This was a day that we planned to arrive at our destination middle of the day. However the heavy rain and a few delays saw us arriving closer to 2pm.
What a wonderful city. With a population close to 30 million it is amongst the largest cities in China.
On reading the lonely planet guide we decided it may be possible to see a western doctor in this town. Ian had a bite on his leg several days ago and this appeared to be now an insect under the skin. We decided so early in the trip we shouldn’t let it take its course. A phone call to the clinic failed. Adding the town’s extra phone digits helped and I was able to communicate that we would visit later in the afternoon.
After checking in to the hotel, Ian and I went walking. What lovely people we met. One Chinese lady, Rachelle, saw us bewildered and asked us if she could help. She had studied in Newcastle and went out of her way to show us, actually walk with us, to where we were going. This wasn’t just around the corner but several blocks away. How lovely she was.

Another occasion, someone kindly  wrote the address of the clinic for us in chinese to show the taxi driver and even walked a block and hailed a cab for us!

Life was looking good. The people in Chongqin were very friendly and we were made to feel very much at ease. We taxied to the Global medical clinic where they suggested we call the insurance company…yes on their phone and consequently received permission to see a doctor.

Dr Denis from Bolivia looked at Ian’s leg and prescribed a drug to fix it. He had obviously seen this before. Again was a great experience!

As the afternoon had disappeared on us, we regrouped to decide what we would do. We decided to catch the cable car across the Yangzi River. A ride across in the daylight, a walk on the shoreline and a ride back with the city lights was fabulous. Dinner near the hotel and a stroll to see the local sights.

What a day!

This was a day full of photos that I hope I can post. The most amazing limestone caves. It was a 6 km walk through the cave and we saw every limestone shape imaginable. How names are produced for some of them is incredible.
Late afternoon Vulcan had a flat tire which added time to Ian’s evening as he had to source a repair.

A fabulous chinese meal concluded a brilliant day.

We headed off from the hotel at 8am…our usual time with Vulcan in the lead. Morning tea stop was at the Xingyl gorge. We walked down into the gorge for some lovely photos and then continued onto the Huangguoshu waterfall for lunch.This is the largest waterfall in China and to equate it with Niagara Falls would be appropriate.
The waterfall was interesting. of course we attracted attention as we parked and then had to catch a bus to the smaller of the waterfalls. That was a walk down and stroll around the circuit. We boarded another bus and went to the main waterfall. Lots of people there and interestingly we were the only non chinese we saw. Some wonderful Bonsais were up the tip of the hill and the walk down was interesting. We caught the escalator up from the waterfall…well worth the ride!

Arrived at the hotel about 6 and Ian and I chose to have a quiet evening in the room instead of a chinese meal out.

A wonderful day!

The intention was to rise early and see the sunrise over the rice fields. However…it was drizzling and foggy and at 6.00am when we should have arisen we decided some extra sleep would be in order. The fog was thick and those that did get up saw very little.
After breakfast we headed in our cars down the mountain and this was in complete fog!

This was a driving day and eventually when we got low enough the fog cleared. There were stops for morning tea and lunch. The fields of crops were fascinating and trying to work out what was planted under the sheets of black plastic kept us busy. A few photos were taken but the challenge at present is to have good enough internet to download them onto the blog. I am sure it will happen but not tonight!

Out to dinner to have “hot pot” a traditional food of the area. Wonderful soup base to which is added vegetables and  beef and then more vegetables!  A wonderful aroma and taste was superb. Top it off with a glass of wine, a rare treat in this area and our evening was complete.