As our days have been packed I have not been updating the blog each day as I’d like to have.  Today is actually the first day with a little down time.  We boarded the cruise in Chongqing about 7 o’clock last night.  We departed about 9 o’clock and had a safety briefing and ship orientation at 9:15 before turning in.  Was up at six as breakfast is served between 7-8 only.  There was an optional shore excursion at 8 am to the ghost city of Feng Du which I chose to skip.  Instead I’m on the sun deck (under clouds) working on some posts and just relaxing.

There is a presentation (with PowerPoint!) about the Three Gorges that I will attend at 11 am and then lunch at noon.  At that point we’ll be shoving off for our next stop downstream this afternoon, the Red Pagoda at Shibaozhai.  I’m very much looking forward to seeing the Gorges tomorrow and then Friday morning we go through the locks to end our cruise.

The Red Pagoda at Shibaozhai along the Yangtze River.

More updates later…