Yangtze River Cruising
My bus ride from Chengdu to Chongqing was long, however the Chinese woman beside me made things more interesting as she continually offered me snacks. I have no clue what I was eating! Some of it was pretty good, others, not so great. At one point she had given me a handful of some kind of snack and I was eating them slowly, as the taste was awful. So naturally, when we went through a very dark tunnel, I took the opportunity to put the rest in my pocket! However as soon as she saw my hand was empty, she gave me another handful!! There are times when basic Chinese would be so helpful…
As a city, I did not like Chongqing. The people were rude and it took me forever to find a taxi, even with the address written in Chinese. I was seriously loathing China while in Chongqing. I finally gave up and went to the cruise ship office, where I had been talked into a “better” cruise with English guides and all my food included.
Dragon Cruises’ MV Serenity was a pretty nice ship. The rooms were better than Carnival Cruises in America, although they lacked the extra facilities. There were no professional singers or dancers on board, instead the various wait staff put on the evening shows, which is still very entertaining.
Sailing down the Yangtze River and through the Three Gorges was breathtaking. Everything is so very green and pristine. It’s amazing to see how high in the mountains the locals have built their homes. The ones who chose such high ground were the smart ones though. Since the building of the damn, the water has risen quite a bit. By next year 1.3 million Chinese people will have to move as the river will rise another 25 meters.
A shore excursion down the Shennong River was an interesting look into the life of the local people. We climbed into “pea pod” type boats (I was more than a little nervous about such a small wooden boat), helmed by 4 trekkers and No. 1 Captain and there was another Captain (No. 2) in the back. These men rowed a boat with 25 passengers upstream, which was incredible. One boat had a trekker who was 85 years old!! Unbelievable! When we reached a shallow part of the river, the trekkers jumped out with ropes, and pulled the boat furter upstream. The sheer strength of these men was amazing.
In this region of the Yangtze River the Shennong River was 1 meter deep. Since the damn project begun in the Three Gorges, its pushed the water from the Yangtze into surrounding, smaller rivers. This year the Shennong rose to 15 meters, next year it’ll rise another 25. The village of Badong is being cleared out and the new city of Badong is being built.
The trip down the Yangtze is worth the money. If you can avoid visiting the Damn Project, do. I found that part very, very dull.
Tags: china, China, chongqing, three gorges dam, Travel, yangtze river, yichang
