My Trip to WUHAN!!!: Three Gorges Trip

Off to The Three Gorges today!!! We headed off around 12.30pm and travelled for about 4 hours and then had dinner. We couldn’t take our bus to the wharf so we had to transfer to a different bus. That took another 1 hour or so. By the time we reached the wharf, it was already dark out. After we got assigned our rooms, we paid a deposit of 20 yuan to get our key. I think a lot of us were shocked when we entered our rooms. The room was really small and the bathroom worse!!! The room had 2 beds, a desk and a chair. The bathroom was only a tad larger than your normal cubicle and the toilet sink and shower were all in the same place but I think this gave us a new experience as even if some of us have been on cruises, the rooms weren’t as small and tiny as the ones we encountered before. It really showed us the insight of a sailor’s life. The cruise didn’t really have much. There was just a convenience store and a dining room where all of our meals were served. The rest of the cruise was just guest rooms. There was also a deck but it was too dark to see anything at that hour. The next day, we had breakfast and headed to the deck as we didn’t have much to do until 4pm. The view of the gorge was so amazing. I still couldn’t believe that I was in the legendary Three Gorges! It was so breathtaking. Lunch was slightly later than what they had told us and most of us were starving. Another new experience for us was that while our cruise was docked, there were these sampan like boats that stopped by our boats and sold us seafood such as fried fish, boiled baby shrimp and tiny boiled crabs and they were all quite delicious too. After lunch, most of us studied since we didn’t have much to do. Around 3pm there was an announcement that we were passing a famous part with nice scenery. Turns out it was one of the Three Gorges. I have never felt so honoured to be anywhere else in my entire life. Around 4pm, we stopped at Bai Chi Dang, one of the islands off the gorge. The weather was really hot and it made me feel like I was back home. For the first time since I’ve arrived in Wuhan I was walking around without any form of winter wear. Just my shirt and jeans. Later on, I even showered in cold water. There wasn’t really much to do on the island, just that the scenery of the gorge was really nice. Oh and one thing that I have to mention. When back at home, we go to the tourist attractions such as The Singapore Zoo or Jurong Bird Park and they employees there get us to take photos with a fake background and then charge us S$30 for each picture. Here in Wuhan, instead of using green screens they use the natural background and they charge only 20 yuan which is about S$4 so most of us bought pictures of ourselves and even if you don’t want the large photo they give you a tiny free one as a souvenir. Later at night, looked out of our cabin windows and happened to glance upon a beautiful city night sky. Some of us rushed up to the deck and took pictures and me and Irfanah the decided to star gaze from the deck of the ship. The view was so amazing and it was a once in a lifetime experience. I mean how often does one lay on the deck of a cruise in between the legendary Three Gorges and star gaze? On the third day, we got up earlier than usual to watch the sunrise. However, we were quite upset when we realized that we couldn’t see the sunset due to the fog. Anyway, we headed out to take a motorized dragon boat that took us to a floating island. The walkways of the island were floating plastic platforms which reminded me of The Floating Platform back at home at Marina Bay. The purpose of this island was to allow us to walk along the gorge. Upon coming to this island, I finally realized the true reason as to why I took Geography back in secondary school. The landforms all around were truly amazing and I was in awe as I walked along the gorge and was breath taken by the scenery. I was glad that the Three Gorges trip was the last weekend trip of our OIP as it ended off China for me on a high note and it was a truly amazing experience for me which I will forever hold in my memories.

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