Our first impression
of the cruise. Just walk down these forty steps with no railings in the
dark with your carry-on luggage. Trust me, the boat is down there somewhere.
We spend the night in port (and sneak off with a group for a foot massage).
The next morning, we set sail. This is a five-star hotel that is under
construction; you can't tell the scope, but the head is about five stories
high.
The ghost city of Fengdu.
We saw bad translations everywhere we went. This was one of the worst.
Up we go.
If we cross this bridge together, it means we get to be together for
eternity and come back together in the next life.
The buildings in red represent heaven. The blue buildings represent hell.
A shot back to the ship. Note that there is an "old city" of
Fengdu on the lower right, which has been removed because it will be flooded
by the Three Gorges Project. The "new city" is on the bank on
the other side.
One of the demons guarding hell.
Betsy and Heather ride the cable car back down.
We saw this bridge in a book showing what it looked like before they
raised the water level sixty meters. It was a high flying bridge at that
time. Now that the water level is raised, it has to be dismantled and
rebuilt.
The scenery from the cruise ship was beautiful.
Misty Gorge is the second of the three gorges.
Goddess peak, representing Quin Yan, the goddess of mercy.
Here's a letdown. We are supposed to see the "hanging coffins"
of the Ba people from the ship. That hole in the middle is about 200 feet
up, and if you look real close, you can see a rectangular shape in the
hole. There it is.
More great scenery. These boats are like the African Queen: one cylinder
two-stoke engines with a flywheel to keep the engine moving.
We got some glimpses of these howler monkeys on the shore. We even saw
a troupe of them climbing the bank, but they blend in too well to get
a good picture.
One of the many little farming villages along the banks. Note the terraced
hillsides just like in South America.
