dripping with passion

we stayed at the most amazing place during our time in magical yangshuo! we cannot recommend phoenix pagoda fonglou retreat highly enough – truly! the hotel, which really is a retreat in that it is totally a relaxing little haven among spectacular beauty, is located in the small village of fonglou about twenty minutes from the town of yangshuo. it’s a beautifully redone old farmhouse that is well thought out and full of charm. we loved feeling secluded but also having really easy access to the city center and the best hikes, biking trails and sights this amazing area has to offer. the facilities are perfect and the rooms are comfortable and beautiful without being too fancy (so rates are very affordable), which makes phoenix pagoda just the ideal spot for any visitor to yangshuo.   the vistas from the numerous decks around the property!!: we spent a lot of time chilling out on our room’s balcony which afforded absolutely amazing views day and night.   phoenix pagoda has a really d

{today i am posting from a layover in the rio de janeiro airport. we are thrilled to be back in the western hemisphere! hoping to get a tiny bit caught up during our time in buenos aires! you can follow along on our adventure in (almost) real time on instagram !} our first destination in mainland china was through the incredible karst landscape around the town of yangshuo in the south. my brother eli and sister shawni had visited this spot and we both really wanted to experience it after seeing their pictures! the dramatic and stunning scenery was even better in real life, and we had a really great time exploring this neat part of the world. after a flight to guilin and a taxi to our awesome hotel (more on that later), we headed straight down to the river for a bamboo raft ride. ^^ raft city! it was a pretty hilarious experience figuring out which boat “driver” to ride with! ^^   ^^ but we quickly realized we got the best guy as our guide. he was so lively and funny, and even let u