Fri
25th Jul - As
I mentioned in my last blog, I am booked on to a train to Chongqing
this evening, leaving at 19:22 (K544 Hard sleeper 166 Yuan).
Have most of
the day to relax and managed to get lots of bits sorted, such as
getting my photos backed up onto DVD (free of charge at this hostel)
and some posted on to the web. Went for a walk around the local park,
which has a fairground section and a nice pagoda. Surrounding the
park are a couple of roads where the massage shops are. The calls
from the girls as you pass make it pretty obvious that they are
offering more than just a 'massage'. Totally unexpected to see it
here.
Anyway,
carried on with the walk and picked up some fruit. A great choice and
high quality available..in fact more and better than I found where I
stayed in Beijing.
The usual
chaos at the train station and seem to be the only foreigner again,
but all went ok and the train left on time, due to arrive at
09:29...a long journey. This train is an older one than the previous
ones I used. Fully open births...probably reflects the price I paid!
A
reasonable night's sleep even though the activity started at 6am with
the first stop. Being the only english speaking person on the train
so it seems, no help from anyone as to what is going on, but you get
used to that. I had a rough idea that the train should arrive in
Chongqing at 09:29
and expect there to be a flurry of activity when we get there, so you
know you're in the right place.
All
I knew
is that a guy called John will meet me there to take me to the ferry
and get my ticket sorted. How wrong could I be! Well, not totally
wrong. The train stopped at a remote station called Shapingba
for what semed like 20 minutes and nobody getting on or off. A bit
puzzled, but anyhow, it moved eventually and pulled into Chongqing
station
at exactly 09:29. They were actually early and had to lose time. Very
good! And right in front of the exit was John, with my name on a
card. Wow...impressed! John as it turned out, is the proprietor of
the John's
Cozy Nest
hostel. This is on the 8th floor of the semi-posh river view
building. Marble floor entrance, but no signposts for his place at
all, so guessed it was new. A really nice place with free internet,
kitchen and super view of the incredibly brown Yangtse
river....looking like a river of milk chocolate. It was then that I
was told the arrangements for the day and the itinerary options,
which you could book with him. Would be collected by a guide sometime
after 6pm and taken to the boat, which sets sail at 9pm. The rest of
the day I could use the facilities and leave my stuff if I wanted to
around town. He was also very knowledgable and could sort any travel
out, so very useful arrangement. Just wished I had known what was
going on beforehand.
Went
walkabout for a few hours and thought that Chongqing had a good
atmosphere. You do hear mixed comments about it and I can understand
why. I took a route which went through the old town and thought it
was wonderful. A rabbit warren of quaint little alleyways that looks
like it hasn't changed in over a hundred years. Old guys playing
Mahjongg or card games....old ladies sitting in wicker chairs
watching the world go by. So full of character and seen so much in
their lives. Of course, as a westerner I drew a lot of attention and
they just stare as you pass...but smile at them and they
radiate...lovely! The kids will run out and touch you and the scurry
away giggling....really funny.
Carryin on
upwards and the city is built on a hill, and off to the markets. Some
of the strangest foods i've seen in a long time on offer. Had no idea
what some of it was...animal...vegetable...who knows? times like you
wish you had a guide to ask questions. Carrying further on upwards
and...bam...a modern skyward city centre with lots of big names
present...plus the omnipresent McDonalds and KFC, which are a part of
chinese life they would die without! It was such an amazing contrast
between the old and new, I was surprised. Thought I would try to find
a book to take on the ferry. Problem was that the only english
speaking person I could find directed me to a bookshop that didn't
sell any english books, so gave up and went back to the hostel for a
shower and freshen up.
Got
picked up as planned and walked to Dock No.3, where I was given my
ticket
(530 Yuan for 2nd class, 415 Yuan for 3rd class). A baggage scanner
as usual and then a furnicular cable car down to the ferry, which you
have to pay 2 Yuan for. No choice. On the ferry, which looked nothing
like the picture I had seen, the ticket was exchanged for a room key.
Sharing with a swedish guy, and subsequently two chinese also. A tiny
en-suite if you can call it that...squat toilet with shower directly
over it and all in the tiniest space. Then the fun starts....
