Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
The following blog takes place between 9th June till 11th June and it it covers the events of the second overnight train, a brief stopover in the city of chongqibgbej and a short bus ride to the Yangtze River and the journey itself uptill yichangdong
Where we last left of was on the night train after leaving Yangshuo. Again the trip consisted of card games, drinks, reading( in Yangshuo for only 3 USD in cny I bought stieg larrsons the girl who played with fire which also interested the two swedes on my trip). Given the length time I wrote up the Yangshuo blog and read over 3 quarters of the book( it was 20 hours, what can you say :p)
This time we shared bunk beds with Asians and some of us were split up and it was the most crowded train journey this far. Following an early wake up at the crack of dawn we made it to the city of chongqingbej and we had to navigate out way to a nearby hotel in three taxis with drivers with little English, my basic guide to Chinese has been useful over the corse of the trip but in the end I used a hotel card in Chinese to explain to the driver. This was in addition to explaining the taxi ride and loading luggage to the two swedes show shared my taxi.( they speak enough English but some things were to long and complicated in English) the weather was raining down very hard I found muskeg having to use my rain coat( the only one in the group with a proper one). After making it to the hotel Charlie suggested a trip to see pandas at the chongqingbej zoo as we had a brief 4 hour window. I decided to go but no one else would as partly they were showering or recharging iPads, androids or no bothered. Chongqingbej was at thy point the biggest city I'd seen in mainland china but had the worst and longest traffic jams along the 30 minute journey to the zoo in the rain.
Strangely enough I ran into Reliabt Robin like 3 wheeled cars that were used as taxis( whether or not mr Bean,s rival from the tv series had a long last impact on the taxi system of china remains a mystery).
Due to the limited time I only had 10-15 mins in the zoo to photograph and watch 4 pandas who were eating and were outside their cages at 10 metres away from my position. Although not quite literally up ad close but the actually sight of a panda for the first time ever if was an adorable sight( fans if Kung ku panda may be disappointed that their eating habits outweigh the compulsory destiny to invest time in Kung fu)
And so I may the journey back and took in the rain sights of all the skyscrapers and bridges around that it made Gotham city and Hong Kong look second rate in my opinion. As I made it back I was sharing a too. With the 3 other travellers and my timing was perfect for a basic shower that resemble the showers on koh tao( a pipe). Then we stored the luggage down at the hotel lobby and Charlie took myself and the travellers and the swedes out for a traditional spicy Chinese street meal of rice chillies and dumplings( another addition to the list of delicious Chinese spicy dishes I've been accustomed to)
To my unexpected surprised we went to get our food from Carrefour, a French brand supermarket that existed even in Kuwait but I just as surprised as seeing tescos in Thailand even.
Following the collection of food for the bus we went back to the hotel and took a bus down to nearby the river and boarded a 3 hour bus trip to the pier where we would board the Yangtze River Victoria cruise. In the meantime our entertainment on the bus was a film which Chinese subtitles at the very front with low volume( within the first 5 seconds of the film I correctly guessed it be fast five) whilst I've made it an ambition to learn Chinese the films action set pieces distracted me and the volume was too low. The reminder rod the trip I involved very length discussions with the American gay couple to be married about the British vs America in singers, tastes, tv shows and the latest films and places stateside worth a visit. Along the way we had a pict stop in the rain at what can be describe as a fake water village similar to the one in the mission impossible 3 film which was set in part in shanghai. We even helped out selves to more delicious Chinese dumplings and revamping our travels in china this far.
It was night by the time we made it to the cruise we got on board and this time I was paired with Alex for a room but later as the shop set sail the penny dropped that two of the travellers had too high expectations of the trip and believed the Yangtze boat cruise would have multiple stops for people to get off and for 3 days '' according to the itinerary'' but it was one night, a full day ad a morning in chronological order. This heat discussion from the briefing was very hard because as a traveller nearly over 3 month in and them only one week in my philosophy nothing ever goes 100% according to plan or word unless by a miracle because for example my pick up at Hong Kong didnt pan out so I adapted to the situation on initiative and even the trip details about costs was misleading for me as inflation had made some activities more expensive and hence I had to cut back and adapt to my spending.
