Friday, 22 Sep 2017 (Continued) – As
soon as we landed in Chongqing, it was apparent that everyone in the group was
already over most of the effects of the high altitude. Sally was able to
pull her carry-on luggage from the arrival gate to baggage claim, which was
quite a distance. We were then transferred to the Viking Emerald Cruise
Ship by coach, which took about an hour through very heavy traffic.
Chongqing is a very large city with a population of 32 million and can be
described with 4-h’s: Hot, Humid, Hazy, and Hilly. Before exiting
the coach, Jane warned us about the “farmers” that would be waiting for us when
we unloaded the bus. They use heavy wooden poles with ropes on each end
to carry your luggage. Once you allow one of them to touch your luggage,
you’ll owe them about 40 CNY ($6.00 USD) for carrying it. We walked quite
a distance to the cruise ship, about 50 meters, according to Jane, with our
carry-on bags. Another couple (John and Karen from upper state New York)
helped Sally with her luggage, going down a steep incline and then up stairs.
We boarded the Viking Emerald at about
8:45 PM. Immediately, we met for dinner
in the restaurant, where we were served a delicious meal of soup, salmon and
vegetables, and cheesecake for dessert - the first meal in several days that
our group felt like eating. Also, the cruise director gave us an overview
of the cruise. During the overview, it was confirmed that China blocks
access to Facebook, Google, and blogs (or ours, anyway). Our cabin was
very roomy, with a king-size bed, love seat, desk, and sufficient storage
space. The only thing lacking was a refrigerator. (Jesse had
planned to save three delicious Burger King chicken sandwiches left over from
lunch, which we ended up throwing in the trash.) We both enjoyed a great
night of sleep for a change!
Long before this point of our China
trip, we realized that we had taken far too much luggage. We tend to
always take the same items (including two laptops), and also over pack even for
longer cruises. This time, two large suitcases, two carry-on bags, and
two laptops were ridiculous. As for our laptops, although we usually go
online, this trip afforded little opportunity, and connection was sometimes a
problem.
Saturday, 23 Sep 2017 – We went to
breakfast at 9:00 AM and ate our fill of oatmeal, blueberries, pancakes,
omelets, etc. Yogurt was made onboard the ship and served in glass
containers with fruit (such as blueberries) on top. Fruit was always
plentiful, including a delicious white fruit with tiny black seeds, called
“dragon fruit.” (Pitaya is its correct name.)
At 9:30 AM, we stood outside our cabin
for the mandatory lifeboat drill. The life vests were different from
those on the ocean liners. Jackie, who was in the next cabin, helped
Jesse with his vest, while the cabin steward assisted Sally. Sally
finished unpacking just in time for lunch, while Jesse napped. Jesse had
been fighting a cold, but had finally lost the battle. (Many in our group
had colds, one frequent effect of high altitude.) Jesse had two soups and two desserts for
lunch; Sally had soup, salad, and ice cream with chocolate sauce. We sat
with Jackie and Domingo (from Virginia Beach), a Scottish couple, and a couple
from Vancouver. That afternoon, we were scheduled to go ashore in
Shibaozhai for a walking tour to the Shibaozhai Temple, but we opted to stay
onboard so Jesse could finish unpacking. Besides, neither of us was up to
tackling the stairway to visit the 12-story pavilion and adjacent hilltop
temple. Although the air along the Yangtze was very humid and foggy, we
had a nice view of the city from our window until another ship parked a few
feet from ours. It was so close that we could easily have climbed over
the railing for a visit. Our new neighbors weren’t very friendly,
however, and when we waved to them, they only ignored us. The air was so
damp on the Yangtze that dehumidifiers lined the hallways. (Although it was wonderful for Sally’s Sjögren’s
dryness,
the few items that Jesse washed out never completely dried!) At 7:00 PM, we enjoyed a Chinese-style
dinner. We ordered wonton soup and mango pudding for dessert, and tried
several Chinese dishes that had been placed on the table’s lazy Suzan. At
10:00 PM, we went to Deck 6 and danced to live music for a little while, along
with a few other couples. Due to the late hour and Sally’s being tired,
we were back in our cabin by 10:30 PM.
Sunday, 24 Sep
2017 – This day, we would be sailing though the Three Gorges.
 |
| Qutang Gorge |
At 7:15 AM,
we joined other passengers on Deck 6 to enjoy the spectacular views of the
Qutang Gorge and the commentary by the river guide, Elliot. Then after
breakfast, we returned to Deck 6 for the Wu Gorge transit. This time, we
wore much warmer clothing, since we had almost frozen during our first visit to
Deck 6. At 10:15 AM, we disembarked the ship, and after walking quite a
distance, we boarded a 20-passenger sampan for a leisurely excursion up a
breathtaking Yangtze tributary. Several rules for visitors were posted on
an electronic sign, two of which got our attention: “No spitting” and “No
spitting urine!” (Sometimes we could see that translation of Chinese to
English didn’t come out as intended – this was only one example!) In sampan #62, we sat near the front.
