We enjoyed another western breakfast buffet at the hotel this morning. Then at 8:15 we were on the bus ready to go to the pagoda. Since it was a Sunday, the Buddhist priests and other Buddhists wearing brown robes were chanting, accompanied by a gong and a drum beneath the beautiful gold statue of Buddha. We watched them for a while, then our pagoda guide showed us other rooms in the pagoda. She wrote each of our names in Chinese calligraphy on rice paper.
We then left for the airport. Today is the first time on this trip where we have noticed a polluted sky. It had poured for two days before we arrived in the city, so there were blue skies all day yesterday. Today it was back to normal. The traffic was congested, so we arrived later than Victor had hoped we would arrive. We checked our bags, went through security, then ran to the gate. Ten minutes later, we boarded the plane. I sat in a middle seat next to a retired German man named Guenther who lives in Berlin. He told me about his job as an exec for a pharmaceutical company where he did lots of international travel for his job. When his company was bought by Bayer, he retired. Now he can travel with his wife. They will be taking the Yangtze River Cruise in a group of fourteen Germans on the same ship as we are.
When our plane landed in Wuhan, we were met by another guide. She put us on a bus that took us to the train station where we would ride another express train. She rode with us on the train. This time we were riding in car #1, the first class car! The scenery enroute was much prettier than on our last train ride. There were lots and lots of green fields interspersed with houses along the way. After about two hours we arrived in Yichang where we would embark on our Yangtze River Cruise. We were surprised that the sky was so polluted here. We could even smell it.
Scene from the train window
Before we got on the ship, though, she took us to a delicious dinner. A little while later, the Germans came into the same restaurant and sat at the table next to ours. After dinner we were driven to the ship, The Yangtze Gold 3. Our room is on the second deck of the ship. They brought us two additional comforters to make our beds softer. I am still using my air mattress.
8524 steps, 3.62 miles