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Trek Begins
This is the marker which indicates the start of the trek.So we packed an overnight bag (left our main baggage behind at the hostel), and headed by bus to the Gorge. We started at noon - it was Jill and I, a Dutch couple, Dutch John, and English Rob. The Israeli couple dropped out due to a bad knee. The trek took us two days - 6 hours during the first day and 2 or 3 hours the next day. The only difficult portion was the middle 2 hours of the first day where we climbed the 28 bends.
Throughout the first four hours, there were these local men with mules escorting us...just waiting and waiting for one of us to drop so they could make some loot of off their mules. We preservered and enjoyed the amazing scenery along the way. This was a definite highlight for us. The first night we stayed at the appropriately named - Halfway House; it was a simple guesthouse but situated on the mountain overlooking the Gorge and the Yangzte River. The bathroom was made up of a couple of troughs which fed our exrement to the mountain-side (not very environmental) but the nice part of it was the view from the stalls;
the wall went only halfway up so you had a clear view of the Gorge while you were taking care of your business. The second night we stayed overnight at the finish line to unwind.
Over the past few days we have learned what a pigs says in different countries (of course, they say the same thing, we just interpret it differently):
USA, UK: Oink, Oink
Sweden: Nuff, Nuff
Netherlands: Knoor, Knoor
Japan: Boo, Boo (clearly the best)
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Jonathan
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Slow boat
Your beard hasn't grown in months, man. Thanks for the update (it's been a while). See you on the slow boat down the Mekong ... in ten days!!! - J