On this boat there are officially 97 mostly middle aged Germans, 3 Chinese, 128 crew members and me. Its 5:30 am, I was woken up by the fog horn and the boat is just starting to move. At 5:45 they're going to officially wake everyone up so that we can see the "passage through the lock of the Ciezhouha Dam, known as the old dam. Part of why this tour is so popular is that they are building a new dam, which will put the homes and relics of millions of people under water.

. . . . .

Its now 10am. We went through the first part of the first of the gorges. The boat is now stopped at the "new dam site. When this dam is finished the water level will rise 100 meters upriver. The Germans have three guides for all of them, but since I am the only english speaking guest, I get one on one history lessons, explanations and the opportunity to ask questions.

. . . . .

I've been exploring the boat a bit more today. I really love the Chinese calligraphy brushes they sell, but I'm not planning to buy anything on the boat since I'm sure its all terribly overpriced. Also interesting was a bamboo pole with what appeared to be fire crackers wrapped around it. I wonder if its used for a celebration or flares or? (I later found out that its used to "scare away ghosts")

Its 7:20pm now. I've spent a lot of the day watching the postcard scenery, coal boats, and shore fishermen go by.