Not wanting to digress but this heated discussion expanded to the point that when the group was briefed later on further activities the inflation was soo high that 50/50 of the group wanted to find another way to the activities in Xiang,and from then remained more independent as of now from being on the tour as if they didn't sign up for a tour, on when Charlie had already booked a more expensive way that had a discount and this caused tension over attitudes especially when two people pointed out massive flaws and not liking Yangshuo and some of their point were valid but it got too much to the point that their negative energy formed grudges and a feeling of minimal repair t and it even affected me with memories of my unexpected experience in koh tao and how I left behind unfinished business and the feeling of ring so far away from friends and family's and mostly people my age when the travellers where so close with their chemistry as friends that often I was excluded from lots of banter and conversations. The others were too old and not the type of crowd I could join in but despite these unspoken truths a few drinks and alone time on the cruise balcony calmed things down.
Returning to the first night on the boat the idea on the tour was to see the 3 gorges and the 3 gorges dam( the biggest dam in the world!).
According to Charlie all cruise ships give wake up calls of ten minutes of music through loudspeakers at 6.30 for people signed up with a different tour to leave the boat for sites along the way.( according to Charlie one time the titanic music was used much to the amusement and worry of another group before ours)
This event was very very annoying as out group wasn't doing the same tour and the previous night myself and the travellers had been playing Chinese card games and drinking till late. However this bad start we forgot web we saw on the deck the first of the 3 gorges through an 8km gap and saw amazing scenery that made me wonder if JJ R Tolkien or George R R Martin ever made a visit to china for inspiration.
Following this sight we briefly docked at a nearby town and explored the surroundings and in a random chain of vents we had two Chinese teenagers following us in what can be described as a tuk tuk with four pedals used in the front and back seats to move it. Out of just the fun of being followed a asked for pictures by the Chinese they kindly offered I drive 6 of us around( the travellers ad the swedes) and it was very very funny and quite an experience as lots of Chinese locals drove past waving and taking pictures until in a more random situation a Chinese man was following us and taking pictures until we pulled over and somehow we all needed up in his car with him driving us 20 mins out of the town to a mountainside to get a fantastic landscape view of the town and the sea. Through using our boarding cards and my basic Chinese book we got him to return us to our pier and wanted pics with us and we posed together. In picture and being their its much funnier at the time then on paper.
Later in the afternoon Charlie taught majiange, another Chinese card game that was very intense( especially with the local Chinese beer) then we were treated to the second gorge and sunset, a truly jaw dropping montage of sights from mountain formations to the clear skies.
Later on we had a very nice Chinese meal buffet together and then were briefed about Xian, our next stop. After this what was a pre drinks and brief card games before a karaoke night at the cruise bar expanded to take up most of the evening to the early hours of the morning with Charlie and the swede included.
A few hours later it was time for us to depart when we reached the mainland yichang city. We took a public bus and Charlie kidney persuaded the driver to take a to the best place to get pictures of the three gorges dam and this we saved a large amount of cash from taking pictures from a limited scope at a small space nearby the dam.
Then an hour later on the bus we made it to the train station and stored out luggage and spent four hours at a nearby mall to shop for food from Walmart( another hidden surprise in the Chinese market- especially if you're American)and watch the 3d Star Trek sequel( I had seen the film in IMAX in Bangkok with fast and furious six but the Chinese love IMAX an cinema and the tickets were very very cheap in contrast to the UK. Plus the cinema system is a very fascinating topic in china which I may discuss in a blog about what to do in china in the future. Following this episode we made it to the station, collected our luggage and boarded a 17 hour night train to Xian.
The Yangtze River and the whole lat we days overall have been very amazing that I feel china may be a place to explore further one day as according to Charlie out 3 weeks is ''only'' 10 percent of china and we've learnt so much about the cultures, the affect of earthquakes, the inflation and the constant on the roll attitude and passion for spicy foods.
As we speak nearly over a week has passed since the tour began and as STA sort out the refund for me, time has gone by very very slowly it feels like I've been in china for a longer time. But now time is picking up very fat as the night train pushes on. Koh tao I still miss and an still haunted by how nearly a whole year has passed since I completed a levels and very soon uni will begin. As with any pre uni individual thoughts about what you've been through do make you think about what is gaping in the moment and what will happen when the moment ends. But I am happy for the future and will dearly miss my gap year from the achievements, insights uni possible futures and personal discoveries abroad. However the trip isn't over yet until its over so I happily await Xian, shanghai and Beijing.
Keep up the reading! :D
- comments