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Published: October 31st 2013
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Vi wakes up with a bad cold. And it turns out that 4 other people have bad gastro-intestinal distress. After breakfast, we attend a presentation called "Country Side to River Wide" given by Luther, the same guy who gave yesterday's presentation on the Yangzi. Luther was born and raised on a small rural subsistence farm, but studied hard, went to college in Chungqing to study hospitality, and now is an assistant cruise director. He tells us the story of his life, explains the customs of his people, and highlights the contrasts between traditional life in the village and modern life in the big city, complete with pictures and videos. Very interesting and enlightening.
Vi retires to our room to sleep and I spend the rest of the morning trying desperately to catch up with the blog. There's an optional excursion to White Emperor City that I pass on. A little bit of drama transpires when the excursion group returns to the ship, however. Someone from another cruise boat has managed to board our ship by mistake, and this is only discovered after the two ships have sailed. The result is that both ships have to return to the pier and
deliver the relieved passenger to the correct boat.
In late morning, the ship passes through Qutang Gorge, the first of the three gorges. The weather is quite dreary and overcast, but we are still able to enjoy the dramatic sheer cliffs thrusting up from the water to the mountains. it is sobering to think that before the rise in water level, these vertical slabs of rock were even more awe-inspiring. Noteworthy is the scenic cliff at a turn in the river featured on the back of the 10¥ note.
After our buffet lunch, the Jenna enters the second gorge, the Wu Gorge. If anything, visibility is now worse and a light rain is falling, but we dutifully try to catch site of the many jagged peaks that characterize this section of the river.
The excursion scheduled for mid-afternoon has to be altered, as the wayward passenger saga has put us behind schedule. Instead of a trip up the Shenong Stream, we stop instead at Wushan to explore the so-called Lesser Gorges on the Daning River and the Mini Gorges on the Madu River. For the first leg, we board small river boats that accommodate about 100 people.
Our knowledgable guide shows us before and after pictures of the area to illustrate how it has changed because of the dam. In fact, we would not be taking this excursion in the "before" world, because the river was too shallow for boats of this kind.
Wushan itself is a very ancient town that existed in the same spot for over 3 thousand years until being moved in 2003 to escape the rising waters. The cliffs are beautiful, multi-coloured with intriguing patterns and striations. There are mysterious caves that residents have used for refuge in times of war, including WW II. In places you can see stalactites dangling from overhangs. In the "Misty Gorge," we can see a 2-thousand-year-old coffin suspended in a nook, left there by the ancient Ba people.
At the junction with the smaller Madu river, we transfer to sampans that seat no more than a dozen people. We power up the river, ribbons of mist hanging in the air. It's a bit reminscent of Heart of Darkness. Our native host helps us dress in native costumes and play-act pushing the boat with a pole as in olden times, then entertains us with a native song.
We retrace our route, sampan to river boat to cruise ship, enjoying the ever-changing scenery. Vi buys some local longevity tea from the small shop on the river boat, reputed to cure almost anything that ails you.
Back on the ship, we have supper (steak!) and then enjoy an enthusiastic cabaret show featuring crew members and a couple of passengers. And to bed at a much more reasonable hour, let me assure you.
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