It rains and rains and then rains some more and the mist is as thick as ever. We have booked our boat trip – a three-night, four-day cruise on 5* boat leaving tomorrow evening and arriving in Yichang on Tuesday. From Yichang we will be able to take a bus to Wuhan where we will stay the night before travelling on to Guilin. Even though the cost of the trip is nearly £600 we have to pay in cash – cards are not used much here (we have had to pay for everything in cash including the flight tickets from Beijing to Xi’an). This presents a bit of a problem as the maximum ATM withdrawal is just over £200 a day. So we have to resort to making withdrawals from three different accounts. Just as well be brought so many cards! We make the bus trip to the Three Gorges Plaza in Shipingba for the second time (3 Yuan – 25p for the two of us) and take the opportunity to do some shopping. We return about 4pm and as I sit writing this by our open window, night is falling on very grey (note correct spelling, Mike!), wet and murky river. Only the neon flashing sign and fairy lights of a tea boat moored on the river’s edge breaks the gloom.
Our cruise involves dressing up for a banquet on the last night so as Andy’s wardrobe is distinctly dress-down (no surprises there) with his ‘best’ trousers being a pair of zip-off cargo pants, we go hunting for something smarter. Well, given all the shopping malls and boutique shops around the Plaza that shouldn’t be a problem. That is, until we discover that all the shops sell jeans and jean-style trousers to the exclusion of any other kind! On closer inspection of the crowds this is not surprising given that almost everyone here seems to dress in jeans. Eventually we find an cheap underground mall which runs beneath the Plaza and a little stall selling smart-casual trousers that are just the job. In the meantime, we’ve also picked up a new 8gb flash card (the one we bought in England is corrupt), a belt to go with my black dress (left behind in England) and a new set of headphones with microphone for Skyping (the pair we brought with us have disintegrated).