After Commencement: Yangtze part 1

So, Saturday June 19th (the day after my graduation ceremony at the HNC) I went to the Nanjing Train Station (南京站）and boarded a 28-hour train bound for Chongqing. I bought tickets for a sleeper bunk, so it was a very comfortable journey of napping and reading and chatting to the very friendly woman in the bunk opposite me (in the morning, she fed me roasted peanuts and lychee, and I helped her wind a skein of yarn into a ball).

Chongqing has been one of the cities to most benefit from the building of the Three Gorges Dam, which has made a long stretch of the Yangtze river navigable for large ships and made Chongqing a major port. A friend, Melody, met me in Chongqing on Monday, after my train ride and a stay in a hostel, and before boarding our Three Gorges cruise ship in the evening, we walked along the river.

I liked the traditional-style roof in the same shot as the middle-of-river construction

here are ships like the one that we rode, and big buildings and bridge of downtown Chongqing (...actually, I'm not sure there is one 'downtown' or that this is it, but saying so makes cities in Iowa seem less tiny)

Our cruise lasted from Monday evening through Thursday morning (when we de-boarded the ship straight onto a Three Gorges Dam tour bus, and, y'know, toured the Three Gorges Dam). The first morning we toured the "Ghost City of Fengdu," a 'city' of temples built for ghosts' use after departing this life. One temple was actually in use by monks, but I think most of the buildings were built more with tourists in mind than anything.

a map of the "Ghost City"- the central of three sections is being built in the shape of a King into the Mountain.

here's his head.

this is the gate to the top temple on the right-hand side of the City.

That evening we toured Zhangfei temple, which was full of calligraphy and very fun, though by that point I was nursing a sunburn from falling asleep on the sun deck (I was in the shade when I sat down! The ship turned after I fell asleep!) and a little cranky. Um, though I don't seem to have and pictures of the calligraphy. I think my camera had died... I will see what I can find later.

Many of my favorite pictures were just of the river.

boats next to us as we left the ship the first time

view of the rising sun over the Yangtze

River!

The first and most dramatic of the Three Gorges- it looks like the river slices through the middle of a mountain.

I'll post this now and put the rest of the cruise in a separate entry. Stay tuned!

Home Safe!

I am in Ames and feeling good. I think I will mostly be hanging out quietly at home for the next couple of days- resetting my sleep schedule and fulfilling a month-old date to stay up all night watching movies with my brother. But I will start to make phone calls and lunch dates to catch up with anyone else in the area soon. Also try to catch up my blogging on all the travel in the last few weeks.