This morning we checked ourselves out of the ship by turning in the room keys. They gave us a receipt so we could go past the security people. Ellie, our city guide, took us off the ship into the rain. This is the first time it has rained enough for people to be carrying umbrellas. Venders were trying to sell umbrellas to anyone not carrying one. China Focus had arranged for porters to carry our luggage up the long stairway.
Disembarking our ship, Yangtze Gold 3
Chongqing is the biggest city in China. It has a population of 32 million compared to Beijing’s 23 million. Its territory is huge. It starts at the second half of the second gorge in the Yangtze River. The Yangtze is the third longest river in the world. Chongqing was built on a hillside, so it is very colorful at night with all the lights. The city is famous for “spicy hot” food and women. People get lots of exercise climbing all the hills.
Rainy Day in Chongqing
Another guide took us to see Huguang Guild Hall, then Ellie took us to the square in front of a Three Gorges Museum to take a picture of that building. Then she took us to Wan Yu Restaurant for another delicious lunch. Very thin rice cakes with black mushrooms, thinly sliced pork, with hot chicken broth poured over it was one of the tasty dishes. Another was smoked pork (Chinese bacon), thinly sliced large white mushrooms, and green onions.
She took us to the airport and checked us in. I was in charge of keeping the Tibetan group visa. On the plane Paul and I had all three bulkhead seats on the right side. As we neared Tibet, I started taking pictures of beautiful cumulous clouds and mountains.
Tibetan Mountains seen from plane
Aerial View of Lhasa, Tibet
When we landed in Tibet, I showed the group visa, and we all showed our passports. We were met by our guide, Tenzin (Ten for short). He has the same first name as the Dali Lama. He told us that 85% of the water in Asia comes from Tibet. It has a population of five million. 2.5 million Tibetans live in other parts of China.
The main crop is barley for making barley flour and barley beer. They like to drink yak milk mixed with barley flour too. They raise sheep, goats, and yak. Yak are considered to be treasures. They can use yak hair for tents. Yak is also a medicine for arthritis. Yak carry equipment up Everest.
We have been given tips on how get adjusted to the high altitude. I feel a bit light headed and lethargic. We went out to dinner at another excellent restaurant this evening. Now I will try to sleep in this large king-sized bed that has the best mattress since our first hotel in Beijing!
6575 steps, 2.79 miles