Three Gorges River Cruise

On the morning I left Chengdu I woke up feeling so ill!! Not good!! Sean decided just before we were leaving that he was going to head to Tibet (so jealous I really want to go but cant afford it on this trip) so I was off on my own again! Caught a really nice bus to Chonqing and then a taxi to my hostel! A few taxi drivers wouldnt take me (dont think they knew where it was or probably didnt want a white devil in their car - theres quite a lot of racism out of the hostels) eventually found one that would take me! I didnt notice for a start that he hadnt put the meter on, when I did I suspected he was planning on ripping me off so had what I thought it should cost ready! To his credit he did drop me off in the right area but then tried to charge me 50yuan for what should not have cost more than 15!! We argued (not actually understanding each other!) and I gave him a 20. He became very aggressive to me and threatening so I ended up grabbing my rucksacks and running! As you can imagine this upset me and pissed me off, not least because it snapped one of the straps on my big pack trying to get away! I then proceeded to walk up and down this street for an hour getting hotter, tireder and more upset trying to find the hostel continually getting sent in opposite directions by the 'helpful' people I met! Eventually I found a policeman who actually walked me there (you've got to love them!)
Once in the hostel it became quickly apparent that I was not only the only Westerner there but also the only English speaker! It was miles out of town. The bathrooms only had squat toilets and feeling really ill on top of everything else was way too much so I checked out! I eventually managed to find a nice taxi driver and a nice hostel actually in town as well and was very happy to find lots of Westerners and Western toilets!! I stayed at the hostel a couple of nights just chilling, met loads of cool people and had nice DVD nights. Met mad Aussie bloke - Pete and we decided to do the Three Gorges River Cruise together (we were going on a Chinese boat so running the risk of no other Westerners!)
Once we got on the boat Pete and I were sharing a 6 bed dorm with a Chinese man and his son. With an ensuite bathroom it looked nice but unfortunately the toilet was a squat that doubled up as the shower drain! The ammonia smell was overwhelming! We had to pay to use the top deck but it was worth it not only for the fantastic views but also the amount of Chinese Tea we managed to drink whilst up there!
Our first stop was a very bleary eyed 6am heading to Fengdu - the ghost town. I had assumed it was somehwere that pople had had to move out of because of the rising waters. It turns out I couldnt be more wrong, the entire town had been built for tourists. One of the areas had numerous wax work models depicting gruesome but very laughable scenes. I joked to Pete that there would be a ghost train as the rooms got tackier and more and more absurd until - you guessed it! A GHOST TRAIN!! The funniest thing being it lasted less than 30 seconds just going round in a small circle! It was worth going for the hilarity factor but nothing else!
Our afternoon passed better sitting drinking tea and watching the fantastic views. The river is very dirty and I counted 100's of flip flops floating past. Our next stop was a temple that had been moved because of the rising waters. It was pretty enough but nothing special however in true Chinese (something isnt good enough as it is so lets add lots of lights and lots of noise) style it was covered in red neon lights!
The next day we actually started going through the gorges, they were stunning and beautiful and it is shocking to think they will shortly be covered by another 50m of water when the dam gets fully flooded. We took a smaller boat and then a tiny boat (holding 12ish) through the lesser three gorges seeing waterfalls and fabulous scenery. Was even very impressed to spot some monkies and goats. The only downside to the day being the Chinese tour guides who talk continuously through loud speakers!! That evening dining in the ships restaurant Pete spotted a cockroach. Instead of being grossed out by this I went and took a photo (it came out blurry) wonder when my standards got so low? Our final day started off by going on a Dragon Boat (complete with the obligatory paddling) to the start of one of the streams. We walked on a strange floating walkway and then up some stairs to go alongside the gorge wall. It was beautiful but possibly what was most incredible was the guys on the wire between the gorges very high up doing an acrobatic act on a bicycle. I think it was just a coincidence that they were there because nothing was said about them, the Chinese didnt seem to care as we were shepherded into seeing an awful Chinese play where as normal the sound settings were set way too high. I am not sure why they cant just take a beautiful place and recognise it for what it is without feeling they have to add something to it? The funniest thing of the play being Pete falling alseep!
Our final destination was the dam at Yichang. Fascinating, huge and controversial are the best things I can think of to describe it. We were not given too much of the history or reasons behinds its existence unfortunately but it does mean I dont bore you guys with facts. :-)
After the dam the plan was to get the bus to Wuhan and then an overnight train to Shanghai. The first part worked out brilliantly. In Wuhan Pate and I got a taxi that was to drop me off at the station and him to his hostel. I have to say our taxi driver set the precedent for all others to follow, he attempted to take the tunnel getting stuck in traffic a couple of hundred metres in. Despite having very limited rear view (due to the big taxi sign in the back window) he reversed on the hard shoulder past dozens of cars pulled a very dodgy u-turn and took the bridge instead. Very impressed.
Pete and I said bye (really gonna miss him) and he dropped me off at the station. I should be ending my blog here but unfortunately there were no tickets available to Shanghai until the following afternoon. The great news being the train I would take was only 5 hours long but leaving me with nowhere to stay and no hostels listed in the lonely planet. I vaguely knew where Pete was staying so set off with my rucksacks to find it. 2 hours later (and an emergency call to Jules for an address when I finally remembered the name of the hostel - thank you!!) I finally made it, Pete being very surprised to see me since he hadnt recieved my help me texts! A very long deserved shower, good food and a comfy bed later and I caught the train to Shanghai where I'll catch you up later on my adventures (if you're not all bored silly yet?)

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