 |
| Good work God |
WHERE: THREE GORGES YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE, travelling through Sichuan and Hubei provinces
WHERE (less detailed): the People’s Republic of China
 |
| before the 3 Gorges Dam the river was 90 metres lower |
WEATHER: surprisingly warm. Not shorts and t-shirt but some clear sunshiney days for lounging on the top deck, no shuffle board though.
TEMPERATURE: as we weren’t able to get internet connection on the boat I can only guess at around 17-19. Warmer than London I hope.
 |
| stick with me and I’ll show you the world |
FOOD IS: good, best of all it came with English translation so we finally knew what we were eating. The Chinese are the fastest eaters ever and everyone wants to be the first one in the line. Dinner would be served at 6pm and by 6.20pm we would be the only ones in the dining hall.
A BEER COSTS: Rhaani’s happy hour glass of beer costs £2.20!
LOCALS: absolutely clueless to personal space and running the Indians’ a close second for appalling table manners. Mouth wide open as they slurp another mouthful of noodles. In addition I forget the number of times I had someone try and walk through me. After getting my food at the buffet I would turn around and be blocked off by three Chinamen who refused to move despite me having absolutely nowhere else to go..... our fellow cruisers were 80 per cent Beijing Chinese tourists and 20 per cent retired Nothern British pensioners. It was like Last of the Summer Wine on location.
 |
| puts things into perspective |
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS: Rhaani’s nerves are put through the wringer when, with the ship departing in just over an hour Paul announces he’s not prepared to pay the on-board price of £3 for a can of coke and high-tails it to the town’s only western supermarket to buy 27p 500ml bottles of Pepsi Max, x 5.... our initial joy at the high quality of our cabin - it had its own balcony, sliding double glazed doors and en-suite – was soon replaced by despair when the boat left the harbour and the room started to shake like a powerplate/paint mixing machine - a situation that continued throughout the entire cruise. Our chances of getting a good sleep plummeted on discovering that our mattresses consisted of a single cotton sheet pulled over industrial springs. It was like trying to sleep on an oven grill....
 |
| Rhaani relaxes after a hard days pap |
.... our first meal on the boat. Despite the appearance of “Gruel” on the buffet it was quite edible especially after we added the Heinz Tomato sauce, St Dalfour Strawberry Jam and the Muesli we managed to find in the western supermarket .... Rhaani’s delight at being able to understand our first English speaking guide on our shore excursions.... a misty Day 1 with poor visibility has us worried that we might just have signed up for a three-day sight-seeing tour of fog...Paul leaves Rhaani on the viewing deck of the ship and comes back to find her in the midst of a pap-attack...
 |
| Things don’t look too good |
...our joy at waking the next day to a clear blue sky...our awe-inspiring daytrip to the lesser 3-gorges.... Our bewilderment as our guide shows us pictures of how much better the gorges looked before the water level rose 300ft while telling us how horrible it was before because large soul-less commercial boats like ours couldn’t travel along it....Rhaani’s hypnotised by the most coiffed hair in China...
 |
| look into my coif |
...safe in the knowledge that the Chinese people sharing our dinner table can’t speak English Paul repeatedly insults the fat ugly Chinese kid who steals all the food. At the end of our final meal his mother walks passed and says to Paul “I hope you enjoy your time in China, it was nice to meet you”...having the worst beer shots with some of the politest Chinese drunks ever....X-factor China style, on the final night the ship’s crew puts on a talent show and sing their heart out. One useless receptionist should actually give up the day job and aim for the stars....first night - Captain’s welcome dinner, second night - Captain’s farewell dinner....
 |
| running out of scenery related captions |
TRAVELLERS TIT-BIT: over 1.5million Chinese were forced out of their homes by the creation of the 3-Gorges Dam. The building of the 1.5mile long dam raised the river level by 90m flooding countless villages. The official party line is that these residents, mainly farmers, “sacrificed their homes” to move as far away as Shanghai (over 1000miles away) so that the 3-Gorges dam could be built. On the plus side the government did issue the people a collective medal which can be found in the Chongqing Museum
 |
| more beautiful scenery |
THE CHINESE EAT WHAT?: Blueberry flavoured potato crisps. Another gallant effort to make it easier to meet your 5-a-day fruit quota.
 |
| some things just don’t work |
MOST RECENTLY LOST: our chain that locks our bags together
UP NEXT: Xian (pronounced Shi-an as we are constantly corrected), home to the fantastically-awesome Terracotta Warriors.
No comments:
Post a Comment