So I’m going to condense the three boat days into one blog post because I realize that my posts are getting a little too long.
On our first day we passed through the 5 locks of the 3 Gorges Dam in the morning, and then went for a tour of the dam...I’d share the technical specs, and facts with you, but I need to do a bit more research because I’ve been told different numbers by different guides and people (well guides are people too, haha but I mean and other non-guide people..okay you get it- see this sort of stuff is what makes my posts too long, I'll stop now). Basically all these human beings got me a little confused...I made video clips of each version though just in case haha. The rest of the day was spent lounging on our boat’s deck and enjoying the views of the gorges.
The next day we took a tour of the Lesser Three Gorges and the mini gorges. We had a great local guide, she helped to really give me a sense of what the area would have looked like only about 7 years ago before it was flooded by the dam. It was nice also to have the chance to talk to her and find out a little more about the effects the dam has had on her and on others who live in the area. It seems that the consensus is that for the elderly, the dam and the ensuing displacement has done little good for them. For the younger locals however it has actually provided opportunities that they may not have otherwise had, such as the ability to get out of the smaller towns and get an education. I’m sure everyone has a different story and a different opinion on whether or not the dam has had positive or negative effects on the area and its people, I wish I had had time to speak to more locals from Wushan to get an even better sense of the issues.
At night the boat crew put on a little dance show for us, it was super cute! It was also nice to see the variety of music and dances that are performed here. We got to join in with a choo-choo train type of dance hehe, and musical chairs! Then they completely handed over the stage to us and a night of major karaoke-ing began! So fun!
Today was our last day (or rather last few hours) on the boat. A couple of us snuck off this morning after we docked to see the Ghost City here in Fengdu before meeting up with the group to make our way to our next destination: Chengdu.
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