Day 10 – Thursday 12 April - Boarding the Cruise

Leaving the foggy haze of the 30M population building site which is Chongqing, a caravan of Chinese worker ants carries our bags across the beach of the Yangtze to our boat, the “Long Punt”. As we walked up the gang plank a six piece brass band struck up Auld Yang Syne with a Chinese accent and we boarded battle cruiser “Long Punt”.

From a distance the mother ship looked like long Chinese Junk with a large superstructure of bamboo scaffolding. On board the pride of the Yangtze it is a floating hotel - a cosmopolitan atmosphere with everything from French coiffures to American tourists. We’ll need to check out the Foot Massage Parlour.

Now on the boat and Sonia has been having trouble with her spatial awareness. She has yet to work out the relationship between our boat, the boat alongside and the scenery. Sonia – if the mountains are not moving then our boat is likely moored and it is the other boat which is moving. Scientific note: the river flows past the boat whether or not the boat is moving. You’ll get the hang of it soon, but we’ve only got three days.

We were welcomed on board by a sturdy and formidable looking lady who seemed to be in charge of passenger welfare. She spoke we a curious accent with a hint of the fatherland. This was the kind of woman you didn’t mess with and whom may have been imported from the Chinese equivalent of Butlins. Clearly we were all going to be happy campers. “Velcome to Butlitz”.

We settle down for a drink in the bar and watch the downtown lights of the city extinguish in the fog. We discover the Häagen-Dazs fridge and still suffering from Dung King hot pot, sneak some back to the comfortable cabin feeling sleepy.

Advisory Note: “5 Star Chinese Boats” are not the same as “5 Star Western Hotels” – be warned!