day 26~28

Day 26– FIRST BOAT RIDE~~

Hello people~!!!!
So we went to the 3 gorges during the weekends~!!!
The journey was about 6 hours from our university.
Yes. Its very long.
Slept through out~!
once we reached our checkpoint, we had to transfer to a smaller bus and another 1 hour journey  awaits us.
That 1 hour journey is to get to the harbor where we will be riding a 4 star cruise for 3 days 2 nights.
SO EXCITED!!!
because it was the first time I’ll be riding a cruise!!!

Here’s the thing..
A 4 star cruise is FAR different than a 4 star hotel.
a 4 star cruise does not provide toiletries and does not provide kettle!
Most of us didn’t even bring any toiletries.
Including towels.
So we had no choice but to stop by a provision shop along the way.
A very expensive one too ):
But its good that we’re stopping too!
Because we all were starving!

Once we reached the harbor, it was already nightfall.
And the night scenery is just amazing!!!!!
Especially from the view from the deck!!

The rooms aren’t that big.
Plus the toilet is SO small!
A friend of mine had a tough time figuring out how to bathe. There wasn’t any hot water for the night because the water hasn’t really heated up. Ever since I came to China, water supply being cut off or no supply of hot water has been a problem for most of us. But all of us had already adapted to it by now! So this is No problem for us!
Since we’re so excited , we couldn’t even settle down in our own rooms.
We decided to crash into Tricia’s room to watch movie~!!

Thank goodness i brought my laptop!

So that’s basically how I spent my first night on the boat~!!!

day 27 – GORGEOUS GORGES!!

Breakfast  was at 6:30am in the morning .
It was early because some of us are going to the mini gorges which is an extra package we have to pay if we want to go!
It costs 180yuan (SGD$36) for the tour!it was definitely worth it! Because we had the chance to see the gorges up close.At about 8:30am, we waited for the rest to gather before we set off! Nick bought fried fish  before we transferred to the smaller boat.

they sold fried fish from another boat!

view from the deck

Pretty landscape

The interior of the boat is very cozy and welcoming. Our whole group sat in the middle because I guess it’s the best seat in the boat. The boat ride was about 40 minutes and within that 40 minutes we saw more gorges! What I saw was just nature in at its best. The weather was perfect today and the greenery on the cliffs was amazing. It was like my geography textbook back in my secondary school days came alive! I had a sudden flashbacks on how those landforms are formed from erosions. Some of the rocks are eroded in such a way that it looks like something! During the tour, the tour guide pointed out to rocks that looks like something. For example, there were cliffs that look like a woman sleeping but no matter how much I stared at it, it looked like hills to me. We also saw monkeys swinging along the cliffs!

The extremely kind tour guide!
I'll definately miss her!
She was like a sister to me!

After much gazing at the cliffs, we  transferred to an even smaller boat where we cruise nearer to the cliffs. The boat was quite cramp. Not to mention that all of us are suppose to wear the life jackets which is size XXL. Which really adds on to the claustrophobic situation! The journey along the gorges was peaceful with some rocking of the boats from the waves. But the water is so blue. So blue that It could be compared to a food dye!

Along the way, we were briefed about the different landforms found within the gorge. The tour guide basically explained  how the gorges are formed. So it’s like sitting in a geography class again!

i became a sampan girl too.

After that, we headed back to the boat and wait for the tour of our next destination – Bai di cheng!
This destination allows us to walk along the Yangtze river! The main focus of this attraction is the scenery and greenery. We visited the place till late afternoon so all of us managed to catch the sunset by the Yangtze river! There were also statues depicting characters from romance of the 3 kingdoms. The Yangtze river also played a part in the story!

Something interesting happened when we’re there. While we were going down the many flight of stairs, there were middle aged woman standing around with black bags and goods in their hands. Apparently, they’re saleswomen. They literally followed our tail and walked down the long flight of stairs down with us, persuading us again and again to buy their goods. No matter how many times I said no, she continued to pester me till I reached ground level. There was one woman who continued pestering a man till he reached the exit! The distance to the exit from where we were is not a short distance at all. But the man kept a smiling face while tolerating her actions. I really respect him for that because he is extremely patient. He is one of the good example to prove the stereotypes from Singaporeans about the China people wrong. Who says people from China are inconsiderate, rude and loud?Not all of them are. We all should see the world and its people with an open mind. In the end, all of us are the same species. We are human and we all are equal! I learnt that accepting people who are different from you can gain you knowledge. Just like how I learnt to be as patient as the man when the saleswoman kept pestering me.If I’m only restricting myself to my comfort zone, then there won’t be any risk taken in life because that will just mean that I’m afraid to take opportunities!

the statues depicting the many characters

pretty!

Day 28 – ANOTHER ROUND WITH THE GORGE!

Breakfast this time was earlier .It was at 6am. That Is because we are going for another boat ride~ This time to a place where we could actually walk along the gorge! This boat ride is a little bit more interesting than most of the boat rides I’ve been to. The boat is the shape of a dragonboat

The mighty dragon boat!!

it was so cute! The boat also has an open air concept so thank goodness the weather was so perfect today! Imagine what could’ve happened if it rained! We would’ve missed all those perfect scenery moments. The boat ride was extremely shaky and I really felt as though I rode a washing machine .The harbor was unique because it was a floating harbor and the platforms are made out of many cubes of plastics joined together. The plastic platforms also led us the way around the gorges and it felt like walking on water. I think this is a great idea because there isn’t a need to build bridges made out of metal or wood as this would destroy the environment and change it’s natural state. Not to mention that the platforms are easily changeable so the platforms can be placed in such a way that people could walk along the other parts of the gorges!Again, it was as though my geography textbook came alive when I was walking along the steep rocls. We didn’t manage to visit the 3 gorges damn because that’ll be another 180yuan and most of us were too tired to go sight seeing.

we're on the floating platform!

the pathway along the gorge is narrow!

we managed to catch the sunrise at about 8:30am!

I think it’s great that the 3 gorges is open for the public. Not only that, the china government built a dam at the 3 gorges too. It’s a tourist spot and a place to generate electricity. China is a big country and they have many lands. I realized that they have used it’s big lands to its fullest extent to bring up the economy especially through tourist. This also contributes to the pool of large resources China already has. This is a huge difference between Singapore and China. Singapore is very small and only have a limited amount of space. So we have to work harder to catch up to the rest of the world as we only have a limited number of resources. That explains our fast busy schedule everyday. However, when I came to China, I feel  very relaxed because the people here take their life journey slowly. I rarely see crowds swarming around wherever I go. The only place where I see crowds is town but apart from that, wherever I go, its extremely peaceful and I could walk down the streets without having to push anybody. Even though its peaceful, the people here do have the same standard of living as us! They do have high education and good stable jobs here!But the way they lived their life freely with a busy schedule is something we could learn from. Especially maintaining happiness in whatever you do!

Well that is all from me today!!