IMPERIAL JEWELS OF CHINA - October 5, 2015

DAY 4 - Yueyang on Board Viking Emerald

Our first day on board the Viking Emerald, beginning our voyage up the Yangtze River.  As one author wrote, we were travelling back in time.  The Yangtze River Valley boasts some of the world's most spectacular landscapes of misty mountains, breathtaking gorges, bamboo groves and serene lagoons.  Along its narrow, cliff-bound course lie some of China's greatest cultural treasures -- ancient tombs, temples and natural wonders.

The great river rises in the Tibet Plateau and flows east across the entire width of China until it empties into the East China Sea near Shanghai.  It cuts the country in half and has historically marked the division between north and south China.  At 3,434 miles, it is the third longest river in the world, after the Nile and Amazon (see our previous blogs from 3 years ago for our trip on the Amazon River).

All along the course of the Yangtze are little rural villages where life goes on much as it has for centuries.  Viking River Cruises has renovated and supplied a school in Yueyang and this was our first stop.  Before we left the ship, we had to partake in the mandatory life boat drill.

Lifeboat drill in the dining room. The centre portion was the buffet which was oval shaped and inside  the chefs prepared many wonderful delights

We were bussed to the school and Yueyang certainly was a sharp contrast to Shanghai and Wuhan.  Even though it was a holiday week, the children and teachers all turned up at the school.  Yeuyang was not a "staged site" as so many of our other stops were.  This was a real small Chinese town, although it really wasn't that small compared to Nova Scotia standards.  The small businesses were labour heavy and the building sites had bamboo staging.  Road signs were just a suggestion, but we were large enough to get the right-of-way.

On one of the major roads, this woman was sweeping the road with a twig broom, oblivious to the traffic.

The school was built around a courtyard and was 4 stories tall.  The school looked like something from Nova Scotia in 1920 (inside the classroom).  The children were really excited to see us and the first thing they did was put on a song and dance show.  We were then taken into the classrooms.  Our bus group was in a grade 4 class.  The children sang a song for us and we sang one back at them.  We have a video of the children singing and it was posted on Facebook as soon as I got to Hong Kong.  This was one of the highlights of our trip.

School courtyard

Children putting on their show in the courtyard

Little boys watching us from the third floor

Our classroom children along with our translator "Jimmy"

Once we returned to the ship, we were able to rest up and enjoyed sitting on our balcony, watching the Yangtze River and all ships and small boats.

Our ship, the Viking Emerald followed a standard design for the majority of the ships on the river.  There are many cruise lines and the price charged is reflected in the quality of the decor of the ships.  Most certainly, Viking stood out at the top of the class.  There were some pretty nasty looking ones but the basic design was the same.  Gangplanks are a luxury and on several occasions we stepped ashore after walking through several other ships and then along a series of floating docks.  Certainly not a trip for the faint of heart, or with physical disabilities.

Viking Emerald

Francine walking along the floating docks to get ashore

Travelling from one ship to the other to get ashore

Our evening was very delightful as we got to meet the officers and crew on the ship.  Even though this is a Viking ship, the actual ship is owned by the Chinese government, which means the crew is Chinese.  There were several officers on the ship who worked for Viking.  The crew was absolutely fantastic and it appeared that a job on this ship was a good job!  

We were eager for the next day as we would be visiting the Three Gorges Dam and Xiling Gorge.

We want to thank Judi's brother, Bob, for the use of some of his photos.  It is interesting how the four of us were together, but our photos were quite different.  Bob captured some great shots of people, while Judi was most interested in scenery and historic sites.  We did have a lot of similar photos, but with 3,500 photos, this is bound to happen.  

IMPERIAL JEWELS OF CHINA, October 4, 2015

DAY 3 - Shanghai - Wuhan

This was going to be another busy day.  After an early breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and drove to The Bund.  Before we continue, there are a few things worth noting.  A lovely couple from Prince George, BC ate breakfast with us and told us their story about going to the hotel bar the previous evening.  They each ordered two drinks and when the bill arrived, it totalled $200 CAD.  This repeated itself all over the areas of China we visited.  Not only do you not drink the water here, but also alcohol.  When we boarded the ship, the same held true.  They did supply beer and wine at lunch and dinner, but other than that we were on our own.  We can now see why the Chinese do not drink much alcohol.

