Onward we go!

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Shanghai airport, the home of yummy choux pastry treats. So glad I put the Gluten on hold for a little while. After a two hour delay, we finally boarded for our flight to Yichang. The flight was full of American tourist. Very loud and very annoying. Bags as big as a child as carry on luggage.



On arrival, we were met with Kitty. Due to the late flight, we were unable to do our booked tours. A bit of a shame, particularly because we had changed our flights in Australia because our original flight was changed and was going to be too late. We should have stuck with what we had. Never mind! Kitty took us to a local supermarket where we were obviously a novelty. We enjoyed looking around at the weird and wonderful things they had for sale. Snacks that were not for the faint hearted. Dried fruit, fish, meat and lots of packaged fish to eat as a snack. We bought some wine for the river cruise and then headed through the local street to a restaurant.



There was enough food for twice as many people as we had in our party. There was rice, a type of mongolian lamb and sweet and sour chicken. Some very good green beans and bok choy too. Loads of it! We were completely stuffed, loaded back onto the bus and headed to another coach for the trip to catch the boat. Usually the boat left from Yichang city but at the moment (most of April) the lochs are not open to the cruise ships. They are open to cargo only as they are doing annual maintenance on them. That meant, another 1.5 hours in the coach.



Unfortunately we just missed the first bus at 6.30pm so had to wait till 8.00pm for the next coach. We got to look around a very modern shopping mall with a 'no name' Wall Mart that sold everything imaginable. After the world's sweetest coffee, we headed to our boat via a private road that is only accessible to permit holders. Very security minded for the sake of the dam. The actual dam is guarded by 10000 soldiers.



Eventually we arrived at the Victoria Anna boat. Our rooms are nice but not as big as the pictures implied. We had a look at upgrading to a suite, just to have a sticky beak but stayed where we were.



A very tiring day. Tomorrow starts at 6.30am…

Highlights

Sue - not missing the plane and the Choux Pastry. The supermarket experience with Kitty

Noelene - Taxi driver getting us to the airport in formula one style.

Sharon - Authentic Chinese supermarket



Judi - The supermarket and feeling a bit 'James Bond' as we passed the soldiers and guards who protect the road to the dam. There were so many cameras taking pictures as we drove along.

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