I split Day 6 because of the tremendous
contrast between the excitement of visiting the work site of the largest
construction project ever attempted by man and the total relaxing beauty
and magnificence of the afternoon cruising the awesome western part of the
XILING GORGE and the WU GORGE.
On arriving back at the ship from visiting the
construction site, we went to lunch where we were treated to good old
American Hamburgers and French-fries with all the trimmings.
After lunch we went to our cabin and attempted
to rest for a while. Just as we lay down we looked out of the window
and saw that we were reentering the XILING GORGE. Seeing this we
bounced back up and headed for the top deck where we spent the entire
afternoon enjoying the wonderful sights that mother nature presented to us,
one after another in a marvelous array of natural and man created wonders.
I SHALL NEVER FORGET !
The narrow passages between the towering rock
walls of the mountains, or of the man and his wife fishing from a small row
boat in an area of the Gorge that appeared to be miles from anything
resembling a village or city.
The sight of watching men and women and even
children carrying their crops or goods on sticks across their shoulders
down the mountain trails to the rivers edge where they would sit and wait
for a small cargo vessel to come by and pick up their items for transport
to market.
The skill of our captain and crew in maneuvering
our ship through the rushing and shallow waters in between and around other
vessels in the narrow Gorges.
Waving at the people who passed our ship in
both small and large vessels and wondering where they were going and/or
came from.
Watching the mountains change color from Greens
and Grays to Purples and Blacks as the sun slowly dipped toward the western
horizon.
Looking at the signs "175 and
"135" occasionally placed on the slopes and trying to imagine the
water of the river rising to these great heights and totally obliterating
these thrilling gorges that we were traversing.
Yes, it was a marvelous afternoon !