Off for a look
around the boat that will be home for the next three nights. Con/
rip-off number 1....to go out on the viewing deck you have to pay 100
Yuan extra for a pass! The area of the viewing deck was slightly
bigger than the cabin ( well a bit bigger really), and in no way
could accommodate all of the passengers on the boat. The bar is
outside, so to use the bar you need to pay for the pass! Got you by
the whatsits!
The boat set
sail on time and it was only when you are away from the dockside that
you see Chongqing in all its glory. Wow...a bit like Shanghai with
all of its massive buildings in technicolour and flashing displays
plus tourist boats alight with colour. Dazzling and unexpected.
Grabbed my camera and shot out to take photos. The boat really picks
up some speed, so you don't get much time. Flew upstairs to deck 3
and of course, can't go outside without a pass. The cheeky sod of a
barman tried to stop me taking photos from the doorway...he got a bit
more than he bargained for, so left me alone!
Next up, I
asked when the restaurant was open for dinner. Not open
tonight...will open tomorrow night. So where was I when this vital
piece of information was given out? Probably the same place as
everyone else who was similarly flumoxed. I was directed to the
boat's shop, where you can buy pot noodles and snacks. So where is
the hot water then I asked....no english speaking of course, so
pointed back to reception. Now, when someone chinese speaks to you in
alien tongue (after giving you a pen and paper to write your question
down....ironic as it makes no difference to them), then there is only
one thing you can do...grab her by the hand and march her to the
shop, point to the pot noodle...make like you want to eat it and
march her out of the shop and motion her to show you to the water.
Happened to be in a dark corner in an alley down the side of the
boat. How the heck are you supposed to work this out? They do this
every day and they must be asked the same thing every day...but do
they learn and make it easy...no way! It does explain why so many
vendors were outside selling snacks...only the chinese knew why!
So i'm on a
ferry eating a 6 Yuan flamethrower pot noodle (put the whole sachet
of chilli in, thinking it would be ok....lips burning for some time
afterwards) for dinner outside the shop, with total anarchy going on
around me....kids running around like lunatics...tannoy splurting out
something that sounds like a cross beween Hal (2001 Space Odyssey
fame) and an escapee from a mental asylum on acid...can only happen
like this in China! And yet you may as well sit back and take it all
in by osmosis as you cannot change it... Just be amused by it. It is
going to be a long trip...a very long trip!
Regular
announcements from the escapee on the echoing tannoy...lettuce fung
yung chop suey....who knows...could be something important
like...we're sinking...all chinese people run for the lifeboats
before the foreigners find out that there aren't enough boats!
Or...now that the foreigners have eaten all of the pot noodles, the
restaurant is now open serving proper food for the chinese people.
Sat
26th Jul - The
two chinese guys who were sharing our cabin were replaced during the
evening by two chinese tour guides, one of whom could speak a little
english, a lovely chinese girl, Yang You, so that improved things.
Slept well although the aircon must rate as one of the noisiest, so
needed earplugs.
Not sure what
happened, but a day or so ago and for no apparent reason, I woke up
with this terrible pain in my right elbow that seems to be getting
worse. Had to take pain killers last night as I was in agony with it.
If it doesn't ease off, will have to get to a doctor soon, even
though I don't think there is much they could do.
Sun
27th Jul - The
boat pulled in early this morning by a place called Fengdu,
or as it is more commonly known 'Ghost city'. Sharing with two guides
who were up at 6am, which was not a good start. Had been told that it
wasn't worth seeing, so stayed on the boat and had a lay in whilst
most of the boat went ashore. At 8am went to get some breakfast to
find that it finished at 7:30. Would have been nice to know. Of
course the chinese would have known with the announcements over the
tannoy. An extra treat this morning at about 7:30 was the ship's
whistle...in fact it was a guy whistling into the tannoy system. He
occasionally ran out of breath so coughed into the microphone
instead! So, no breakfast then, and the shop was closed. Off the boat
to find something..yep, pot noodles again! Good for weight loss so
far!
As we had some
time to kill, thought it would be worth going ashore. In daylight
this boat looks like a prison ship, and the walkway to the land could
easily be imagined with a chain of convicts trudging across it. Now
know the name of this boat...the fuku all. A long climb up some
concrete steps to find an area selling disgusting looking noodly
things and prehistoric meat stuff with dodo eggs. Glad I had the pot
noodle! They actually had some great fruit, so bought nectarines and
chinese pears for later, when i'm sure the restaurant will be closed
for another reason. There isn't anywhere else to go from here in the
time allowed, as the pagoda and village are too far on foot, so
returned to the boat.