The drive to the Bund was interesting.  We could almost see it from our  hotel, but it was still a slow trip but our views of the spectacular buildings and elegance was fascinating.  The famous Bund is the city's elegant waterfront promenade containing many of Shanghai's banks and trading houses.  It's not just a boulevard of sterile financial institutions -- the architecture of many of buildings dates to the time when they were the embassies and consulates of other nations, and range from Renaissance to Gothic to art nouveau.  The Bund is lined with parks and greenery and is a famous place for strolling.

Across the Huangpu River, Pudong rises in grand splendour.  Pudong is one of China's successful "ghost cities", having been developed over the past 20 years.  Twenty years ago, the whole area was rice fields.  Pudong's architecture is absolutely breathtaking and is Shanghai's financial centre.  The many elegant high-rise apartments demand millions of dollars to buy a small unit.  It is best known for the skyscraper-stuffed skyline and is one of China's most photographer panoramas.

We strolled the Bund with our tour guide who detailed the many old elegant buildings.  We also did a lot of "people watching" and they watched us!

Across the Huangpu River, Pudong

Across the Huangpu River, Pudong 

Across the Huangpu River, Pudong

Judi talking to a Chinese student who wanted to practice his English.  He wanted a "selfie" of us both when he finished.  Really nice young man ... very polite.

The Bund. Shanghai on left, Pudong on right

One of the elegant old buildings on the Bund

Opposite view of the Bund.

We left the Bund and started our 60 minute drive to the airport for our flight to Wuhan.  This was where we were to board our ship for the next 5 days.  Our guide, Jimmy, gave us very detailed instructions about our flights in China.  This was our first of five flights.  There are no reserved seats on any planes, you are assigned seats by computer, so there is no guarantee who you will be sitting with.  Only one carry-on is allowed, weight not to exceed 5 kg and one piece of luggage, weight not to exceed 20 kg.  Absolutely no liquids in carry on.  Our passports were kept by Jimmy as he told us they were the most important items we owned in China.  Losing your passport was not an option! 

Our luggage had been picked up at the hotel in the morning and would be waiting for us, along with our boarding passes when we arrived at the airport.  Jimmy would be with us the whole time, but we had to go through security on our own.  We did not appreciate the luxury of having our luggage and boarding passes ready for us until we got to the airport and saw the long line-ups at the counters.  We were given a box lunch, even though no matter how long a flight you take in China, they always feed you.  

Security was pretty brutal!  There are no full body scanners there ... everyone has to stand on a round platform and you are frisked and waved with the magic wand. 

The actual flight was great.  Everything was done in Chinese and English and of course, we were fed.  Every flight had the same meals ... rice, chicken (I think) and veggies, or noodles.

Eric was fascinated on our approach to Wuhan.  He took lots of photos of the topography.  "Ghost cities" in the middle of nowhere, incredible factories, power generators, roads and bridges being constructed and rice fields.

Our little group waiting to go through security in Shanghai.

The ladies had gone to look for the "Western" toilets

Our approach to Wuhan.

We landed in Wuhan, which has a meager population of only 4.26 million.  The airport was under heavy construction, with two new terminals with all the infrastructure underway.  There was construction everywhere with roads, bridges and interchanges as seen in the picture above.  Boom .... boom ... boom .... welcome to the new, developing country of China.

Viking doesn't miss a minute in their itinerary.  While the ship was being "turned around" for us, they had us busy.  Our luggage had gone ahead of us and would be waiting for us when we got there.  In the meantime, we were taken to the Hubei Provincial Museum.  The centrepiece of this famous museum is the exhibition of the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng which includes one of the world's largest musical instruments, a remarkable five-tonne set of 64 double-tone bronze bells.  These bells were found by a team of military engineers who were going to build a warehouse.  They noticed that the ground was uneven and investigated further.  They were found perfectly preserved.  Quite a remarkable story.  

We were treated to a concert performed on replica bells.  The bells are famous for their perfect pitch, but the original bells are for display only.  We were thrilled to be able to video tape the bells being played.

The performers on the bells, in traditional ancient dress.

These are the actual ancient bells. Quite spectacular!

We were finally driving to our ship.  Our non-stop travel had made us weary and we were looking forward to a quiet relaxing cruise.  NOT!!!  After we got settled in our cabins, we all went to dinner and drank too much of the wine .......   while eating dinner, we left port and the cruise through Wuhan at night was spectacular.  All the buildings were lit like TV screens with dancing lights, all colour co-ordinated.  We saw this each evening all along the Yangzi river.

