We boarded the President Number 1 from Chongqing. After a lengthy discussion regarding how 'disappointed' we were with our cabin, soon realised, no cash, no upgrade. Amy, the our river guide/hard-arse negotiator did not budge and accused me of bartering as if I were 'in the market'. I told I that I 'learnt everything I know from the Chinese' and stormed off. Doh, bad start. Bring on the buffet. Adam and I looked like true travellers as we returned from the buffet with a 6 foot high plate full - yummmm, bread. We set sail in the middle of the night. At first the scenery was more urban and industrial (like everywhere else in we had seen in China.) It was not until the second day we entered the first of many beautiful gorges. We took an excursion to Shennong Stream. Here the locals not only paddle their baggy y-fronts off, but as the stream shallows, they get out and drag the boats upstream. Ohh, I felt dreadful sitting there like lady-muck. They sang local folk songs and it was all very jolly. One of the toothless boatmen gave me a pebble from the river bed.
One thing of note from the cruise was the absolutely terrible cabaret. So bad, it was not even funny. The poor staff adorned grass skirts and attempted the hula, and that was just the opening. Thank goodness for our new best friends. Gary livened things up by challenging the Ozzie Saga holiday posse to a karaoke sing-off. Most amusing, big hangover followed. Missed thai-chi on the top deck at 6.30am which was probably a good thing as the previous day I had made a complete plonker of myself. The stick thin thai-chi instructor started his routine and I tried desperately to follow. I was tripping over my feet, facing the wrong way etc. My performance was enjoyed by the Chinese passengers no end. When I eventually asked the guy to slow down, he said 'this is demonstration, lesson starts soon.' I could have died. Do not under estimate the complexity of this exercise.
If you are interested in the Three Gorges Dam, see Filby's blog. He has alllllll the details, yawn. It is actually quite interesting really.
More Xi'an and onto Chongqing, 21st August
Above: Wedding dress shopping in Chongqing. Ummm!
Above: Tea ceremony at heritage site in Xi'an. Naturally I was very happy and loved all the teas.
Above: You may have heard of feet binding, a tradition only outlawed in the 20th century. You can appreciate how severe the deformity of this practice when you see the size of an adult female porcelain shoe. Owwch. This was not an act of beauty but a sure way to guarantee that wives and concubines could not do a runner!
Above: From Xi'an we took a day trip to Hua Shan, one of Taoism's five sacred mountains. Sadly we were in cloud so did not enjoy the best of views. We opted for the three hour, sweaty route up. The first 4km were easy going, but after that it was all steep stairs to the North Peak. Filby kept mentioning that it would be good exercise for my 'wedding butt.' It was great to be in the open air, in relative peace. However, when we reached the top we found the 5,000 Chinese people that had sensibly taken the cable car.
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