A
bit about the Yangtse (Chang Jiang in chinese)....
At 6,300km it is the third longest river in the world. It starts life
in Tibet in the Tanggula
Shan
and winds its way to the east China sea north of Shanghai. Once you
get away from the industrialized areas east of Chongqing, the scenery
opens up into beautiful hills flanking either side. The water colour
doesn't change much from liquid chocolate, with lots of flotsam
afloat. Large tankers ply the route, but it broadens out a lot so not
congested. The Yangtse carries around 70% of China's shipping. The
cabins have large windows, so it's nice to sit up in bed with an
attractive panoramic view.
The
Three Gorges Dam which is coming up later in the journey, is classed
as China's biggest engineering project
since building the Great Wall! It will be the world's largest
dam...very symbolic for China. It was completed in May 2006 and will
be flooded in 2009 to create an area the size of Singapore and wash
away the homes of upto 2 million people. It is being done to
transform an area into a major heartland and 185m high and 2km wide,
will have a hydro-electric production capacity equivalent to 18
nuclear power stations. When complete it will have cost an estimated
$75billion!
It does have
many issues surrounding it....
Vast numbers
of historical sites will vanish when I gets flooded. Some have been
saved o relocated
The dam will
slow down the flow of the Yangtse and some claim it will lead to
reduction in the natural process that dispels waste from the area,
making it one big sceptic tank
Numerous
species of wildlfe are being threatened
Most of all,
in 1999 over 100 cracks were found that are claimed to have been
repaired. A couple of major dam collapses elsewhere in China, taking
upto 230,000 lives, has lead to concern that if the same were to
happen with this dam, over half a million people would be killed
within an hour.
Lunch was an
interesting event. Started at 11:45 with an announcement in chinese
of course. Within seconds it was crammed with chinese and we were old
to wait 30 minutes, but that it was closed in 45 minutes. You don't
get long. I decided that there was no way I was waiting for the
leftovers and definitely not having pot noodles again, so stayed and
jumped on a space as soon as it appeared. A tray full for 20 Yuan and
a beer went down well. There wasn't much choice. Pork balls, tofu,
spinach, what looked and tastes liked boiled fat and rice. Joined by
a few other foreigners and another coincidence. Remember the guy I
met on the ferry from Japan that I subsequently bumped into at the
Forbidden palace in Beijing. I sat next to a guy who knew him also.
Small world innit? A nice bunch, so spent a while swapping stories,
making for a pleasant lunch. Out on deck for a bit, but it was too
hot to stay out, so back to the cabin.
Dinner was
another fun experience. Told the wrong time so got there when most of
it was gone. Had to then order something and fortunately there was
one person on hand with a little english. Of course they didn't
deliver what we thought we had ordered. Getting used to that. It was
a nice cool evening for a change so ideal to catch the breeze out on
deck.
Got
a break from the boat later when it pulled in for an hour or so to
visit the Zhangfei
temple (40 Yuan entry). They have covered it in red rope lights to
add attraction and there was a priest doing a sermon over the tannoy.
A majority of people didn't go in, but instead stocked up with food
from the very conveniently located shop. Plenty of souvenir stalls
which I thought had a rather amusing sales technique. In the middle
of their stuff, a photo of a naked chinese girl. I suppose they have
to draw attention to their stall somehow! It obviously works!
It looks as
though the area is having a makeover as trucks were working in the
dark creating what looks to be a tourist area. Masses of buildings
have been knocked down and the area is presently a bit of a mess.
Mon
28th Jul - Another
early call this morning for an optional visit to a place called the
'White King Town', chinese name Baidicheng. Didn't bother with this
visit as had been told it wasn't worth it, so had a lazy start.
Missed breakfast but went on land later to get something to eat at a
street stall. You always get the feeling that you are being charged
at least double what the locals would pay and that's after haggling
it down.
After
the
boat set off again, we soon passed through the first of the three
gorges, the
Qutang gorge.
