Female: One of the highlights of the Yangtze adventure is a trip beyond the high walls of the gorges. We left the river behind and travelled two hours on twisting mountain roads through terrace country side.
Male: The trek took us to a small tributary of the Yangtze where an ancient way of life will soon be altered by the progress of modern man.
Female: This is where the dam project will really hits home when you stand somewhere like this and see that this is the point the water level will rise too, and you look at the small stream down here.
We have been told we would travel downstream in pea pod boats. These long narrow vessels are shaped like a pea pod and have been the only mode of transportation here for centuries. The boats are designed to function during the dry season when the stream is quite shallow. But they must also be capable of surviving the raging rapids of late summer. The boatmen, also known as trackers, spend about 3 hours on the downstream journey and 8 hours to drag the 3000 pound boat back up. No motors here.
Kathleen describes the resident reptile.
Kathleen: There's fish of different types, one being, actually salamander not a fish that cries like a baby, the wa-wa fish. And then they have two types of poisonous snake, the black horn and the chakobin.
Male2: The pea pod boat sets a really great excursion and also to see the ethnic people to see the trackers haul the boat up the river and how they maneuver in the shallows and pull us up through the small creek gorges. Absolutely wonderful, a short excursion experience.
Female: It’s not really my style to sit still for 3 hours. So I grab the pole and thought I pitched in. in ended up almost pitching myself in.
Male: The tide makes head long into the rapids. We had a chance to witness the strength, skill, and teamwork of the trackers.
Female: After spending several days aboard the genie and observing the various passenger vessels travelling on the Yangtze, we were thankful we have chosen such a well equipped ship.
Female2: Very superb. We just love the Chinese people. Wonderful.
Male2: Oh I have been very impress of the food. Buffet style is a great way to do it. Lunch and dinner is prepared like western style breakfast so to speak, but with some Chinese delicacies and very well prepared.
Female: We enjoyed getting to know the Chinese crew members and the interesting group of passengers.
Female2: We went to a show last night and it feels pretty, pretty elegant, graceful, happy. Lasting impression is the wonderful Chinese people.
Female: After covering over 1300 kilometers on the Yangtze, we set out for the lower reaches also the land of fish and rice. This delta region is crisscrossed by natural waterways and canals, which serve as major transportation corridors. The largest of this, the Grand Canal, connects northern and southern China. And is the longest man made waterway in the world.
Male: You can take a boat ride down the Grand Canal, but we decided to rent bikes to get a close up look of the delta country side and life along the waterways. Families living in the surrounding area each receive small plot of land to cultivate.
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