Yangtze River

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Into Chongqing and onto the Jiang Chang

It is starting to feel like I am on one overnight train after another while travelling south from Beijing; however, it is so that I make my way onto the Yangtze, China’s longest river, notwithstanding having to bus first to Wanzhou for more hours, as well as money, than I would care to admit, or waste!

All in all, the cruise is only 'interesting at best', but if you take into account the weariness element, the money and the actual “awe-inspiring” scenes you encounter, it is a very average experience. It might indeed have been the Gorges to see before the dam was built what with the high peaked cliffs above and a narrow gorge below, but not any more. Like LP notes, some might be amazed but for me, like I suspect many others, come away truly scratching oiur heads about the whole experience. Indeed, there is some wonderful scenery, high mountains and green-blue waters; however, these scenes of nature are found always anywhere, most better than along the Yantze R., qv Li River.

A little disappointed with the wasted time, more than anything else, not to mention the waste of money. I now look for more beauty in Guilin and nearby Yangshuo. I still have to find a hostel for the 1 night in Wuhan after a bus from the city end of cruise in Yichang.

I have now had to endure, in China, the most days without Wi-Fi! And, because of this shortfall, I will once again run into accommodation problems. Let’s see how this unfolds?

Off the Boat’s bus, we manage to somehow get off close to the Pathfinder’s hostel, mostly by luck. I ask a Chinese man if he might knows the hostel location and chat, chat, chat and the bus driver says, ‘get off here’! What would we have done if this stroke of luck was missed.

We get off the bus (with my Turkish husband and wife friends, Galip and Ishan who I met on way to Chonqing) and arrange a quasi-taxi, Y50, to some guy who is looking to make a fast Yuan/buck. He knows the International Hostel, Pathfinders hostel; when we get there we find that, unfortunately, it is full and no chance of anything coming open for us. We run into a Dane I talked to on the Chinese boats; he booked ahead and he was just checking in ahead of us. The fellow we hire to taxi us agrees to take us to the Loft Hostel, which the Patherfinder staff manager says is close and nice and cheap, as they are apparently. Despite some difficultly finding the place, we arrive to find openings! I get a 4 dorm room but with nobody else there in the dorm. Wonderful for me! The place is a steal and well designed and decorated, in quite an artsy fashion. In fact, the area in which the hostel is located appears to be an art district in Wuhan. This place is not in LP but should be. Pathfinders is also nice, busy and packed with tourists and Loft is a nice alternative to the hub-ub of the younger crowd.

We, Galip and Ishan and I, spend time trying to book our next hostel and/or trains in the hostel common area. I manage to book myself clean to HKG, hostels and all. Now, nothing left to do. Just need to relax and enjoy Guilin and Yangshuo, the rice fields at Dragon Backbone near Guilin and possibly a bike ride, as well as run down the Li. River.

Close to midnight now, it is time to finish up.

In the room, I load a CBC podcast (no Wi-Fi in room) and shower.

(I don't think that there are many, if any, interesting pictures taken along this leg of the trip worthy of publishing.)

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