At 8km long, it is the shortest and the narrowest as it goes down to
100m in parts. A superb journey through this dynamic landscape until
we reached Wushan, where we transfered to smaller boat (boat no.10)
for the 'Three Little Gorges' trip on the Daning river (230 Yuan).
This
boat was excellent and had a guide who didn't stop talking over her
microphone for the entire trip
(in chinese only of course). The Daning passes under a massive new
suspension bridge under construction, which was interesting to see it
from this perspective. It
was nice during this part to be able to talk to a number of chinese
students who spoke good english. They like to adopt english sounding
names as their chinese names can be hard for us to pronounce. If it
wasn't for them we would have had no idea as to what was going on, as
our own guide was sadly useless at telling us anything. The three
little gorges are Misty gorge, Emerald gorge and Dragon gate gorge.
At the latter stages we transferred to an even smaller rocky thatched
boat with a captain who entertained and sang in chinese. There had to
be a scam along the way....he came around handing out nice keyrings,
which everyone thought was a nice gift as part of the price. He came
around a second time wanting 10 Yuan each...Almost everyone gave them
back. One thing this area is known for is monkeys and you have to
look closely to see them as there aren't many. We saw two high up on
the rockface, and there was a mad scramble for photographs, so you
know where they are.
Another more
unusual sight are 'hanging coffins'. Located in the most improbable
positions in openings high in the rocks. Many have been relocated but
there are still some to be seen if you look close enough.
As from next
year this entire area will be flooded, there are regular markers on
the hills at the 175metre level, which is supposedly the maximum
level. Anything of significance has been moved above that level and
it is amazing the cost of that exercise, and to be seeing large
farming areas and communities that will be under water next year.
We
were given tickets (30 Yuan normally) for a visit to Dachang village,
which we didn't know about as it wasn't on the itinerary
(as I said, our guide tells us nothing). This is one of those old
villages that used to be lower down, but has been relocated higher up
as part of dam project and its people given new livelihoods so we
hear. Shuttle carts to village collect and return passengers from
ferry. Good job as it was extremely hot and no shade. Always plenty
of drink and food sellers to take advantage of it. First time I had
ever had a red date & Green bean ice cream. Unusual but nice.
The village
was interesting in a number of ways. Firstly, it is adjacent to a new
town complex for the relocated people and it isn't fully occupied
yet. The old village is divided up into separate units, most of which
are empty. Those that are occupied are souvenir shops and food shops,
which were offering totally different food to what I had seen
elsewhere. There was a nice temple which we were shown around.
Another
surprise came later when we were given tickets to a Cultural
show in Wushan in the evening (normally 30 Yuan entry) but included
in ferry price.
It was a bit
cheesy in parts, but entertaining with a storyline relating to the
community and how it is affcted by the dam project. The funny bit was
when two veiled 'brides' came on stage and two chinese volunteers
from the audience had to pretend to be grooms and sell themselves as
potential husbands. Very cheesy but funny.
The most funny
part though was the end. In normal theatre the cast comes on for the
curtain call and then leaves the stage after the applause. Not
here... As soon as the last part of the show had finished, a very
brief applause from the audience and then the cast applauded as the
audience got up and ran for the door as fast as they could (wanting
to be first on the return bus of course). The flumoxed looking cast
seemed to look disappointed as the hall emptied in seconds and they
were waving to peoples backs!
Tue
29th Jul - Woke
up at 5:45am for early sailing and entery into
Wu Gorge (Gorge
of witches) under a bright red suspension bridge that could be seen
from town last night. 40km in length with cliffs that rise 900m.
At
10am
the boat stopped at Quyuan
Temple, which is another one those that I had been told wasn't too
exciting. As the boat pulled in you could hear fire crackers and
drums, so went to see what was going on. In typical tradition it was
so brief that by the time we got out it had stopped and they threw a
cover over their drums and ran before I could even get my camera out.
Everything is fast pace...blink and you miss it. So enjoyed a look
around instead. On the platform alongside the boat they were making a
local sweet called Ingberlach.
Made from ginger and a crunchy texture that sticks in your teeth.
Plenty of free samples to try, and a bit sweet.
