Posts Tagged With: Asia

Three Gorges Dam

Posted on May 27, 2018 by 2btravel

Exploring Asia Overview
Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG
Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Lodging Review: Regent Beijing Hotel
Beijing: Dongcheng District
Beijing: The Great Wall
Beijing: Run-ze Jade Garden
Beijing: The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Beijing: The Legend of Kung Fu
Beijing: Tiananmen Square
Beijing: The Forbidden City
Beijing: Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Lodging Review: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Xi’an: Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Xi’an: Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Lodging Review: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Lhasa: Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Lhasa: Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Lhasa: Potala Palace
Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Viking Emerald
Shibaozhai Temple
Cruising the Three Gorges
Three Gorges Dam
Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Wuhan: Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Shanghai: Shanghai Museum
Lodging Review: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Shanghai: Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
Lodging Review: The New Otani Tokyo Hotel
Tokyo: City Tour
Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen
ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita
All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston

When we awakened the next morning we found that overnight we’d been through a series of locks and were now moored just downstream from the Three Gorges Dam. The dam is the world’s largest power station as far as installed capacity, meaning how many megawatts it can sustainably generate. The dam opened in 2009 but wasn’t fully functional until July 2012. The locks, which are off to the side were completed a bit later.

The government set up an excellent tour program for the dam. Our bus driver took us to the welcome center where we all checked in and then were put on one of the buses specifically for the tour. That dropped us off at the foot of a hill that had a series of escalators to take us to the upper-most viewing area.

Escalating up to the Observation Plaza

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Categories: Asia, China, Cruises, River Cruise, Tours, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tours, Viking | Leave a comment

Cruising the Three Gorges

Posted on May 25, 2018 by 2btravel

After leaving Shibozhai, we had the remainder of the day to ourselves aboard the boat. It was terrific to be able to recharge our batteries a bit and there was always interesting scenery outside our balconies.

Our next day was spent sailing through two of the three gorges of the Yangtze. We entered the Qutang Gorge first. It’s the shortest, narrowest and (according to the literature) the most spectacular of the three.

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Categories: Asia, China, Cruises, River Cruise, Tours, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tours, Viking | Leave a comment

Shibaozhai Temple

Posted on May 23, 2018 by 2btravel

We awoke the next morning to find ourselves already at our first port of call. The view from our balcony gave us a clue of what we’d be exploring today.

This is Shibaozhai, which means “precious stone fortress”. This multi-story pagoda is built against the side of a stone hill and at the top is a temple. But first, we had to reach the area. Continue reading →

Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Viking | Leave a comment

Viking Emerald

Posted on May 21, 2018 by 2btravel

Our previous experience with Viking boats was on the 3-deck boats that cruise the rivers of Europe, like the Rhine and the Danube. The boat that is known as the Viking Emerald is not like that at all. During the cruise we learned that only Chinese-owned boats were allowed to traverse Chinese rivers, so this boat was actually owned by a Chinese company and leased by Viking though it was apparent that Viking had been in charge of the decor as there were lots of similarities to the European river cruise boats.

The Emerald (right) at our first port of call

As we had previously experienced, we received a warm welcome once we arrived – perhaps even more than usual because the staff was all aware of the ordeal we’d been through in Lhasa. The boat was already bustling with other passengers who’d done the Imperial Jewels of China tour. That tour is the same as our Roof of the World tour but without the stop in Tibet. Though the Emerald is a little larger than the European boats, the lobby made us feel right at home as the layout was very similar.

The Emerald has six decks (Viking deck plan):

Deck 1 is mostly below waterline and is for the crew
Deck 2 has the restaurant in the stern, the lobby, and passenger cabins in the bow
Decks 3 & 4 have passenger cabins both fore and aft
Deck 5 has passenger cabins in the stern and the Observation Lounge in the bow.
Deck 6 has an outdoor area in the stern, the gym, beauty salon, doctor, spa and internet cafe mid-ship and the bar in the bow

An elevator is available on Decks 2-5. Once reaching Deck 5 it was quite an impressive view down to the lobby floor.

View from Deck 5 down to the lobby

My roommate for this trip wanted to be sure we had a great time so we booked a suite, which at 301 sq. ft. was about 50 sq. ft. larger than the standard cabins. Unlike the European boats, all passenger cabins on the Viking have a balcony, though they’re all quite small. Continue reading →

Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Viking | Leave a comment

Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing

Posted on May 19, 2018 by 2btravel

Leaving Lhasa

It was another travel day but we had a late morning flight so we could sleep in a little, the weather was gorgeous so everything should be perfect. With an intro like that you know what’s coming, right?

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Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Viking | Leave a comment

Lhasa: Potala Palace

Posted on May 17, 2018 by 2btravel

We had been at altitude for two nights and now it was time for our big test. Could we survive the climb to the Potala Palace, home to Dalai Lamas for centuries? For some of us the answer was no; some did not even go visit the palace at all. Others went and climbed to the main entrance but did not actually go inside the palace walls. For the rest of us we took our time and made it without issue.

