Sunday, 25 September - On the Yangtze River

 [Larry:  So here we are on the Yangtze River, sitting in our room.  There is a definite roll going on but so far I'm OK.  We will see.  It is dark and about 9 min past midnight our time on Sunday and about the same after noon on Sat your time ( but you will catch up ).  I have been delving into the setup here.  It's Wifi, but you have to use their computer.  So this will mean no pictures  for now, and no direct update of the website. I will have to examine that. ]

A quick trip to the harbour, and then we gathered up all our stuff and hauled it down some steep wet concrete stairs ( without hand rails ) to the long gangway across a couple of barges to

the MV Emperor, our cruise ship.   

We were greeted by a loud and enthusiastic percussion band [ and decorated dragon, Chinese style ], then met our cruise guide, Gracie, and found our state rooms.  We quickly discovered our balconies and explored the ship, watching from the sundeck as we pulled out of the harbour and started downstream. 

Nice boat  so we'll be comfortable. [ our room is like a hotel room with bath, closet, desk (where I am now) and a nice private balcony outside hanging over the river.  We seem to be making at least 20 knots as the wind is considerable.] [ let me tell you that running a laptop in MS Windows Chinese version is no piece of cake.]

[Larry:  It is about 5am here Monday morning on the cruise ship Emperor tied up on the Yangtze River somewhere.  Easier sleeping tied up but we had enough alcohol last night to ensure good sleep anyway. ]          

Cruising down-river we can see the shoreline markings where the water will rise to in about 4 years.   

 Whole cities are being moved to higher ground and we can see that in process.  In one place a new bridge is being built to replace one that will not tolerate the higher water.  The river is full of garbage  -  it is interesting to note that shoes must be reliably buoyant because they are the most common identifiable objects  in the water.  It's damp and chilly, so we're all breaking out our warmer clothes.  We just hope it doesn't actuallly rain on any of our excursions.

The visit to the White Emperor City was very interesting, but there was so much racket from several Chinese guides simultaneous use of electronic megaphones that we could hardly hear our guide.  

We'll have to read up on those details later.  For now it's up a long slope from the river, so some of us went up by ski lift and some walked.  Larry and I chose the ski lift since even the steps at the bottom were frightening.  Lots of vendors, as usual.  Once the water rises it will be an island and a new bridge will attach it to the mainland.  We took a very rickety ferry to the landing and then back to the cruise ship  -- an experience in itself.  As soon as we got back we headed for the observation deck on the front of the ship to enjoy the passage through

the first gorge - the Qutang Gorge.  It was raining and very windy, but just amazing.      

[Larry:  it was certainly necessary to tie on your hat and put glasses in pocket to safely see it all but the weather didn't really take much away from the experience ]

 

We warmed up afterwards with a hall party - everyone got out their stocks of booze and goodies and we ate and drank, planning to skip dinner;  

 however, we were informed it was the Captain's formal welcome dinner and we MUST attend.  So attend we did!  The serving ladies were dolled up in traditional princess's outfits and

after dinner we took turns trying on the elaborate head-dress.   

The the hall party resumed until it was time to go to the variety show in the night club, put on by the crew.  

 

What a great show!  We had stage-side seats, so really enjoyed the singing and dancing - and the games!  

 

 

Dennis competed with 2 men from Hong Kong and Korea to see who could lay the most eggs - he was a close second - and Larry captured it on video.   

Then Naomi and M-E played musical chairs against a couple of Asian guys, with the twist of having to get a named object from the audience, and getting back to the stage. They were the last two in it and M-E won with one of my socks. ( don't tell her I'd been wearing them 2 days ).

Photos 25 Sep On the Yangtze River