The Cruise

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The Victoria VII was one of the Yangtze's better cruise ships, complete with TV, ensuite, smart chandelier bejewelled lobby and glossy strobed dancefloor. After all our travelling we were pleased to remain unpacked for 4 nights and spend some time relaxing.

This boat was to take us through the famous 3 gorges landscape. Now the home of the world's most productive dam, this land is slowly sinking under the water, expected to be fully submerged in 3 years. At least half of the investment in this project is being spent on resettling the inhabitants of the area, including the wildlife. We were to learn this and many more interesting facts and statistics on our excursion to the dam.

On our first night, before the ship set sail, we ventured ashore to a very dodgy local 'restaurant'. While the food was questionable, we found the experience just as amusing as the locals found us, struggling to eat the food.

Aboard the ship for the remaining stay, all meals were included, and the in-cabin tannoy barked reminders for these amongst other events, in Chinese, followed by English. Before long, Louise had conformed to the regime, climbing zombie-like out of her slumber one afternoon to the crackling sound of '...ladies and a gentlemen, please make your way to deck 5 for a beautiful view of gorge 3...'. We Played a lot of cards on the boat including advanced european rules Uno (madcap) as the magificent scenery rolled past us.

In the evenings, we spent our time drinking crap chinese beer in the bar amongst our new friends, and dominating the karaoke, much to the chagrin of the bar-staff and chinese guests. We were also treated to a fashion show, cabaret, and 'cocktail party' by the boat's versatile team. All these events were, in true cruise ship fashion, 'as ropey as the riggings'. The cabaret was the best though. Not so much for its 'mesmerising' magic show, as for David's magnificent victory in the Victoria VII musical chairs competition. David will treasure his "unforgettable prize" forever, as a momento of the occasion.

Aside from the dam, we also visited the Ghost City (gimmicky yet gruesome), and took a man-powered boat-trip through one of the soon-to-be-destroyed villages.

"...ladies and a gentlemen. This blog is now approaching Xian. Please make your way to the next entry immediately..."

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Photos

The Dynasty dining room
'...ladies and a gentlemen. Breakfest is a ready. Please a make your way to the Dynasty dining room...'

Lala's Shwats
This man had real trouble pronouncing 'n' and 'or' sounds so we tried to teach him to say 'Nana's shorts'! No amount of practice seemed to help.

The dam dam
This amusing sign was the most interesting photo we took on this boring excursion. (Sorry Dam lovers)