6:00 Woke up and had breakfast
7:00 Set luggage outside door
8:00 Met in lobby for 1 hour bus ride to airport
(Half of our tour group had already left the hotel for another tour package before we came down. We felt the loss of their company.)
That's Charlie #2 in the middle along with Richard and Janet.
Janet is a retired first grade teacher like me. Teachers are always drawn to each other.
When I mentioned to Charlie about the Chinese herbalist saying Art and I both needed herbs for our kidneys and liver he explained that the term kidney or liver in Chinese medicine is different from Western medicine. It was good to learn that because it didn't make sense when we were at that Chinese Pharmacy.
We said good bye to Charlie #2 and headed out to the airport where we caught a two hour flight to Wuhan on China Eastern Airlines.
At Wuhan a three hour bus ride with another city guide named Nancy took us to Yichang. Nancy told us that Yichang is the center of China. The Yangtze starts in Tibet and ends at the ocean.
Many farmers burning wheat stalks were really adding to the air pollution.
Just as Charlie told us, the food in this area was spicy. He said that because of the hot and humid weather, people like spicier food which would make you sweat and cool your body.
We boarded our President Prime cruise ship at Yichang and met our ship's director, Daisy as well as our pretty meal server, Chocolate.
That was the most original name we'd heard yet. I could certainly remember it.
There were about 100 passengers for a ship that was supposed to hold 350. There were 170 crew members on board. We were told the low passenger number was due to the bird flu concern in the west and the declining local Chinese economy.
We were offered a $130 upgrade for five days. The regular rooms were just fine, but when we saw the upgrade we just couldn't pass it up. It was about as big as our hotel rooms. I doubt we'll ever get anything like this again on a ship.
Although it reminded me a little of the Titanic, I could already tell this was a wonderful start to another adventure. I was just happy we still had Charlie.
7:00 Set luggage outside door
8:00 Met in lobby for 1 hour bus ride to airport
(Half of our tour group had already left the hotel for another tour package before we came down. We felt the loss of their company.)
That's Charlie #2 in the middle along with Richard and Janet.
Janet is a retired first grade teacher like me. Teachers are always drawn to each other.
When I mentioned to Charlie about the Chinese herbalist saying Art and I both needed herbs for our kidneys and liver he explained that the term kidney or liver in Chinese medicine is different from Western medicine. It was good to learn that because it didn't make sense when we were at that Chinese Pharmacy.
We said good bye to Charlie #2 and headed out to the airport where we caught a two hour flight to Wuhan on China Eastern Airlines.
At Wuhan a three hour bus ride with another city guide named Nancy took us to Yichang. Nancy told us that Yichang is the center of China. The Yangtze starts in Tibet and ends at the ocean.
Many farmers burning wheat stalks were really adding to the air pollution.
Just as Charlie told us, the food in this area was spicy. He said that because of the hot and humid weather, people like spicier food which would make you sweat and cool your body.
We boarded our President Prime cruise ship at Yichang and met our ship's director, Daisy as well as our pretty meal server, Chocolate.
That was the most original name we'd heard yet. I could certainly remember it.
There were about 100 passengers for a ship that was supposed to hold 350. There were 170 crew members on board. We were told the low passenger number was due to the bird flu concern in the west and the declining local Chinese economy.
We were offered a $130 upgrade for five days. The regular rooms were just fine, but when we saw the upgrade we just couldn't pass it up. It was about as big as our hotel rooms. I doubt we'll ever get anything like this again on a ship.
Although it reminded me a little of the Titanic, I could already tell this was a wonderful start to another adventure. I was just happy we still had Charlie.
You still had Charlie!!! I was afraid you'd be saying goodbye to him.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, teachers are always drawn to one another.
That stateroom IS huge! I have to show this to my husband...
Art always laughs at how I'm always able to find a teacher everywhere I go. I think we manage to make teacher eye contact.
DeleteI loved having a sofa in our room, but the best thing was the larger bathroom. Woohoo!!! Loved it! We'll probably never have this again so we savored it.
Also, did you take a picture of the ship from the outside?
ReplyDeleteI've got a photo of the ship being posted tomorrow.
DeleteAnd we were VERY thankful to still have Charlie for a few more days. I still remember how sad we were to say goodbye to him.
DeleteThat stateroom is HUGE, I don't blame you for taking it!
ReplyDeleteThe ship looks beautiful, and let's not bring up the Titantic when we are are on a ship, okay, Kay? (Don't you just love it when someone says, "Okay, Kay", and then, they burst out laughing...as if you havent't heard THAT all your life?)
I see that Sprite goes down well with that spicy food in China!!
Ahhh... You get the "Okay, Kay" too, hunh? ☺ I don't normally drink beer, but by golly... I was drinking beer all over China. I don't know what came over me. I did occasionally have Sprite, but mostly I had the beer which surprised Art. Maybe that's what helped me sleep. That's my excuse anyway, and it was only a small glass.
DeleteI'm glad your livers and kidneys are okay. The easily incorrect interpretation could make some tourists scared of a whole variety of ills they don't really have.
ReplyDeleteHow wide is this boat, and the river must be pretty big, too.
(The Motel 6 types have degraded quite a bit in the last 5 years: bad reservation recall, poor, dirty rooms, overflowing sinks. I avoid them now.)
Kansas farmers do controlled, guided burns of their fields in the fall, which helps rejuvenate the soil for the next spring's crop. A pretty wild sight with some smoke over the highways for just a short distance.
