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We woke up at around 6 a.m. The boat was chugging away, going very slowly, so it felt a bit jerky. We looked out the window and saw towering karst surrounding us. Vegetation started about 10-15 feet up due to water level fluctuation. There was no internet connectivity this morning, of course, now that I really needed it to contact Wang Jun to try to arrange a new battery charger. We passed a barge and saw a guy in his skivvies heading into the bathroom. Tee hee!
We went to breakfast (scrambled eggs sausage, bacon, coffee, and green apple juice). Birgit and Stephan skipped breakfast this morning but we chatted with Jang, Yung, and Brian. At 8:15, we all met in the lobby for today's excursion. We disembarked in Qing Shi (in Wu Gorge) and our local guide Mary led us across other boats to get to the dock. We walked a short distance to a fleet of small boats with yellow tile roofs. Our small group included Birgit, Stephan, Jang, Yung, Brian, and Myra. We sat inside as the little boat took us through the scenic gorges of the Goddess Stream, a tributary of the Yangtze. The scenery was quite beautiful, but the weather was hazy. I had realized last night that my battery charger for my good camera was broken (and had been for a while, apparently, as the batteries I had been recharging were all dead), so today I needed to resort to my inferior backup camera. Unfortunately, the weather made the lighting very unfavorable for this lesser camera, and the photos don't really do the scenery justice. But we were very thankful that we had brought the old camera, so we were still able to capture our adventures. (And later, Birgit would share her wonderful professional photos from the cruise with us, for which we are very grateful!) The scenery was amazing, and we enjoyed visiting with Birgit and Stephan while taking in the beauty of it all. We passed through narrow limestone gorges. You could tell the maximum water level by the height at which the vegetation grew. We saw a cave high up on Shangsheng Peak. This was a tomb of the Ba people, which contained a hanging coffin which was 2-3,000 years old (of course it had been looted)... The boat ride felt like a Disney ride, as our adorable little yellow-tile-roofed boats made up a little convoy through the picturesque gorge. But it wasn't a ride, the boats were not on a track (as was evidenced when our motor briefly stopped working.) We stopped at a dock made from interlocking plastic containers. The local guides did some siinging and played the flte, and led the guests in some dancing. It was a bit challenging since the whole surface was undulating under your feet! Then we boarded our boat again. This time we sat outside at the stern with Birgit and Stephan. We got to the end of the tributary and all of the little boats did U-turns. We retraced our route back to the ship, chatting happily the whole way. Back on the Victoria Jenna, we sailed through Wu Gorge, the second of the three gorges. Once again, the sky was hazy and photos came out disappointingly. But the weather was warm and we enjoyed being on the observation deck with the other passengers, listening to the commentary of river guide Steven and enjoying the beautiful scenery. The water was a pretty shade of turquoise. We passed farms with terraced rice fields on the steep mountain slopes. Silhouettes of monasteries could be seen up on the peaks. As we emerged from the gorge, we passed under a modern bridge and approached a "village" where some of the people displaced by the flooding of the gorge for the dam project had been relocated. Only in China would a city of a million people be referred to as a village! As we exited the gorge, we went upstairs to lunch, where we enjoyed baked potato soup, tuna pasta salad, fried Chinese noodles, and rice pudding. After lunch, we went with Birgit and Stephan to the Yangtze River Three Gorges lecture by Steven the river guide. The Yangtze (officially the Changjiang or "Long River"), is the third longest river in the world. The name "Yangtze" was coined when some local sycophant told foreigners during the opium war period that it was named after Noble ("Tze") Emperor Yang. It stuck with the missionaries and merchants from abroad, and that is how it has been known internationally as "Yangtze" since then. 400 million people live on the river. Before the dam was built, the river had a very strong current and many rocks making navigation difficult in the gorges. In order to get non-motorized boats upstream, men would literally pull them upstream. These men were naked, due to the fear of getting arthritis from wet clothing. Motorized boats would use winches to get upstream. He told us about the local Ba people, who would build hanging coffins like we had seen up in the cliffs at the Goddess Stream this morning. These coffins would be in a manmade cave or on two poles sticking out from the cliff face. As a naturalist, Steven also touched upon the environmental impact of the dam. Although it provides efficient electricity and prevents disastrous flooding, there is also a cost in terms of wildlife. Chinese sturgeon, who have lived in this area for 200 million years, were blocked by the dam. The Baiji (white-finned) dolphin ared very sensitive to engine noise. They may be extinct. Since 2003, none have ever been able to be located via sonar. The finless porpoise population is down to 1,000. It was a sobering