11. Our sampan ride on the Daning River through the Little Gorges 


Crew members entertain with a talent show

Day 11

Early morning found us again sitting in the lounge enjoying our early morning coffee. The sun today was very evasive, therefore, we could not experience all of the majesty of the first rays of light in Wu Gorge.

We ate breakfast early anticipating an early start on our sampan excursion through the Lesser Gorges. The water level had gone down overnight, making it impossible to board our sampan from the mountain town of Wushan as planned. That meant we must take a bus from the ship to a different boarding point up the Daning River.

The road to the bus was very steep


Trudging from boat to bus on WuShan's muddy wharf

Just getting to the bus was no small fete. A higher water level would have allowed the captain to bring our boat closer to the dock. Instead, we trod over makeshift planks and up the bank, cautiously avoiding slippery mud traps that would have sent us back to the showers. Then there was the difficult trudge up the steep road to where our bus awaited. In all, the distance to the bus was well over greatly vertical 500 feet.

Rapids on the Daning River in the Lesser Gorges


Collecting rocks in the Lesser Gorges

The obvious poverty of the area as observed along the bus route through Wushan was very disturbing. Along the streets, adults and children sold trinkets and souvenirs. The only English words we heard were "hello", "dollar" and "goodbye". The traffic in this small village seemed to be as crazy as that in the much larger Wuhan. 

Terraced mountainside farm in the Lesser Gorges


The famous Dragon's Gate Bridge in the Lesser Gorges

Little children, playing along the roadway, wore pants that were split from front to back ... with no diapers. Guess why! Pottie training was different here!

Our sampan ride was a thrilling experience. The water is much too shallow for larger boats but moves swiftly over the river's rock bed and through these narrow gorges. A polesman stands on the prow of the boat, steering it away from dangerous obstacles.

A polesman keeps the sampan off the rocks

Along the way were excellent views of the farms and farm-life on the mountainsides. These farmers seem to be more prosperous than the village dwellers. 

Along a curving path up a slope, there was a "free market". Here, individuals set up their displays of their produce. Customers disembarked at the shore, walked up the lane and shopped. In many ways, it was similar to the "bazaar" in ShangHai.

Free market in the Lesser Gorges

The sampan cruise through the Lesser Gorges was an experience we will remember for a long time.

We returned to our cruise boat about 1:30 PM -- just in time for lunch. Today it was hamburgers and French fries, along with fare of the Chinese persuasion. One would expect that we should have been pleased to have western food, but Bill, our worst food dissident, wasn't enchanted with the burgers either. When lunch was over, only his French fries had been consumed ... and his beer, of course.

An abandoned city lies there on the starboard slope. It's so hard to believe that a city of this size should simply become a playground for the fishes as the level of the water impounded by the dam at SanDouPing is raised high above its rooftops. What will future generations make of this?

This abandoned city will soon be under water

About 3:30 PM, there was coffee, tea and cookies in the lounge. After that, one of the senior crew members gave a presentation on Chinese art. The very able ships artist spoke little or no English. Virginia won the painting that was created in his demonstration and it hangs prominently on the wall in our home.

That evening, members of the crew entertained us with a talent show in the lounge. They performed admirably in their brightly colored costumes. The TaiJi class also participated and each member was rewarded with a certificate from the TaiJi master.

Crew members entertain with a talent show

Following the talent show, several couples, including Virginia and Bill, were blindfolded and each person was asked to find his or her mate by touch and smell. From the audience's laughter, it must have been hilarious to watch the groping and sniffing.

It was a fun day! Just before Bill nodded off, he gave just a brief thought to his peasant-friends back in Florissant.

The river cruise is nearing its end but there's much more to come.

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