Category Archives: The Orient

We pack our bags, have breakfast and load on buses for a tour of the Three Gorges Dam. The dam is impressive but the tour was disappointing. We were able to view it from a distance but we were not … Continue reading →

We were underway all night. At 6:45 this morning we passed through the first of Three Gorges. The river, which is about 1/2 mile wide, narrows to about 300 feet wide with high vertical walls on each side. Soon after … Continue reading →

Our cruise down the Yangtze River will take four days and three nights. We will go about 450 miles from near Chongquing to Yichang, China. The Yangtze is the third longest river in the world; 3964 miles. They claim that … Continue reading →

25 March: Rise and shine, pack and be in the lobby with our luggage by 7:45am. Vivian gives us lots of last minute advice on our way to the Guilin Airport. She gets a little misty eyed as we all … Continue reading →

24 March: We meet in the hotel lobby for the days activities: cruise down the Li River and bike ride in the little village and country side. A lady at the front desk tells our guide that some missing laundry … Continue reading →

23 March:It is a 2 1/2 hour bus ride north from Guilin to the Longi area. This is a rural mountain area that is heavily terraced for rice paddies. The bus grinds uphill on a narrow serpentine road causing some … Continue reading →

21 March 2009 – Even with multiple interruptions, we managed to get a little sleep. At 6am we had a 2 1/2 hour stop at Nanning, China. We were escorted into a locked waiting room, at 7am we were told … Continue reading →

6 March: After a short nap at Fran’s house, Betty and I along with Fran and Charlotte were picked up by a van arranged through Wayne Bernikel. Jerry and Linda were already on the van. It was 12:15am and very … Continue reading →

First “day” of trip – dark. Arrived Mpls/SP at 2:45 and boarded on time (6:05) headed for Denver. We might have been able to have gotten another hour’s sleep before leaving. Many hours later somewhere over the Pacific we are … Continue reading →

We arrived in Vietnam after about 26 hours of flight time. It was a long flight, but we arrived in fine shape, and are having a great time. Our guide was at the airport to pick us up, as scheduled. He had … Continue reading →