Cruising the Yangtze

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Beginning in the foothills of the Himalayas and running across the width of the country to the South China Sea beyond Shanghai, the Yangtze river is phenomenal. It is the third largest river in the world, and reportedly has the most bridges spanning it's waters. Its three gorges are one of the biggest attractions in China and the completion of the enormous Three Gorges Dam in 2008 broke many records. Sadly most were negative ones. But enough of the superlatives, first we had to get there.

Chongqing is the starting point for the very popular three day cruises along possibly the most spectacular section of this mighty river. Passing through three huge gorges on either a luxury western cruise ship or the more modest Chinese version.

When we arrived on the hilly city (as Chongqing is sometimes known) it was late afternoon and we took a public bus down to the Quay in hope of sorting a cruise out as soon as possible. The next few hours of trundelling around proved fruitless and tiring. Soon it was dark, we hadn't got any accomodation sorted and it wasn't likely we'd be on a boat this evening. Now feeling pretty exhausted, still carrying our heavy rucksacks we walked dejected and rejected from one closed guesthouse to the next. The phrase "Where are we going to stay?" did pass my lips I admit. Finally, at the top of a towering flight of steps we stumbled into the Sunrise Ming Lou guesthouse. The last two beds available were in a steaming hot six bed dorm and they were more expensive than our deluxe double in Leshan, but by this point we were past caring and so gratefully accepted.
Sneaking downstairs and rousing the night-watchman at 2am to watch England vs Algeria was a bit inconvenient, and with a mediocre performance again we tiptoed back to bed disappointed.

In the daylight the dockside looked more approachable and with our minds and bodies refreshed we made an informed decision on our choice of boat. We chose a Chinese vessel and opted for head class (the best) it was tough to part with the relatively large sum of money but in comparison with the price of a standard western cabin it was peanuts.

As food wasn't provided on board we had to go shopping and the classic French supermarket 'Carrefour' around the corner provided the goods. Walking the 2km to the dock with two 20kg rucksacks, 8 beer bottles, 4ltrs of water, 1 big bag of food, I bottle of wine and a digereedoo was far from easy...But we made it...Just.

Thankfully our fears about prison cell rooms infested with rats were proved wrong, although the initial view of the ship did look decidedly rusty. On closer inspection we realised it was just the docking platform, our ship was sitting pretty just behind it. Swaying under the weight of our excess baggage we stumbled into our cabin and were very pleasantly surprised. We had a spacious double bed, en-suite bathroom, flatscreen tv, a private balcony and to Lewi's immense relief...a fridge for those labour intensive beers. All the hard work was worth it, we took our worn out bodies onto our balcony and watched the bright lights of Chongqing disappear into the evening mist as we chugged slowly down river.

We were lulled into a lovely sleep by the vibrations of the engine and the roll of the boat. So, at 6am when the sightseeing began and all passengers hurried off in the rain on their temple trips we felt extra glad we'd only chosen one extra outing to participate in. We enjoyed a lie-in and relaxed into the tranquil atmosphere of the Yangtze. I don't think we left our quarters, apart from collecting boiled water to make tea! It felt really great to know that; we didn't have to rush and catch a bus, and no-one was going to harass us over room charges, there would be no lugging of heavy rucksacks, just pure rest and stunning scenery for three days.

Reading, writing, eating, and drinking cold beer was the extent of our activities, which all took place on the balcony. We watched as the industrial towns and factories gradually gave way to little villages and surrounding farmland. Before we knew it it was getting dark and the first day of our cruise was over.

Awake early this morning we were greeted with the dramatic sights of the first of the three gorges. We craned our necks staring up at sheer cliffs as we motored through the relatively narrow passage way. Before the Dam existed the gorge was thinner and towered higher but with the now swollen water levels it is apparently less impressive. Not to us though. After the trekking we did in Yunnan along the Tiger Leaping Gorge it was interesting to compare looking up through such a gorge rather than peering down into it.

At about 1pm we left our cosy cabin and ventured off on an excursion to 'The Lesser Three Gorges' at Wushan. This involved taking two consecutively smaller boats which twisted and turned through the spectacular emerald waters of a tributary whose gorges, although smaller, seemed to be more stunning than their larger cousin. The only downside of this trip was the continuous, extremely loud commentary from the headset-clad guide at the front of the boat. Her voice and it's reverberations got to be so annoying I put earplugs in!

Back on the big boat in the murky waters we continued our journey into Wu Gorge. The vegetation covering the cliff faces swept all the way to the waterside and it's velvety appearance was just gorgeous. We even caught a glimpse of Goddess peak before moving indoors for pot-noodles, glasses of 'Great Wall' red wine and dark chocolate. An excellent nutritious dinner.

Although we felt that the gorges were very beautiful, and we really enjoyed the relaxing nature of the cruise it was also sad to see the effects of the Dam on the Yangtze: Farmland and old houses deserted, their residents forced into concrete characterless houses; muddy waters; less wildlife; and the significantly higher depths, which when there are severe rains instantly flood. The Dam gates hold so much water that if they were compromised the whole of the nearby town of Wuhan would be submersed. It's a monster construction trying to harness the power of the even mightier Yangtze, aiming to provide energy for the ever expanding population of China.

With these thoughts in my head and bags back upon our backs we caught three consecutive buses for a total of 20 hours, bound for Shanghai.

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Comments

[jeanette]

would you recommend a boat cruise
Hi, I read your blog , we are planning a trip in May and am undecided about doing a cruise or spending time seeing another area perhaps, would you say it is a definite trip to do in China or would recommend seeing something else instead.