crystal in the rock).

And I tried to get a picture of the girls surrounded by all of the beauty.

#mamatried.

So I told them to do what they do best- twirl ;).

And they were off to the races.

Even stepping in front of each other to get their picture taken.

Ultimately giving me a few silly cheese faces!

We capped off our trip with a snack break and a souvenir heart rock.

I am not going to lie. Getting out of the cave was the worst.  We had lots of fun while we were in there. Going slow and at our own pace while staying dry.  But it dumps you out on a long stairway down where peddlers are shoving trinkets at your kids trying to get you to buy the junk (we all know how I feel about junk), through a smelly market and then back outside where it was still pouring buckets of rain.  We were never so happy to see our taxi driver by the time we got to our car!