We woke to the sound of the traditional Chinese music that precedes the wake up call on our cruise. We got ready and walked to the buffet for a filling breakfast. It was there that our tour guide, Stony, who informed us that we had arrived at Yichang in the Hubei province. We were told that after checking out of the cruise, we would be getting a scenic tour of the expansive Three Gorges Dam. We boarded a tour bus and proceeded towards the tourism centre of the dam. After going through security, we then traveled to the base of a mountain, where we laid eyes onto a model of the Three Gorges project. After this intriguing exhibit, we then adventured to the top of the mountain and we were treated to an exquisite panorama of the entire Three Gorges project. The lush greenery contrasted the massive man made structure of the dam.
After this invigorating experience, we all got on the bus for a long ride to the Yichang train station, where we boarded a high speed bullet train. During this trip of approximately two hours, we entertained ourselves by making small talk, playing numerous card games and eating lunch in a packed container.
We then arrived at Wuhan which isone of the largest cities in central China with a population in excess of 8 million. From the train station we took a bus directly to the airport, where we caught a 4:10 pm flight to Guiyang on China Southern Airlines.
In just over an hour, we arrived at Guiyang, the capital of the Guizhou province, a city with a population of approximately 4.7 million. We met another tour guide for the next few days named Song. We then proceeded directly towards dinner which consisted of many local delicacies including glutinous rice. After dinner, we had our last trip of the day to our hotel for the night to have a peaceful nights rest for a 6:30 am start for the next day.
Josh O and James S
