After Chengdu, we left for Chongqing and our Yangtzee river boat cruise. We arrived there very early and were met by a guide who brought us to the travel agency to drop our bags. Our day in Chongqing wasn't pleasant as we had many errands to run. While in Chengdu, we managed to communicate with women on the street to find a store selling wool. Just walking in Chongqing, we found the wool district as there were literally dozens of shops selling wool. The rest of our day was spent walking around and trying to get ahold of people back home hoping to find a new temporary home for our cat. Just before leaving on the boat, we were reunited with a traveller we had met on the train to Irkutsk. Once on the boat, we saw Chongqing lit up like a little Tokyo with neon lights surrounding the harbour. It was quite a sight! Finally we were on our way down the famed Yangtzee (known locally as the chang Jiang). We thought it symbolic to drink our first bottle of Great Wall wine on the Yangtzee, but it was regretably the worst wine I have ever tasted. So into the Yangtzee it went. The trip was very relaxing. We shared a room with a Chinese family and their little son. We didn't take in most of the sites along the way partly because of cost but mostly we didn't want to get up at 5 am to see yet another temple. At each stop, we were able to buy food (and tacky souvenirs of course-it is China) like as if we were back on the Trans-siberian. Sadly as the day wore on, a Cold was setting in and taking over my body. Day 2 on the boat: I could barely get up as I was too sick. I barely saw the first of the Three Gorges as I was too ill. That afternoon, we left the boat to visit the Lesser Three Gorges which was not a move that would improve my health. In the end, it was worth it. The scenery was spectacular. Sadly, we could see the markers indicating how much more the Yangtzee will be flooded. The Chinese government is damning the Yangtzee to such an extent that most of the beautiful scenery we witnessed will be submerged in a few years. The only positive from the project will be that it may reduce China's dependancy on coal for providing electricity, but that's unlikely. Once we arrived at the end of the tour, I was so ill that we had to stay behind instead of continuing with our plans. We spent the night in Yichang (a non-descript town along the Yangtzee) and forced on the following day to Yangshuo. We took a painful night bus (it was a sleeper designed for Chinese people-how do I know? let's say there was no leg or shoulder room). We made it eventually after 22 hours on the road and, in that time, Michaela became sick. Pleasant times for us! Yangshuo was the main reason why I came to China. It is known for its stunning and unique scenery-the limestone karsts. Unfortunately, we spent our 4 days there recovering from our multitude of illnesses. Sadly, we were happy to be in a town where we could easily find western food to settle our stomachs. After 3 days in bed, we recovered enough to take a kayak trip along the Li river to get a beautiful view of the karsts. We explored the town a little; it was cute but very touristy. We set off for Guangzhou on another painful night bus. Somehow, in China it can take 13 hours to travel 550 kms. On top of that, it was the bumpiest 550 kms I've ever experienced, even after Lesotho. We stopped in Guangzhou solely to pick up our passports and our Vietnam visas. We had sent them (stupidly) in the mail hoping to save ourselves time but instead it just gave us anxiety. We spent the night in Guangzhou but left the following day to make our way to Hong Kong.