end to the lecture. Next, we sat at the bow of the boat to watch the scenery as we passed through Qutang Gorge (the final of the three gorges). We listened to commentary by the ship's other river guide, Amy. The wind was really howling through the gorge! It took about 30 minutes to pass through. It was one of the most picturesque areas of the river so far, and reminded us a lot of Yosemite valley. Looking back as we passed out of the gorge, we could see the view of the so-called Kui Gate that is pictured on the back of the Chinese 10 yuan note. The thing that surprised us most about the Three Gorges area was that the gorges are much more narrow than we had envisioned. Craig had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Lee, who thinks that the acupuncture was not effective for Craig's symptoms. However, he thinks that the herbal pills were effective, so he advised Craig to continue taking them. He said that he found Craig's condition to be very interesting, and that if we were in the area lnger, he would invite us to his house to study him and would treat him for free. At 4 p.m., we went for tea and pecan sandies in the lounge. We had once again decided to skip the optional formal shore excursion to Baidicheng, but we did go ashore on our own in Fengjie to explore for a little while. The late-afternoon sun was now shining and the sky was blue. The dock connects with a ghat-like structure which slopes from the town to the water. There is a long flight of stairs going the entire way. Since the water level can vary, there are also modular escalators which move horizontally and vertically so that they can can be arrangedc to reach the dock no matter how high the water is. We hadn't seen anything like it. We climbed up the stairs and walked through a small indoor shopping plaza before emerging outside in front of colorful building which appeared to be a temple. It was flanked by larger than life statues of what appeared to be Chinese philosophers. We walked along the crenolated city walls. The long rays of the sun cast playful shadows on the walkways, and colorful flags fluttered in the breeze. We walked to the 7-story octagonal White Pagoda, which was beautifully perched like a lighthouse above the river. We chatted with some locals and made friends with some of their adorable little children. We talked to Myra, our fellow passenger who had also gotten some treatments from Dr. Lee. We browse some of the shops near the docks. I bought myself a stone Buddha necklace for 25 yuan (Wang Jun would later inform me that it's a god of mercy, and that it is usually worn by men. Oops). We then bought 6 x 1.5 liter water bottles, a 6-pack of Tsing Tao beer, and one large bottle of beer for a grand total of 58 yuan! Yes!! What a deal! We would not need to think about water for the remainder of the cruise! The woman who sold us the drinks was being helped by her adorable young daughter. The water bottles were 4 yuan each, and she punched "2+2" into the calculator to show us the price. how cute!! We tried to take one of the funky escalators back down to the dock, but when I touched the rubber handrail, I received a small shock. Questionable electricity + river water = take the stairs back down. We got back onto the boat with backpacks loaded with refreshment. Our self-guided personal shore excursion was quite enjoyable. We took showers and then went to dinner: delicious spicy rabbit, cheesy potatoes, pork stir fry, lotus roots, bean curd, pork cutlet, and bread pudding. We chatted with our tablemates. At twilight, we passed underneath a picturesque bridge. We also passed the twinkling lights of a small city. Birgit and Stephan asked if we wanted to join them to watch the Crew Cabaret. A staff member that they had befriended named Lulu was being featured in the performance, and they had promised her that they would attend. We were happy to go with them. The show itself was kind of corny, but it ended on a very strong note with Steven the river guide performing Sichuan opera face-changing. We had never seen it before, and it was very impressive! It got us excited for the Sichuan Opera which we would see in Chengdu in a few days. The crew ended their cabaret by bringing audience members onstage to dance. None of our group wanted to participate, but I am always game. I went up with Lulu. Then the crew and audience members danced to the macarena and YMCA. I definitely hadn't seen this one coming! If only our Bhutanese "son" Sonam Tshering could see me now (I had taught him the electric slide 9 years ago at a festival in Bhutan). After the performance, we had drinks with Birgit and Stephan on the observation deck. There were very few passengers up there, and we enjoyed looking up at the stars as we sailed along the mighty river. The weather was cool and pleasant, and everything was so peaceful! We chatted until 11:30, and then retired to our cabins. I wrote in the journal and then we went to bed. |
 Small boat ride down the Goddess Stream (photo courtesy of Birgit Kolboe)  Small boat ride down the Goddess Stream (photo courtesy of Birgit Kolboe)  Small boat ride down the Goddess Stream (photo courtesy of Birgit Kolboe)  Stephan and Birgit  Barge passing through Wu Gorge (Photo courtesy of Birgit Kolboe)  City wall and white pagoda at Fengjie  Fengjie  White Pagoda at Fengjie  Fengjie  Sunset from the boat (Photo courtesy of Birgit Kolboe) 
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