Now beings our five days of scenic cruising on our way to the remarkable Three Gorges Dam and Xiling Gorge.

Stay tuned .....

  

IMPERIAL JEWELS OF CHINA, October 3, 2015

Day 2, Shanghai China

Our first full day in China!  Forget, the jet-lag, we were "get to go".  Breakfast was the hotel buffet and this was our introduction to the fabulous world of Chinese food.

A bit of housekeeping here.  There were approximately 150 people in total on the tour.  We were divided into 7 busses and 2 "sections".  The 2 halves were booked into different hotels and our tours were basically at different times, though we certainly did "bump" into them over the course of the trip.  Once we got to the ship we were all together.  The busses were exceptional, especially after some of the experiences we have had in underdeveloped countries.  So .. our hotel in Shanghai held half the tour and our half had 3 busses.  There were about 28 of us on each bus and these are the folk that we really got to know well.  That is our math lesson ... now on to more important things.

Our bus contained people from Canada, US and Britain.  A wonderful group of people who we got to know well.  Our guide (who was with us right through Hong Kong) was Jimmy.  We was in his mid-40's and spoke excellent English.  He was from Beijing and had a wife and teenage daughter.  His first task was to make it perfectly clear to all of us that we were his primary responsibility.  He was our guide, interpreter, host, historian and doctor (!).  Any concern we had, he was there and knew exactly what to do.  He instilled confidence and security in us, which was important.  We were told that under no circumstances were we to drink any water or ice in China or Hong Kong.  There was an endless supply of bottled water for us and we needed it as it was hot and humid.  Also, never brush our teeth with anything but bottled water.  We were careful to abide by this rule and as a precautionary measure we had taken Dukoral before we left home and Pepto Bismo twice a day.  Fortunately we never got into any trouble. We were each issued a set of earphones and a VOX box.  This kept us in communication with Jimmy.  If he could not see us, he could call us!  This allowed him also to explain all the places and items.  We kept it for the whole trip.

Our busses while in Shanghai

Our itinerary today included a tour through Old Shanghai on our way to the Yu Garden, tour of silk factory, lunch at a local restaurant, Shanghai Museum tour, dinner at a local restaurant and Chinese acrobat show. We were pleased that some of these stops were added on, not part of our itinerary.  So much for spare time!

Old Shanghai and Yu Garden

What change from the busy, modern downtown!  Our first encounter with the general Chinese population and it did not let us down.  While we were disembarking the bus, the local were busy taking our pictures.  Us "Westerners" must really fascinate them, especially us middle-aged+, white, slightly overweight, tall and grey haired tourists.  We also got our taste of Chinese "closeness".    There is no such thing as a personal bubble .... they are right "in your face" and fighting with both elbows.  We had to walk from the bus, through a few streets in Old Shanghai to the Yu Gardens.  We could have spent more time exploring the streets and shops, but never let Jimmy out of your sight! 

Sample of the fabulous architecture

The "old" and the "new"

Lined up for Yu Gardens

Yu Gardens is one of the most beautiful in Shanghai, dating to the Ming Dynasty.  It contains five acres of delicate pavilions and winding paths and its Grand Rockery boasts caves, grottoes and an artificial mountain nearly 46 feet high.  Since it was holiday week, the place was over-crowded but absolutely stunning.

Everybody "photo bombs" in China

Bob and Francine were not shy though 

Scenic photos from Yu Gardens

Our next destination was the silk factory and then lunch.  Any of these factories and showrooms we toured were all owned by the government and they guaranteed their products to be 100% authentic.

What a fascinating place!  Silk art is incredible, time consuming and expensive. We walked through the facility, learning the "art" of silk art.  We were able to see carpets, wall hangings and "pictures" all created with silk.  Of course we could purchase anything and it would be shipped free by DLR anywhere in the world.  Having done similar tours in other countries we knew that the shopping time would be short, so Judi made a bee-line to the smaller less expensive items.  We had a chuckle when we went into the carpet showroom as it brought back memories of Tangiers, Morocco where we toured a carpet factory and met the most aggressive sellers in the world.  Seriously, we will never forget this place as it was incredibly beautiful.  Many of the factories we toured had restaurants in the same building.  Our food for the whole trip was guaranteed to be 100% safe.  All were buffet and the food was excellent.

