I know what you're thinking and you are correct. I haven't been very faithful to this blog in the past few days. I've been busy.
We got off the boat Tuesday in Chongquing, a city of 33 million people. Actually, the city itself is "only" 12 million. The rest of the people live in the "municipality" of Chongquing. Still, a mighty mass of humanity in a small space.
From the boat we headed straight to Dazu, where we saw over ten thousand rock carvings from 800 years ago. They were set into the sides of a rocky little gorge and reminded me of an over-sized diorama, depicting the right way to live and the dire consequences of straying from the straight and narrow.
That night we stayed in a JW Marriott, a welcome relief to the cramped cabin on the boat.
Wednesday morning we were off to the Chongquing zoo to see the pandas. Pandas were fun, the very pleasant park-like setting was even better. Quick stop at Liberation Square and a tour of a not-so-good art museum, and we were off to the airport and a flight to Guilin.
Wednesday's featured stop was the Reed Flute Cave, a massive cave of stalagmites and stalactites.
Yesterday we spent most of the day cruising the Li River. Weather was good and the scenery impressive. As we have come to expect as the Chinese Way of Doing Things, we were one of 15 or 20 boats going down the river in a procession, sometimes only a few feet apart. Our captain passed at least five boats and had the channel not been so narrow would have passed more.
Our tour manager ate dinner with us last night, his last night with the group since he doesn't go on to Hong Kong with us. Very interesting perspective on China's history.
We leave shortly for a tea farm, then fly to Hong Kong. Home on Sunday.
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4 comments:
It just seems like you guys are so far away, doesn't it? I can't wait to hear more about your perspective on the Chinese Way of Doing Things...
Yes please.
It really does feel like they're on another planet. I'll be happy to have them home =P
no kidding! I can't imagine living this far away from my family after this taste of 3 weeks without M&D. (no worries guys, I think I won't be moving anytime soon) :)
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