Day 3
9:30 am 11/19/97 ct (Wed)
5:30 pm 11/18/97 rt (Tues)
We were awakened @ the crack of dawn by lots of noise and horns and people.
The boat had been noisy all night, but this was our wakeup call. The sun
had not even risen in the sky, and would not fo some time. It was 5:15
am.
By six we were heading off the docked boat and into a dark, slumbering
city. We had absolutly no clue what lay ahead of us. All we knew was that
we would return to our boat in three hours.
Hungry and tired we marked through the darkness, staying in a long group.
Explinaitons were made to where we would be heading, but Clair did not
know what the guides were saying, and everyone else on the ship is Chinese.
Finally we arived @ our destination The Ghost City. Still we knew nothing.
No clue what this Ghost City was. We headed onwards. There were many
stairs, and some stairwells that were pitchblack. We made our way slowlu
with the help of those with lighters. Mist and fog was everywhere, assing
to the already erie feeling. Large statues loomed in the darkness, but
of what form that actually were we shall never know. We entered a building
thoguh the mouth of a monster (or so the doorway was shaped). The mystery
continued. It seemed as if we were in some sort of Chinese haunted house,
equipt with torture chamber scenes and all. Many of the scenes we saw surely
related to Chinese legendry, but we did not understand them.
We finally left the haunted house. By this time the sun had risen, as
had the local street venders. Bomnarded by what was certainly Chinese for
"buy this" and such we made our way through the rest of the sites.
The Ghost City was basically a representation on Hell. The buildings have
been there for 1600 years. The rest, I am sure, is a recent addition.
We are back on the boat now. The veiws are seen only through a haze of
smog, and the river is a brown color. Sewage is drained into it, and trash
of all sorts is continually floating by. So much for the beautiful river.
It doesn't seem that great to me, except perhaps as an environmental hazzerd.
But we have not seen all of the river yet, and perhaps it will get better.
Let me now comment on the bathrooms on this boat. The smell, first of
all, is overwhelming, and not at all pleasent. Once you open the doors
you notice the lack of many things. A sink, stalls, toliet paper. But
worst of all, toliets. Are are two dividers about waist high. The only
thing they offer you privacy from is the person in the next stall. There
is a canal, maybe four to six inches wide that runs form one side of the
room, under each of the dividers, and out a hole in the wall. You must
squat down, and somehow manage to get your business in th canal, which has
a steady stream of water running through it. The you pull the toliet paper
that you bought earlier on from the boat store and wipe. I have been lucky,
though. First of all, there are very few women on the boat, and I have
never encountered anyone else in the bathroom.
I know this all sounds grafic, but it must be said to explain these bathrooms.
They are not terrible (compaired to what I do not know), but they very
well could be, and very easily.
It seems that most all the restrooms that I have encountered (except in
the room we stayed in on the very first night) have all been squat toliets,
which is basically a hole in the floor. When Clair first wanted me that
they were squat toliets I assumed she meant ones where the seat was, well,
not to be sat on, as we have all encountered in public restrooms@ least
once in our life. But I was not propared for the balance-and-aim-act I
was up against. I guess I am lucky that I adapt well.
I believe I shall go outside and take in the veiw. Perhaps as we venture
farther from the cit the scenery will be more, um, scenic. =)
****
Day 3
3:08 pm 11/19/97 ct (Wed)
11:08 pm 11/18/97 rt (tues)
Well, the scenery is absolutly breathtaking at this point. The rectangle
gardens cutting intot the slopes of the mountains. The lush greenery.
And the moss that almost looks like a blanket thrown over the land, trees,
buildings. I rather like it. From this distance the ukaliptus tree looks
like feather boas clumped together/ I did not recognize them at first.
It seems the smoggy haze here is a permanant fixture (sigh). It doesn't
ruin the veiw, only blankets it. I wonder how ofter they have clear days
here?
The dam they are putting in for hydroelectrics is an interestin contravercy.
On the bad side, of course is all the places that will be flooded, and
thus destroyed. As well as the fact tha many of the factories around here
dump their wast (of every sort) into the river. So once the dam is up the
waste will stay around, creating a huge cesspool. But on the better sire
imagine if you are one of the poeple without electricity now that will have
it with the hydroelectricity being created [Beck: "Things are gunna
chane, I can feel it."]. Also, much (most of, if not all) of the smog
in the air ["Government for hire." -R.E.M.] is from coal burning.
So if the people burning the coal for heat & to cook used electricity,
then most (all) pf the smog wpi;d s;pw;y fade away because there would be
nothing (maybe not nothing, but close) to cause the smog. There are heavy
arguements for both sides, and I don't have enough information to make an
informed decition, so I will remain undecided. Does one always need an
opinion on everything anyway?