The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical residence of a being that embodies compassion. Construction was begun in 1645 on the orders of the Fifth Dalai Lama. The walls are an average of 3 meters thick – 5 meters thick at the base. The building stands thirteen stories tall and contains over 1000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and 200,000 statues. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

We had the chance to take some photos from a favorable spot at street level before starting our journey upwards.

The Potala Palace from street level

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Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Tours, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Leave a comment

Lhasa: Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery

Posted on May 15, 2018 by 2btravel

We were originally supposed to visit the Tibetan Museum during our visit but it was closed for renovation, so we made a brief visit to the Canggu Nunnery instead. While Catholic nuns typically cover their heads, Buddhist nuns shave theirs and their habits are very similar to the monks’ garments so when we first saw a nun outside the nunnery some of didn’t realize at first it was a woman we were seeing.

A nun washes a pot outside the nunnery

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Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Tours, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Tours, Viking | Leave a comment

Lhasa: Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market

Posted on May 13, 2018 by 2btravel

Of our two full days of touring Lhasa, the first morning was spent at the Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor Market area that surrounds it.

We were let out on a street corner not far from the pedestrian-only entrance to the market and made our way up to a large plaza. The Jokhang Temple is a Buddhist place of worship and is the spiritual center of Tibet. The oldest portions of the buildings date from the mid-650s. As with most buildings this old it has served a number of purposes over the years, been occupied by different religious and secular groups and has undergone a number of renovations. The most recent renovation wrapped up in the early 1980s. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.

But well before we got anywhere close to the temple we saw worshipers like these folks who were praying outside the entrance to the plaza. If you’re familiar with the exercises called “burpees”, that is very similar to what these folks were doing: they’d stand up straight, often with their arms over their head, kneel down on both knees and slide their hands forward on the ground until the were completely prone, then slide their hands back toward their knees until they were kneeling and then stand up again. The had either knee pads or something soft to kneel on and pads with straps on the top that they could easily slip their hands in and out of to make the sliding a bit easier. The whole time they did this they were quietly praying.

Morning Worshipers just outside the gates of the plaza

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Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Tours, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Tours, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Leave a comment

Lodging Review: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa

Posted on May 11, 2018 by 2btravel

After visiting the local home, we were all ready to get to the hotel that would be our home for the next three nights, the Shangri-La Lhasa. Nothing in the city of Lhasa is very far away from anything else so it didn’t take us long to reach the hotel’s drive. The hotel is on a fairly major street but has a high wall between the sidewalk and the hotel. The end of the hotel that’s closest to the street is actually part of the conference center so there’s no need to worry about any traffic noise – not that I think it would truly be an issue.

The hotel’s drive continues down beside the building all the way past the conference wing to the lobby. The lobby itself was quite large with numerous seating spaces available. To the left was the buffet restaurant, Altitude. A jag left from there and then straight ahead and you were in the conference wing.

Shangri-La Lhasa Lobby

Shangri-La Lhasa Lobby Seating

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Categories: Asia, China, Hotel, Lodging Review, River Cruise, Shangri-La, Tibet, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, Hotel Review, Lodging Review, River Cruise, Shangri-La, Tibet, Viking | Leave a comment

Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit

Posted on May 9, 2018 by 2btravel

Xi’an Wrapup

For a city I’d barely even heard of, I found Xi’an quite interesting. Like many places in China it’s quite the mix of the old and the new.

It’s the third oldest city in China and has been continuously inhabited since about 1100 BC. By contrast Beijing is about 55 years younger and Shanghai doesn’t even make the top 25 list. It’s the start of the Silk Road and is oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals, which also includes Beijing, Nanjing and Luoyang.

On the other hand the city was very modern and is the most populous in Northwest China (though geographically it’s not in western China) while emerging as a hub for China’s space exploration program, national security and research and development.

In general, I wouldn’t want to drive in China but in particular I wouldn’t want to drive in Xi’an. Motorbikes dart everywhere but miraculously we never saw a wreck anywhere in China, perhaps because people don’t drive very fast. Whereas in America we seem to hold fast to the ‘this is my spot in my lane don’t you dare interfere’ principle, in China it’s a bit more go-with-the-flow type of driving. But at least they drive on the “right” side of the road!

Motorbikes and Pedestrians crowd the crossing

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Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Viking | Leave a comment

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Posts Tagged With: Asia

Three Gorges Dam

Cruising the Three Gorges

Shibaozhai Temple

Viking Emerald

Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing

Leaving Lhasa

Lhasa: Potala Palace

Lhasa: Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery

Lhasa: Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market

Lodging Review: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa

Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit

Xi’an Wrapup

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