Yep, it looks like a Titanic entry-way. You CAN swim, right?
Don't get queezy! DrumMajor
How wide? Hmmm... Just looked it up:
DeleteDecks：6
Tonnage：12000 T
Length：135.20M
Width：19.60M
Capacity: 374
First Sailing：2011-04-15
The problem with the ship is that it was so heavy it couldn't do the final leg of the trip because the river water level was too low. We had to go by bus. But it wasn't that big of a deal.
Oh too bad about the Motel 6. We were really OK with them. Springfield, Illinois had a beautiful one.
NO... I can't swim. That's why we made sure our kids were EXCELLENT swimmers. They needed to save themselves so Art could save me. Actually, the kids would save me now since they were both lifeguards at one time.
wow it look so fancy-hope you made sure where the lifeboats were...lol! but you made it home safely so we know!
ReplyDeleteI even have a photo of the lifeboats. :-)
DeleteThat's scary about the words for vital organs, when they were trying to prescribe things for you to take.
ReplyDeleteIn the Hebrew Bible, mostly in Jeremiah and Psalms, the human kidneys are cited figuratively as the site of temperament, emotions, prudence, vigor, and wisdom. In five instances they are mentioned as the organs examined by God to judge an individual. They are cited either before or after but always in conjunction with the heart as mirrors of the psyche of the person examined.
The Hebrew words for liver and kidneys are occasionally translated as “heart” or “spirit” or “inmost being.”
Looks like the ancient Chinese herbal medicines were similar to the Hebrew medical thought. This does make me think we should pay attention to what has been learned.
DeleteI can hardly believe my eyes with those rooms on a boat! I would have upgraded, too. Who could resist? I look forward to hearing about this part of your adventure, which is new to me. :-)
ReplyDeleteNo kidding! As soon as we saw the rooms and Charlie told us to go for it, we decided it was too good to pass up.
DeleteWhat a wonderful trip. I'm envious. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, those are some fancy digs. Terrible about the bird flu but you guys really benefited with upgrades, etc.
ReplyDeleteThey called it chicken flu. I wonder if that was so everybody wouldn't be afraid to eat duck.
DeleteMy first thought via the staircase was Titanic and I was already debating whether to mention it before I noticed you mentioned it. One good thing, if the ship sunk in the Yangtze you would not have far to go. I trust as you are home writing your blog all went well. I think a cruise ship would be the way to see China. I understand about teachers and connections.
ReplyDeleteDianne
Yes, we've been home since the 24th and are madly working on the photo album now that I've written all the trip blog posts.
DeleteI've also worked on selecting photos for the photo album. Art is now fine tuning the choices and adding his information. That's why I've got this free time to blog. Once he's done I have to start formatting the album and doing final touches with him. It's a pretty involved process, but we can't put the trip to bed until we've done this.
What a wonderful upgrade on the ship. I would guess you had really wonderful service on the ship and that you met some interesting people. This looks like a great way to continue your adventure.
ReplyDeleteGetting a taste for luxury, Kay? To have so many crew on board must have been amazing when they outnumbered the passengers.
ReplyDeleteanother wonderful day!
ReplyDeleteI will certainly have to look that ship up. Yes, that is a huge suite, and I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for taking us all with you.
ReplyDeleteI looked up your ship to discover a lovely river cruise ship. Just delightful. :)
ReplyDeleteNow you have my attention--you know how I love cruises. It looks like an interesting ship and itinerary because I looked it up online. Tell us more.
ReplyDeleteOh, I definitely have. :-) I've already written the blog posts for the next few days.
DeleteWow, I love your stateroom. We weren't offered an upgrade like that when we sailed the Yangtze with with Viking River, but we would have taken it, too. As it was, we had room for a nice sofa, and we had a balcony we really enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteNothing as gorgeous as your grand stairway, however.
K
The only reason we were offered the upgrade is because they had so few passengers due to the "chicken flu" and the faltering Chinese economy. I loved having the sofa in the room, the extra leg space to spread out, and the good size bathroom.
DeleteI drink SILK for breakfast!! (Soy mILK)
ReplyDeleteha,
walt
Hi Walt! Ahhh... So you're sticking to your diet, I see. Good for you! I am in awe of your resolution. We just read the article about vegans living longer.
DeleteYes, I can see the Titanic. Probably would have made me a bit nervous. What a great upgrade you got and you still have Charlie. Life is good.
ReplyDeleteThere are more crew than passengers. You should have gotten really special service.
What an amazing collection of memories and photos. These are wonderful. I love the silk worms, but your food photos are always the BEST! The fields are wonderfully green. AMAZING trip. I am happy you could share it with us! I'm tired!
ReplyDeleteOh we do have a TON of food photos on our camera memory cards.
Deletewhat fun!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° > <3
> < } } ( ° >
> < 3 3 3 ( ' >
I see that you are on the move, but you haven't left luxury behind.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh about the burger King meal. I remember when we were in Vienna, and we wanted coffee, and we were so tired of getting a very small cup with no refills, so we caved and went to a Starbucks, right by the palace. It was heavenly to have my latte, made just the way it always is, fast service, and pay as you order so no waiting for the waiter who never comes with the tab. But I digress. Sometimes it's just nice to have the familiar.
We had Starbucks in Kowloon, but it was pretty darn pricey. It was the easiest way for us to get our wifi internet connection.
DeleteGreat post Kay and I had my cafe latte today ;)
ReplyDelete