This lady would take a year to complete this carpet

The carpet is "cut" one it is woven ... a person would not want to make a mistake

We could not drink the water, but they always had local beer at the buffets.  We were hot and thirsty enough to drink anything!

Our day was only half over ..... we then toured the Shanghai Museum.  You have to remember that it was our first day, we all had jet-lag, had consumed a beautiful meal with beer and just wanted to sleep!  Jimmy told us this was our only museum on the tour and it is always too long or too short.  As usual, there was a 3 hour line-up but we were brought right to the entrance and got in immediately.

The museum really was overwhelming.  It contained wonderful exhibits, including ancient bronzes, ceramics and sculptures.   We had about an hour and a person could have spent a week.  The Chinese have put a whole new meaning to "ancient".

We returned to our hotel for "free time" .... aka  "sleep time".  Dinner was at a local restaurant and once again a fabulous buffet.  In the evening we attended an acrobat show performance featuring Shanghai's wonderfully talented acrobats.  No photos were allowed as they would distract the performers.  The final act involved a huge round metal cage where 8 motorcycles ended up "criss-crossing" in an incredible show.  Eric and Judi both had a feeling they had seen this before and realized that they had seen this exact act at the annual International Military Tattoo in Halifax the summer before.  Small world .......

See you tomorrow ....

IMPERIAL JEWELS OF CHINA, October 1-2, 2015

We were so pleased to be able to share our trip with Judi's brother, Bob and sister-in-law Francine. We left Nova Scotia before our departure from Ottawa on October 1, travelling through the States to Ingleside, Ontario.  The flight from Toronto to Shanghai was direct and 14 hours.  We were very surprised to not only have a full flight, but a flight basically 99% Chinese.  We later learned that we were arriving in China at the beginning of one of the country's holiday weeks.  Schools as well as government offices were all closed.  Our tour was through Viking Cruises and was 6-star all the way. Once we got on the plane in Toronto, we were well cared for until they put us on the plane in Hong Kong to come home.  We will go through each day and post some of the 3,500 photos we took.

Day 1, October 2 - Shanghai China

Our plane landed late in the afternoon and we put on our little red "Viking" stickers so we would be identified for our transfer to the hotel.  Not knowing what to expect with immigration and customs, we were somewhat surprised.  At immigration we had to present our Chinese visas (in our passports) and then they took our smiling pictures .... except, Bob and Francine did not get theirs taken.  Guess Eric and Judi looked kind of shady??  We then walked through a large doorway and presto we were officially in China.  Customs was somewhere in there.

Of course as with everything in Shanghai, the airport was ultra-modern and spectacular.  When we came to the exit, there was a multitude of people lined up, holding signs in Chinese.  We were told to look for the red Viking sign and they were certainly looking for us ... no challenge for them as we were the only 4 whites in the place!  Thus began our official tour.

The bus trip to downtown Shanghai took over an hour and if had taken the bullet train, it would have been 8 minutes; but we got to see so much.  First impressions were interesting.  What does one expect to see in China?  We were expecting rice fields, small houses and people.  Well, there were people, but everywhere we looked there were 32 story apartment building and cranes on each one.

Here we are looking somewhat jet-lagged, but glad to be in China

Our hotel was the Ritz-Carlton Portman in downtown Shanghai.  We got to meet our guide, Jimmy for the first time. Our passports were taken and we were checked in.  Free time until the morning!  Any sensible person would have slept and Eric and Judi decided to check out the local area.  The hotel had an underground shopping area as well as a five-story shopping area being built next door.  We were advised to take some time and walk through it.  Turned out that it was a flagship mall for most of the top-end luxury stores in the World.  Being vacation time, the streets were all lit up, as well as the buildings and there were people everywhere.  Most were young people who all had cell phones and smoked.  We had  just met the wealthy young Chinese people.  Getting back to the mall .... the flagship stores were spectacular and beside most of the stores, there were the matching children's stores.  For example the Gucci store had the Gucci Children's store beside it.  A foreigner would never shop here as the Chinese add duty as well a luxury taxes.  It was fun to walk through the stores, especially the 3 level Louis Vuitton store.

Beautifully lit street outside hotel

Uber is alive and well here. Outside our hotel

Outside hotel, but still under cover

Part of the lobby

View from our room

Our first day was over and we were ready to start our tour in the morning.  Please stay tuned for our next blog as we work through the 18 days we spent in this beautiful country.  Also, please share with anyone as we would love everyone to be able to experience China.