Another thing
which I had seen many times, was a clear sloppy jelly that is spooned
into a tub and you can add nuts and even chilli to it. Tried some (3
Yuan a cup) and it was boring so threw it away. Cannot see the
attraction as it is tasteless, but you have to try these things. Also
had some 'Milk Coffee tea'. A rather strange combination with a
flavour like Baileys liquer wihout the alcohol...nice.
Further along
the same platform is something else I heard about, the 'dragon
boats'. Long rowing boats with dragon heads on the front used as part
of a Quyuan memorial celebration.
After
setting
off for the last time, the journey goes through
Xiling
Gorge, which is 80km in length and fairly dramatic in the sheer faces
of the cliffs.
Throughout
this journey there have been numerous announcements that we have had
no idea the meaning of. One regular phrase that lept out at me
sounded exactly like 'Be careful young man', to the point that iit
made me chuckle every time I heard it. And it wasn't just me, the
other foreigners agreed on what it sounded like. It turns out that it
is the chinese for 'Dear Passengers'. Amusing innit?
At
1:30pm
we arrived in
Maoping and
got off the boat, complete with luggage and loaded on to buses for a
sightseeing tour of main Dam which I had paid for in Chongqing (135
Yuan). That bus takes about 40 minutes to get to the Three Gorges Dam
Passenger Centre, where we had to go through tight security with
baggage and body scans. Then loaded on to special ourist buses, that
do a circuit of sightseeing spots which are shown on the ticket. No
sooner had we left the bus centre than another military police stop
ran a scanner over the entire bus (a cross between a car speeding gun
and a water divining rod sweeping back and forth), and wouldn't let
us pass because of a problem. Back to the tourist centre and all of
us through the scanner again and on to a new bus, which passed
through security this time. This lost us some time as we only had a
set amount of time to get around the tour.
The
first stop is the highest
vantage point over the dam at a specially built centre, which has a
model of the whole dam, as well as souvenirs of course. There is a
high point at this location with a superb panoramic view. The stairs
up to it have a rather funny chinglish
sign to one side that reads...No climbing altar, no crowdingin
thunder stormy day. Any ideas? It sort of alludes to not squashing up
the steps when its been bad weather and might be slippy I guess?
At each stop
there is a bus stop to wait at for a bus to the next point on the
circuit. Had no idea how long any of this would take and had no guide
for help, so ended up running late but made it back for the bus ok.
The dam is massive and in some way doesn't reflect the figures you
hear. It seems smaller than expected, but no less impressive.
For ships that
have to scale the difference in levels between the two sides, there
are a sequence of massive locks that can cope with some seriously
large ships.
At
the end of the tour, back to meet our bus and then
an hour's drive to Yichang through some amazing scenery. Incredibly
long tunnels hewn through the mountains and deep ravines down to
narrow gorges, all very dramatic and in one place there is a chair
lift that looks to have an awesome view. At Yichang Passenger Service
Centre I transferred to another bus to Wuhan (4 to 5 hours and 110
Yuan). Initially there were no seats as chinese have the amazing
ability to teleport themselves from nowhere, to occupying every seat
on a bus in a couple of seconds. Took a bit of sorting out but
managed to get a seat. A few pit stops along the way and the roads
were fairly empty. Not much leg room to stretch out unless you have
short legs, so a bit uncomfortable for a long journey, although
significantly better than in some countries i've been to.
Arrived
in Wuhan at 10:30pm, but it is a big city and took a while to get to
the hostel on the east bank of the Yangtse river. On first pass it
seems a much nicer place than rumours suggested. Staying at the Wuhan
International Pathfinder Youth Hostel for 68 Yuan, which was easy
enough to find and a rabbit warren of interesting rooms.
Wed
30th Jul - Woke
up this morning with idea of trying to plan a route to Lhasa in Tibet
from here. The plan would work and could have booked it, if it wasn't
for the damned Tibet Travel Permit, which currently takes around 5
days. By the time I get there it would be time to leave, if I have to
exit China on the 11th August. There are scams that can be pulled but
organising it can be a pain. So, after a bit of deliberation decided
to go to Kunming instead. To make best use of my time, it seemed
better to take an internal flight. That is itself was a saga in lack
of spaces, but eventually booked one. So, a random change of plan and
now flying tomorrow evening. Got some accomodation booked for the
first night shortly afterwards at 'The Hump' hostel in the city
center.
That's about
it for now....
