Monday 17 August 2015

Asian Adventure - Yangtze River Cruise - Day 2

Again we slept very well on the ship. I didn't wake early enough for early coffee, but the breakfast buffet was very good with pork sausages, eggs, and cabbage. 



I was bemused to see the fishing rods hanging out the back of our ship. Darryl said they might be catching the fish for dinner! 




Such a shame to see all the garbage floating on the river.
The early optional tour was also one we opted out of, but around 11am the ship entered Qutang Gorge. The gorge is 8km long and took about 20 minutes to pass through, and we were invited by Bob and Lee to view the passage from their private front deck. 



The gorge was quite spectacular, and we enjoyed it, but, unfortunately, my cap blew off and so I contributed to the pollution and flotsam in the Yangtze! 


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A buffet lunch was served, then just after 1pm we entered the Wu Gorge, and saw the Goddess Peak, which looks like a lady standing way up high. 


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Almost immediately our ship docked and we were transferred to smaller boats to go up the Goddess Stream, (a tributary of the Yangtze), which is a National Park. It was very picturesque, with lots of steep cliffs and interesting features, including a cave with a hanging coffin. On arrival, the 'platform/walkway' was made of huge plastic blocks, and we were entertained by local music and dance


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There was a little consternation, on the way back out, when our ship called our guide, and it sounded like our ship had departed, but we think there was some misunderstanding as it was back at the dock when we arrived. Tea and biscuits were served, and we then went back for showers. Darryl had a nap while I went up to the bar for a 'Shanghai Sunrise' cocktail, and to watch the scenery go by. 







Dinner was the Captain's Farewell Banquet, a sumptuous array of dishes which just kept coming and coming, followed by the Victoria Cruises Cabaret, when extremely talented staff entertained us. 










At 9:30 we started entering the lock and were invited to view the experience with Bob & Lee on their private forward balcony. It turned out there were two cruise ships in the lock. The first lock was at level (as it is Summer), but the second dropped 30m. Darryl went to bed, (he had the sneezes and was feeling hot) but us troopers soldiered on to watch it through to the end, with me seeming to remember that there were 3. The trouble was, that there were 5, and it seemed to go on and on, and it took a long time to empty the water each time. We went from 145m above sea level to 65m, and it was around 1:30am by the time it finished, and we were through. 










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