The boat sailed up a tributary and then turned around and sailed back. Divided
into three groups, passengers were given 8 minutes each to sit in the open area
at the rear of the ship. Sally eagerly took advantage of her 8 minutes,
complaining privately to Jesse that her group was shorted time, while Jesse
stayed in his inside seat, mostly napping! At lunch, we enjoyed
interesting conversation with Jackie and Domingo, and Michael and Deborah
(from Vancouver, Canada). We napped the rest of the
afternoon. At 7:00 PM, we shared our dinner table with Deborah and
Michael, and Jerry and Sherry (from Naperville, IL). We both ordered
soup, filet of sole, and dessert. Sally also ordered a spinach salad
after seeing how delicious it looked. At 10:00 PM, we went to Deck 6 and
danced for a little while before retiring.
Monday, 25 Sep 2017 – We sat our clocks
for 6:45 AM, and after breakfast we
 |
| Three Gorges Dam |
arked and boarded our coach for our
Three Gorges Dam shore excursion. A local guide accompanied us to the
dam. At the welcome center, our guide used a large 3-D floor map to help
with her presentation of the history, construction, and operation of the
dam. We then took a series of long escalators to the area located at
dam-top level. After a tour of the area, the guide gave us free time to
explore the area on our own. Sally took every opportunity to sit.
Since we had to walk back down to sea level, the return trip to the welcome center
was a little more difficult; at least the slope was all downhill and not very
steep. On our way back to the ship, the coach stopped at a local
pharmacy, where several people in our group purchased cold medications.
(Based on previous experiences, we had brought along an adequate supply of cold
and other medications for our trip – for everything except high-altitude
sickness, which we had not expected.) By 11:15 AM we were back on board
the river boat. At lunch, we sat with John and Karen, and Rob and Marcia
(from the Philadelphia area). Rob and Marcia had taken high altitude drug
in Lhasa, which had been leftover from their trip to Machu Picchu, when they
had stayed in a hotel at a high altitude. Once back in our cabin, we
noticed through our window that we had begun our trip through the dam
locks. We had a great view of everything from our balcony, so Jesse
watched for the entire 40 minutes or so. Since Sally did not feel well
enough to dance (she had caught Jesse’s cold), we retired after dinner.
Tuesday, 26 Sep 2017 – Although our
tour group was scheduled to visit a Viking River Cruises School in Jingzhou,
China, Sally did not feel well enough to participate and we opted out. We
hurried to breakfast at 9:00 AM, and were the only guests in the
restaurant. After our usual oatmeal, omelet, etc., we returned to our
cabin. Sally napped until lunch, and then continued to stay in bed all
afternoon. At dinner we sat with Jackie and Domingo, and Orn and Gudlaug
(from Iceland), who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. The staff sang to the anniversary couple and
brought them a cake, which we shared. Again, we skipped the dancing tonight
and retired after dinner.
Wednesday, 27 Sep 2017 – Since Sally
was still miserable with a cold, we opted out of the tours again. We ate
breakfast a little earlier, 8:45 AM this time, but were still the only guests
in the dining room. On our way to the dining room, we ran into some of
our tour group who were disembarking at 9:00 AM for a shore excursion to the
Hubei Museum & Bells Performance in Wuhan, China. Sally slept the
rest of the morning. At lunch, we sat with Jackie and Domingo, and
Deborah and Michael. Although there was a walking tour of Jianham Road at
2:00 PM, we didn’t go. This is a pedestrian street of shopping for local
people. At dinner, we sat with Don and Susan (from Santa Rosa, CA), and
Emmanuel and Danielle (from Jose, CA, but originally from the Czech Republic).
Before retiring, we set our check-in luggage outside our cabin.
Thursday, 28 Sep 2017 - We went to
breakfast, finished our packing, disembarked our ship, and boarded our coach at
8:30 AM for transport to the airport. It was quite a distance to our
coach – down several stairs, then up a long incline – all in the rain.
Jane insisted on pulling Sally’s carry-on luggage, but she still arrived at the
coach well ahead of us. Along the way, we stopped at a tower where eight
passengers got off for a tour but, of course, we stayed on the coach.
Most of the passengers from our tour group were not seated together on the
plane, but Rob traded seats with Jesse (an aisle for a middle seat!) so we
could sit together. (By then, most of the others had noticed that we
always sat together!) Afterwards,
however, the man in the aisle seat next to Rob was moved up to first class, so
Rob ended up with an aisle seat after all! We were given a box lunch but,
again, we were served lunch during the 1.25 hour flight to Shanghai. After
landing, we were transported to the Fairmont Peace Hotel by coach. A
local guide, “Sha Sha,” joined us on the bus. She would be with us for
both days in Shanghai. The historical hotel was first opened in 1929 and was
very elaborate. At dinner, we sat at tables for eight and enjoyed soup,
Australian tenderloin, and dessert.
All of the hotels where we stayed in
China were fairly luxurious, but the Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai would
take the prize for luxury. Here, the large bathroom contained two sinks
(though we both used one out of habit!); a deep, old-fashioned bathtub with
claw feet; a handicapped equipped shower; a toilet behind a glass door; and a
small flat-screen TV over the bathtub. Various electrical switches were
always beside the bed, some of which it took some time for us to figure
out. One usually controlled night lights which lit the floor dimly in the
bedroom and bathroom. Another usually controlled a light on the wall
outside the room in the hallway, indicating if service was required replacing
the traditional sign hung on the doorknob. Since most of our stops were
in classy hotels or restaurants, or in airports, modern Western toilets were
usually available. Only twice on this trip were Chinese floor toilets the
only alternative.
