Not to stay another 5 days waiting for visa's extension in Chongqing, we thought of taking a Yangtze river cruise, which takes 4 days.
The "Three Gorges" dam, named after 3 very beautiful gorges, raised level of the river in some places up till 175 meters, and still continues rising. The dam is world's largest construction project and will be closed in 2009 due to long-term environmental damage.
The views on the first day of the cruise
So far I got an impression that Chinese people are not familiar with the privacy concept. The first time I found out about it was a bank in Yangshuo town, where I came to change some money. I started to fill in some document when I noticed that all people standing previously in the line behind me started to gather around to see what am I writing in the form. It was I would say a shock for me first, I couldn't understand why the hell are they all looking, so I turned back and started to look at them, so they might feel uncomfortable and go back to the line. However nothing similar happened! They continued staring at me without any shame. This time I didn't find it very pleasant, but later on while traveling I started to get used to this kind of curiosity which was very much intensive also in the cruise. When we turned on our computer and started to watch a movie, people one by one were coming to see what's up with it, and they wouldn't leave until they got complete understanding what we were watching.
This cruise was very relaxing, it was great to spend the day on the boat from time to time drinking tee, reading books and enjoying the views around.
One of the three gorges
The "Three gorges" dam
Very big, but since you weren't allowed to go on the top of it, it doesn't really impress you so much.
What we saw later in the mountains was awesome. Some guys were making a performance with the bicycles and motorcycles on the rope very high above the river. Performance consisted of riding, turning around and jumping. No idea how they did it, because there didn't seem to be any other supporting rope anywhere.
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We had a small ride close to "Three gorges" dam with motor boats with the dragon in front. It was fun when the driver switched it off and we could make a racing with the other boat with tourists.
The "Three Gorges" dam, named after 3 very beautiful gorges, raised level of the river in some places up till 175 meters, and still continues rising. The dam is world's largest construction project and will be closed in 2009 due to long-term environmental damage.
The views on the first day of the cruise
So far I got an impression that Chinese people are not familiar with the privacy concept. The first time I found out about it was a bank in Yangshuo town, where I came to change some money. I started to fill in some document when I noticed that all people standing previously in the line behind me started to gather around to see what am I writing in the form. It was I would say a shock for me first, I couldn't understand why the hell are they all looking, so I turned back and started to look at them, so they might feel uncomfortable and go back to the line. However nothing similar happened! They continued staring at me without any shame. This time I didn't find it very pleasant, but later on while traveling I started to get used to this kind of curiosity which was very much intensive also in the cruise. When we turned on our computer and started to watch a movie, people one by one were coming to see what's up with it, and they wouldn't leave until they got complete understanding what we were watching.
This cruise was very relaxing, it was great to spend the day on the boat from time to time drinking tee, reading books and enjoying the views around.
One of the three gorges
The "Three gorges" dam
Very big, but since you weren't allowed to go on the top of it, it doesn't really impress you so much.
What we saw later in the mountains was awesome. Some guys were making a performance with the bicycles and motorcycles on the rope very high above the river. Performance consisted of riding, turning around and jumping. No idea how they did it, because there didn't seem to be any other supporting rope anywhere.
\
We had a small ride close to "Three gorges" dam with motor boats with the dragon in front. It was fun when the driver switched it off and we could make a racing with the other boat with tourists.
5 comments:
Hello Olga!
Regarding the bycicles on the rope, it's surprisingly not difficult at all! I did it once... The trick is to have the total center of mass below the rope. And they do this by having another person hanging from the bycicle under the rope. And there is one more thing: the wheels of the bicycle should be special, in order to fit nicely on the rope...
With these tricks, it's actually easier to balance yourself on such a bike than on a normal bike!
What a book you are reading during your trip? Something about China?
Views are just amazing.
When you are coming back!?
The sights are surprisingly similar to the ones I saw during my Trip in Norway, to be precise - going through Fjords with a Ferry.
I am reading "Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy", by Douglas Adams, a really funny book!
We extended our travel to see more of China, Singapore and Malaysia.Traveling just seems saw awesome, cannot get tired of it! As soon as we done with those countries we come back! probably in middle of June!
Admittedly the Chinese do not appreciate privacy that much. Many Chinese epspecially those live in small towns have never seen a "Westerner" in their whole life due to restricted visa rules. That explains the curisosity :-)
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