Day 2 of the cruise

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OMG! The Easter bunny found me! Yay. The house keeping people thought we were mad with chocolate Easter eggs all over the floor. They had a good giggle.



Another early start! I thought I was on holidays… Up to the deck 5 for some morning Thai Chi before breakfast. The doctor of the ship runs Thai Chi in the morning for the passengers to join in if they wish. We thought that we would give it a go. Perhaps we weren't as graceful as our teacher but we enjoyed it nonetheless. I was surprised that it was actually more physical than I had expected.



After breakfast we were going on our excursion through the Wu Hu Gorge and then passed the enormous goddess peak. After traveling through the Gorge we got off the cruise and into little boats with a great lady called Yeoung Yeoung (Susan was her English name). We traveled on a small boat into a narrow stream where men called trackers used to pull boats across the narrow waters. The ropes that they used left tracks in the stones after all the years. Hence the name. They are no longer employed as trackers as the dam flooded the area and now they can easily get the boats though. There was meant to be some people in costume, singing for us at our destination, but unfortunately it was raining and the people didn't come down. Our lovely and funny guide sang for us instead. It was very pretty through the goddess stream so it was a shame that it was raining. She was part of the Tui Jai minority. (Two Jar)



Back on the boat, we traveled through what is called the Kui Door. it is the gateway to the Three Gorges. It is the picture on the 10 Yuan note. It was freezing outside watching the scenery but well worth it. Lots of photos taken. After lunch we traveled to the White Emperor City. This is the place that we all decided to give ourselves Chinese names. My name is Fluro Green Emperor Yeung Yeung! Judi is small lady run to be first Yeung Yeung! Sharon is 2 plates and 2 toilets Yeung Yeung and Noelene is Owl and Kitty Cat Yeung Yeung! I was wearing a fluro green scarf and the White Emperor whose temple we were visiting had just named himself emperor, so I thought I would nominate myself as the new emperor. Judi liked to beat people up the stairs so that's how she got her name, Sharon was always having seconds and going to the toilet just before we left to go anywhere. Noelene was the keeper of the kitty in an owl purse, hence her name. Sharon says that I have followers so all I need to do now is kill a few people and I will be an actual emperor.



There used to be a rock in this part of the river called 'Devil's rock'. It caused turbulence and Chairman Mao didn't like this when he traveled along the river so he had to blown up.



We walked to the temple from the bus. It was quite beautiful with several 'Chinglish" signs all over the grounds. They were so funny that I had to take a photo of them. Signs like 'Tiny grass is shyly smiling and would not like to be interrupted'.



For 80 Yuan you could get someone to carry you up in a sedan chair. Noelene pretended to use the bow and arrow. It was set up so that the we could see how the boats used to invade places covered in straw to keep them safe from the arrows. It was quite impressive. We had photo opportunities with the Kui Door (Qutang Gorge) in the background. There were poems etched into stone that we were in the handwriting of Chinese leaders, like Mao. There were statues that told the story of the emperor and his son who was a playboy. It dates back to 25 AD.



Many hanging coffins were relocated from the gorges so that when the river was flooded, they would be saved. One of the coffins were there on display. They also had a second burial hanging coffin. This is where the people were buried and then 9 years later they were dug up, the bones cleaned and stacked into a little box to put up on the cliff. They got them on the cliff by putting holes in the cliff wall and building like a scaffold up to the coffin's destination. Pretty remarkable really.



Straight back to the bar when we got back. for happy hour. Tonight's cocktail of choice was Pina Colada. Yum! Dinner soon came round, then back to the Yangtze lounge for the next entertainment section. Tonight we were entertained with a cultural show, displaying dances and the traditional dress of the minorities. Some lovely costumes and musical instruments as well as some singing.



Completely tired, bedtime arrived at last.



Highlights -

Noelene - The Peak of the immortals, near the Goddess Peaks

Sue - The scenery all along the Gorge

Judi - The Goddess stream and listening to Yeung Yeung's presentation



Sharon - Traveling along the Goddess stream on a little wooden boat.

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