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After leaving the monastery we have the tedium of a 7.5 hour bus journey to Quinchong, where we will start our Yangtze River cruise. None of us are looking forward to bus journey, not just because of the length, but also because on previous buses some of the passengers frequently spat loudly out of the window.
At first we are feeling smug with ourselves, because we have managed to get the front seats which should ensure that we'll have a good view. Also, the spitting we feared does not take place as this is one of the big modern air-conditioned coaches in which the windows do not open. Unfortunately, the journey is still a trying experience because the bus driver and his assistant have an almost incessant converstaion that is as frantic as it is loud. It is difficult to believe that two people can have a conversation for as long as they do, seemly without pausing for breath. At the same time, the driver is a keen beliver in the Chinese use of the horn, which is used to convey the following information to other road users and passengers alike.
1. I intend to overtake.
2. I am
in the process of overtaking.
3. I have finished overtaking.
4. Although you are in the other lane, I am going to overtake you, so don't pull out.
5. We are about to have a head on collison. I am a coach, you are a car. You do the maths.
6. Get out of the way.
7. Would you like to board the coach?
8. Please re-board the coach. I am about to leave.
9. I haven't beeped the horn for a while.
10. Hey! It's my mate. Hello!
...and so on.
Needless to say between the babble and the tooting our patience starts to wear thin. After what seems like an age we eventually arrive in Quinchong, are meet by our local guide Harry and board a public bus (thankfully only for a five minute journey) to the docks.
We have some spare time before our boat sails, so we visit the Carrefour supermarket where Nic endures a torrid time. Firstly, she has her legs sprayed by a Chinese woman who sneezes as she walks past. To add insult to injury the woman is sitting below a sign that reads 'Please don't spread germs'. Next is
a 25 minute wait at the non-customer service desk as she tries to exchange some wrong size tee-shirts she bought at the Carrefour in Cheng Du. Finally, she has the misfortune to be covered in fish guts when a fishmonger drops a sizeable fish on the floor. Needless to say she is keen to return to the boat for a shower and to wash her trousers.
After this, Gavin and I decide to go for a haircut. None of the staff speak English, so I show the girl my passport photo to give an example of what my usual haircut is. This is a waste of time, as she is the person who washes hair. She does have a good laugh at the picture and we also get a free head massage and ear wash (!) into the bargain. The hairdressers do a pretty good job for 20 yuan each (one pound thirty pence) and even drag a guy off the street to translate for us when it comes to the question of how short we would like the back and sides. Happy with the end result we return to the boat, which sails at 8pm.
It is
immediately apparent that the Yangtze is a very busy shipping lane. There are always several ships in front and behind ours, a mixture of industrial and tourist traffic. The pilots seem skilled at avoiding each other and at night also keep searchlights trained on the land at either side to avoid running ashore.
After a briefing on what we will be doing for the next few days on the cruise, we get stuck into some beer and kareoke, at which I give a shocking rendition of Hotel California without the words on the screen.
The boat docks during the night. The next morning, Rob and Anne (the Aussies) go for a walk and almost miss the sailing after re-boarding by chance. This was not their fault as there was no indication of what time the boat would be leaving. That afternoon while the boat is docked we take up the offer of a trip to the Green Dragon waterfall, which at 150m wide and 64.5m high is the biggest in Asia. In the evening Harry teaches us to play Mah Jong, which is a confusing game to set up but easy to play. Incidentally, the proper version is
Drenched!
After walking behind the waterfall. not the thing most people have played on their computers, it's more like dominoes crossed with the card game jin rummie. As a group, we embark on a bit of a drinking session, which continues on deck after the first class lounge closes.
The next morning, we pass through the first of the three gorges. This takes about half an hour, and there are markers on the sides indicating 176m above sea level where the river will rise once the Yichang Dam is complete. In the afternoon we board a smaller boat which goes on an afternoon cruise through the three 'lesser' gorges, which although not as big as their counterparts are just as pleasant. There are several stops at little market ports, where the stall owners try the usual trick of saying 'Hello, hello, hello' in a high pitched voice while indicating something on their stall that they think you would like to buy.
We re-board for our final night on the boat and rise at 6am to see the second of the three big gorges. This is much longer than the first one and is more scenic. The sight of the sun rising between the sides
of the gorge is certainly worth getting up for. We pack our bags before temporarily leaving the boat to partake in 'dragon boat' racing, which basically involves our tour party piling into a canoe, grabbing a paddle each and trying to beat another boat in a race. Our race starts before we are level on the start line and we have to make up two boat lengths. We just about manage this and although the other boat crosses the line first, we are awarded the win.
We depart the boat at Yichang and are taken by bus to the Dam site, which has been constructed in the third gorge. When finished, the dam will be the largest in the world and will provide huge amounts of hydroelectrically generated power to satisfy the ever growing demand. It will also raise the level of the Yangtze river significantly and therefore has required about 1.1 million people to be relocated as their old homes will be under the water line. Our guide, Gerry, although full of facts and figures, tells the official propagada success story of the dam that seems too good to be true and even dismisses rumours of cracks in
the concrete as irrelevent because they are just on the surface.
We return to our hotel in Yichang and go out for an evening meal. The following afternoon we board our overnight train to Yangshuo.
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Zoe
non-member comment
Wow !
Fantastic ! I love your travel blog and like the fact I am alerted when there is a new one ! It's great to get something that gives me belly laughs on my computer...! (maybe that sentence should have been re arranged ...!) The photos are brilliant tho I wish that I hadn't pressed' full image ' on the horrible fried chickens ....! What is a hacky sac ? ... have I missed something .... ? Zoe