Cruising down the Yangtze (on a cloudy afternoon)

I booked the Yangtze cruise through a Chinese company on the Internet. Until we actually boarded I couldn't be sure I wasn't being scammed. But all is good; the Century Paragon is a brand new 5 star ship for almost 400 passengers. It's only about half full as it is not peak season yet. All cabins have private balconies and are well designed and comfortable. The ship has a swimming pool, gym, etc. For a fee you can partake in various massage and spa treatments. Of course the prices are 5 star too. So a 90 minute massage which cost Graeme $47 at the Yellow Mountain hot springs, is double that here.

Thank goodness neither of us has a weight problem. The food is varied and plentiful.  Half the passengers are Chinese and half are Western, so they cater for both tastes. Having absolutely stuffed ourselves at lunch we are now recovering with a rest before we do the shore excursion to the 3 Gorges Dam site.


Every day there are activities and an included shore excursion. This morning we went on an optional shore excursion to a Tojia (one of the many Chinese minority groups) village.  The scenery was delightful, even if the whole presentation by the locals was rather touristy.






   

We are now sailing through Xiling Gorge, the first of the 3 gorges, 76 km long.  Tonight we go through the locks and will gain about 100 m in altitude. The dam and hydro electric scheme are the largest in the world.