So Saturday morning, bright and early, we were picked up by a bus for our weekend trip to the Three Gorges Dam. This bus ride ended up taking over 7 (!!) hours, including three bathroom breaks, and one lunch stop. After we finally got to the area, we visited a temple that was located near the Dam site. Unfortunately, they had recently rebuilt it, so there wasn't much ancient about it. But it was still a beautiful structure to wander around. Last Monday was the national Dragon Day festival, which is celebrated with special Dragon Boat races. At the second place we visited during this long hike, they had a dragon boat on display. This is not like the typical rowing races, because these boats can hold up to 20 men, and the race track also involves turns around the lake terrain.
The temple entrance.
Me posing with one of the Dragon Boats. You can see some of the Dam structure in the background.
After this visit, and another food stop, we finally got to the hotel at 9PM. This 4-star hotel was a very welcome change from our place in Wuhan. To our pleasant surprise they even had Bowling in the hotel, so we ended we played a couple of games with some of the other American students, while enjoying some well-deserved beers. Again, we didn't make it too late, because more activities were planned again for the morning.
After breakfast we went on a boat ride. This boat toured us on the Lake that has been created by the dam. Again, we didn't have a sunny day, but the temperature and nice breeze made it a very pleasant trip. The nature was beautiful, so we got to take some more nice pictures.
After breakfast we went on a boat ride. This boat toured us on the Lake that has been created by the dam. Again, we didn't have a sunny day, but the temperature and nice breeze made it a very pleasant trip. The nature was beautiful, so we got to take some more nice pictures.
A view from the tour boat
Once we got back from the boat ride, we got to visit the Dam more closely with a bus tour. This time we really got a good impression of the vast size of the project, and how it has permanently changed the landscape. They even had to relocate a mere 1.3 Million people in the process! A also visited a special area which displayed many of the construction tools they used, including some gigantic rock hauling trucks. I know my cousin Alex would have loved to see these, so I decided to include a picture :)
Posing for yet another Dam picture
They really don't mess around when it comes to CONSTRUCTION
That visit concluded all our the plans for the weekend. Only one thing remained: the 6 hour bus ride back home.. *sigh* We made it back, that's all I will say. And so I finally have the chance again to go on-line, and to provide you all with my stories and pictures of this wonderful weekend. I hope you all had a great weekend too! Tomorrow will be our last day of the project already, since we are presenting our results on Tuesday. I will get back to you again tomorrow, hopefully with some wonderful news on the project as well!
Take care,
Jeff
Take care,
Jeff
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