Vacation from Vacation
So the cruise down the Yangtze River was really just a joy, despite the fact that the scenary was clearly the worse for the filling of the Three Gorges Dam (which is currently about 2/3 full).
It started out inauspiciously; we showed up in Chongqing (where the cruises start) at about 1pm, and immediately went to work on getting tickets. We could not, however, find anybody who would actually sell us tickets for that evening. In fact, we had the phone number for the company we ended up using, and the travel agents just plain refused to call it. But, after a few hours of running around in the heat with our baggage, we succeeded...but then were taken to the wrong dock...but then, then we finally showed up on the boat grouchily.
The boat we took was fancy fancy for China...and everthing on it was US run--and US　prices which took us some time to adjust to (25 yuan for a beer!! (=$3)). But it really was a haven from the maddness of the wild. We'd gotten so stressed out running around the countryside, that being able to just sit around and eat comfort food was perfect. It was also amusing to be a sheep in the guided tours for once on the shore excursions...maddeningly slow but yet so easy and relaxing.
In the end, one of the problems we have is that almost everybody in China we interact with is an uncultured peasant trying to sell us something (by screaming HELLOO in our faces) or sitting next to us on a bus. About the only people we talk to who are decent are hotel and restaurant staff. So I'd been dying for a touch of class, reactionary capitalist that I am; class was a victim of class warfare. Thus it was pretty nice to sit on a riverboat and drink some beer in the lounge while the river slides by.
As always, someday I'll share the pictures.
It started out inauspiciously; we showed up in Chongqing (where the cruises start) at about 1pm, and immediately went to work on getting tickets. We could not, however, find anybody who would actually sell us tickets for that evening. In fact, we had the phone number for the company we ended up using, and the travel agents just plain refused to call it. But, after a few hours of running around in the heat with our baggage, we succeeded...but then were taken to the wrong dock...but then, then we finally showed up on the boat grouchily.
The boat we took was fancy fancy for China...and everthing on it was US run--and US　prices which took us some time to adjust to (25 yuan for a beer!! (=$3)). But it really was a haven from the maddness of the wild. We'd gotten so stressed out running around the countryside, that being able to just sit around and eat comfort food was perfect. It was also amusing to be a sheep in the guided tours for once on the shore excursions...maddeningly slow but yet so easy and relaxing.
In the end, one of the problems we have is that almost everybody in China we interact with is an uncultured peasant trying to sell us something (by screaming HELLOO in our faces) or sitting next to us on a bus. About the only people we talk to who are decent are hotel and restaurant staff. So I'd been dying for a touch of class, reactionary capitalist that I am; class was a victim of class warfare. Thus it was pretty nice to sit on a riverboat and drink some beer in the lounge while the river slides by.
As always, someday I'll share the pictures.
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