The Gorges

May 15, 2014

After our pagoda visit, we negotiated the gauntlet of vendors awaiting our return to the ship, and cleaned up for the welcome reception and special Chinese dinner.  It was nice to get dressed up a bit, and after dinner David and I went up to the upper lounge where a duo was playing music that we could dance to.  After one set of "our" music, the tunes changed to more 80s style, and we had fun watching the others for a while.

Thursday after early morning coffee on the veranda we headed for breakfast in the dining room.  The breakfast buffet offered the typical American choices of scrambled eggs, potatoes, and bacon, along with an omelet station, plenty of fresh fruit, cereal, and fresh homemade yogurt.  On the other side of the buffet I found a variety of cheeses and smoked fish, and a waffle station with fruit toppings available.  Then on another table were the traditional Chinese breakfast offerings.  In addition to all of this there were several menu selections that our server would bring to us.  I found the Eggs Benedict to my liking, and had those more than once for my breakfast choice.

After breakfast, we continued to sail, passing through the first Gorge, Qu Tang.  Our River Guide Ben (not his Chinese name) presented a narration talk on the sundeck, but we chose to simply enjoy the spectacle from our veranda.

Our ship then docked in Wushan, where we boarded a smaller boat for an excursion of the Lesser Three Gorges.  The smaller boat allowed us to enter an area too narrow for larger boats, and we saw the lesser gorges up close and personal.  In spite of the cold wind, we all gathered on the bow of the boat for the gorgeous views.