Return to Costa Rica ..... Chachagua Rainforest Resort

What a wonderful time this year as we have our Grandson Alex and his sweetie Emma with us for our first week. They are on their break from Dalhousie University and are ready for an adventure. Dave and Andrea are also with us for 2 weeks. We all flew together from Halifax and were only an hour late landing in San Jose because we had to be de-iced twice in Toronto. San Jose airport is very interesting as it is nestled in a beautiful valley, but wind can pose problems with take offs and landings.

Not having had children living with us made us realize how expensive they were when they did live with us. Boy, they sure know how to eat! Our birthday gift to Alex on his 21st was his and Emma's trip to Costa Rica.

We stayed at the Adventure Inn near the airport. They temperature in San Jose stays at 20 degrees the entire year. It was a lovely transition. The next morning our rental car arrived and we headed north to the La Fortuna volcanic area. Andrea and Dave took Alex and Emma to go into the caves. Apparently they had a ball and Alex got to go through "the birth canal" once again!

Even though it was only about 80km to Chacahagua Rainforest resort where we were to stay for 3 nights, it took us 4 hours as the Costa Rica roads are quite a challenge. The resort was absolutely gorgeous but it did have a 2km road into it that was typical CR 4 wheel drive. The temperatures in this area are slightly warmer, but not nearly as hot as the Pacific coastline.

Our first morning we were greeted by so many beautiful bird songs ... Eric was up at dawn and out with the camera. No AC here .... You just sleep with the windows open and enjoy the cool night air. This resort caters to bird-watching tours. It has a lovely restaurant which served very good CR food. This was the first place where we saw the "coffee sock" filter for making coffee.



All for now. I know I am 2 weeks behind in my blogs, but there will be much more exciting stuff to come.

La Iguana Chocolate Plantation

This place is hidden away high in the rainforest. It takes about 1 hour to drive there and the roads are typical Costa Rica dirt roads .... 4 x 4 is a must!!  We went to visit it with Andrew, not knowing quite what to expect. This place is an eco-friendly totally self-sufficient farm and it is staffed by volunteers from all over the world. They come and stay for a short time, working for room and board. The driveway gave our 4 x 4 quite a challenge. When we got there we found the volunteers working. The family that runs the plantation has been doing it for years and they have 3 hectares of cocoa plants as well as 30 trees beside the place. We tested several of the chocolates and they are 100% pure with no added sugar. They produce many different flavours as well as cocoa butter products.  They sell their products at local markets. The volunteers were from many countries and all ages. I was talking to a girl from Halifax who had been volunteering from Mexico down through Central America and was going to be there for one week. Talk about a small world!

Different types of chocolates

Volunteers working

This is where they grind the cocoa beans

Cocoa plant ready to harvest

Cocoa beans inside the plant. They are covered in a white coating that tastes like citrus. 

This small little place is tucked away, high in the rainforest on a terrible road. We were so thrilled to find it and to be able to see their processing. It is another of Costa Rica's little gems.

Pura Vida Botanical Gardens

We can thank Francine for finding another Costa Rica gem! She wanted to visit a botanical garden, so she asked the security guard for a recommendation and he led us to this place. Once again, the trip there was an adventure. It was 5 miles off the main road and when you leave the main road, you are on dirt roads which are an adventure in themselves. We climbed for 5 miles up a very steep road and were totally stunned when we found the place. It is owned by a guy from Austin Texas, who is a retired insurance salesman. He built the place about 12 years ago and now has it for sale for $2,500,000. He has a restaurant which caters to cruise ship passengers as well as large private bookings and he also has a smaller eating area overlooking the waterfall that does private dinners for about $125 per person ..... they drive you there and drive you home afterwards. The meal includes all the food and liquor you can indulge in ... good thing they drive you home.

We took about 3 hours walking around the place and it was VERY hot. We sure got our exercise. The place has a fantastic view of the ocean and I tried to get some photos that would do justice to the place.  Please enjoy .... we sure did love this place.

Eric and Bridgit walking along one of the paths

View of the ocean, way down!

At the restaurant overlooking the waterfall

Another view of the ocean with the road we travelled up the mountain

Bonus photo ... Crested Caracara

Our time here is winding down .... waaaaaaa ... don't want to go home!!!!!!