We were grouped with the couples from last night plus a German couple for breakfast. I actually feel sorry for the Germans as this will be our seating arrangement now for the rest of the trip. Luckily the people are very nice and very interesting. One couple, John and Margaret are from Chicago, both ex stand-up comedians and now working as film makers for a YouTube travel company. The other couple are from Tenterfield – Lawrie is an ex councillor and farmer who now imports solar inverters and solar-related equipment from China and Pam is a senior psychologist for Qld Health. I know nothing at this stage about the Germans, except they seem very nice.
After the usual boat safety talk, we were taken on a bus ride and tour of the Three Gorge Dam. Mick was more interested in this than I was. Suffice it to say it is HUGE and I think, unfinished.
There was a talk by the doctor (Dr Xu) on board about traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture after lunch. Mick was selected as the guinea pig and happily stripped down to his jeans so the doctor could work on his frozen shoulder while the rest of the passengers watched on. He ended up with a few spectacular bruises where the doctor had demonstrated “cupping”, but was impressed that his shoulder had freed up considerably. He found out later that the service would have cost him about $120US.
We attended the Captain’s welcome drinks before dinner and a show of different costumes. While Captain Fang was giving his welcome speech, almost 22 hours since we got on the boat, we actually started to move. Faster than 6 knots was Mick’s call. We have 600 Km to do over the next 3 days so he was possibly correct. It is a pity that most of this travelling is to be done during the night. We are to pass through two different gorges tomorrow and this is supposed to be breathtaking. Let’s hope the smog/fog has disappeared so we can see it.
Jane and Mick's Holiday Adventures 