YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE

October 17, 2014

October 17th, Part 2

Previous --- Design & Pictures by BJH --- NEXT

When we woke up on this day, we were cruising along the Yangtze River at what seemed to be record speed. It was interesting to see people in small craft and also along the shoreline, fishing in the drizzling rain. Just after noon, we passed through the Ge Zhouba Dam. More...



There was a ship ahead of us and you could see it rising in the locks ahead while our crewmen kept our ship from wandering forward by anchoring us to the wall at the side of the lock's approach. Once we entered the lock, it was our turn to slowly rise to the upstream water level. You barely knew that the ship was rising because it occurred so slowly. However, rise we did and continued along our way, enjoying the Xiling Gorge. We then docked to visit the Three Gorges Dam site. Our coach took us to the dam site where on one side, you could see the series of five locks that we'd have to travel through that evening. On the other side was the actual Three Gorges Dam. It was HUGE. Evidently, it is the largest hydroelectric station in the world. We would find out (over the next few days) how many towns and archaeological sites were flooded by the project causing the displacement of millions of people who once lived (and farmed) along the shores of the Yangtze River. It was interesting to see the project but by the time our excursion was over, I could barely make it back to the ship. I was SOOO sick, I made a second visit to the doctor and there I was put on an intravenous regimen of antibiotics for a bronchial infection as well as given pills to stop my extreme body chills which made my body shake badly. I was so out of it when I went back to my cabin that I basically passed out and missed our entire journey through the five locks of the Three Gorges Dam. I was told that the trip through was uneventful except for the screeching that the side of the ship made as it contacted the concrete side of the dam as it made its way through. As for the illness, many of my colleagues succumbed to one sort of illness over the space of the next few days. I suppose we can only be grateful that we ended up sick at a place where we were mobile yet had a place to rest ourselves and a doctor on hand to deal with more major issues.