Day 11 - The River Cruise: 长江观光5 : Part I

Today, we head out on an adventure within adventure; the River Cruise to bring us around 长江 (Changjiang)。Before we could board the cruise though, we had a long and ardous (okay not really) journey to 宜昌(Yichang), another city in Hubei along the Changjiang. A four-hour bus ride: time to K.O.!


The bus was scheduled to leave at 1230, and we were to be gone for 3 days and 2 nights. Was in a frenzy trying to pack, in case I forgot anything. Alas, I forgot to bring along the charger for my spare phone.

Sheila and the Mamasan bag that her air-steward brother lent her. Contained both our clothes to make things for convenient!

Yuhaw reading his solution to insomnia. I salute you for reading that, bro.

Most of us fell right asleep right after we turned out from 建设一路 (Jian She Yi Lu). I was one of them, heh. After two very bumpy hours and snatches of sleep, we arrived at our first stopover! No idea where the heck we were, but it was a stopover and a chance to stretch our aching legs nonetheless.

Another two uncomfortable hours and we arrive in 宜昌(Yichang)! It was also lunch time, which was something most of us looked forward to.

Since most (all?) of the guys in the batch are big eaters (read: 2~3 bowls of rice per meal), we have this arrangement where half of the table has to be guys and the other half the girls, so that the guys can clear any food the girls have left behind. These were the guys for our table, conquering the leftover food.

After the meal and another ten minutes worth of bus rides (met all my quota for the day, I swear), we arrived at the ferry terminal. Boarding time, and I was really quite excited to be on another mode of transportation by then.

Apparently this ferry was a four-star cruise ship.

...Wouldn't really agree with that, though...

Me in the tiny plastic toilet! It was really plastic all around, aside from the toilet bowl. Yes there's a toilet bowl, which is really awesome. All we've been using is the portable toilet seat and I keep having a fear of toppling over (oh, the imagery). A stable toilet bowl since two week, ah such joy. Plus, all the hot water we can use without worrying there won't be any left for the next person! Such are the little luxuries I've came to appreciate.

The bedroom for two. Mattresses were awesome and so is the view out the window in the mornings. One thing to keep a look out for though: cockroaches. :/ Encountered one right when we entered the room and Sheila is my new wonderwoman.

Room 4119. Only one key for two people; really inconvenient.

Shortly after reaching our rooms, we were calling up to the open deck to see the view and wait for us to arrive the ship locks. Took at least an hour in the cold wind before we actually reached the ship locks, but all the photos we took were worth it.

Jack and Rose?

The A-Team! Named after the American television-series, The A-Team. 

Name of the cruise, taken from behind because the front of it was barred off.

Eudora, Houngsheng, Michelle, Agnes and Eliza.

Liangxun, Houngsheng, Yuchuan the kitty, Brenda, Eliza, Sheila, Yuhaw and Diyanah.

Bunch of guys: Yuhaw, Liangxun, Houngsheng, Yuchuan, Zhenzhao, Nicholas and Haoteng.

Eudora, Shiling, Weilin, Brenda, Agnes, Michlle, Eliza, Sheila and meeee.

Group B.

The A-Team again.

Hanhui the Bossman being...boss.

Them trench buddies.

At some point we got bored of waiting, and decided to head back to Sheila's and my room to play some Uno. Another 15 minutes and we were called up again. :/

We finally arrive at the ship lock, Level 6! Was quite an amazing experience. The International Supply Chain Management (ISCM) kids learnt about it before in their Maritime Management module, but this was really something new to the Logistics Management kids. An eye-opener indeed, but it was only Level 6 so it went by pretty fast.

We were scheduled to reach another shiplock around midnight, and we all went to the second deck to watch. It was slightly delayed though, so I was crazy sleepy and tired and shivering in the cold (probably <16 by then) and waiting for the ship to pass through the ship locks.

This was Level 5 to 1, and I only managed to watch the ship go through Level 5 before I surrendered to the cold and my fatigue. Heard later that we went through the Level 1 ship lock at 5AM.

Another more luxurious cruise was right next to us, waiting to enter the ship lock as well. It was so close, we could see in and even talk to the Caucasians that were standing on their balcony. They told us they were heading towards Beijing and it was the last few days of their cruise.

"北六闸首"

Went to bed at around 0230 the next morning, with breakfast being served at 0700 sharp. To be continued!


Personal Reflections

I don't think I've ever ridden a bus for more than an hour and a half before, so today's bus ride was really a new experience. I've never been so thankful for comfortable seats and air-conditioned buses and a small island to travel in. The four-hour ride to Yichang was really bumpy and I barely slept, which was basically mental torture since I only slept three hours the night before (this blog and the many photos really do take up a lot of my time).

The ship locks I saw and experienced today was really amazing too. Who knew a simple bouyancy theory can be so beneficial? Plus it's basically something we can never experience if I haven't been on this trip. The Singapore River has a mainly flat terrain and hence has no need for such ship locks.

The cruise was also something different, to say the least. I've only been on one cruise before, which was the Superstar Virgo. I knew better than to expect the same kind of service, quality and overall standards, but theis cruise covered the very basics. The entertainment they provided on the ferry may not be world class, but it entertained me enough. Automated mahjong tables! Really surprising.

And seriously, you'd think you won't miss the use of a toilet bowl, but you'd be surprised. Very surprised.