Feb 26 - Traveling to Nanjing (Southern Capital)

Cargo ship going down the river

We were still sailing when we got up in the morning.  Went for breakfast (bacon is great, and had an omelette of some sort) and visited with our table partners for a while.  Back to our room to try the internet again.  Still not working so I went back to reception to see what they could do about it.  I had to bring my computer and the girl walked me through things.  Now it worked - wouldn't you know it.  So, back to our room and try again.  I was able to get to my emails, and started to read some of them.  Again, it quit.  However, I was able to get to the club website, and finally able to get to the Royal Bank site.  I was able to logon to the site, and get to my accounts, but when I tried to send them a message about our VISA card, the internet stopped working again.

This was bothering us both quite a bit, because we needed that card for things we had to pay for, specifically at the end of the trip to get off the boat.  Finally, I decided to phone VISA.  I had to use a phone provided by the ship (a cell phone) that cost 30 Yuan a minute (even though it was a collect call to VISA).  Well, the call was almost 12 minutes long, but they ironed it out and our card was re-activated.  The cost is about $70 CAD for that call - OUCH!!

When we arrived a Nanjing, about 5:15 pm, we were off the ship right away and onto our bus.  We met our new Nanjing guide, Christina.  She had quite a bit more of an accent, so was a little harder to understand.  And of course, the sound system on the bus had an echo that the driver couldn't turn off.  It was interesting.  Christina liked to talk, and it was work to understand her.

Entrance to Confucius Temple

The ship docked quite a ways outside of town, and the drive to the Confucius Temple was supposed to take about 40 minutes.  However, it was rush hour in Nanjing (population about 6 million - a medium sized city), so it took longer than expected.  The outskirts of the city were pretty seedy looking, but as we got more towards the center, it improved somewhat.  I still wouldn't want to live here.

We had to go through a city-wall gate (Nanjing used to be the capital, and there was a thick wall built around the city that was 32 km long) one of 30 gates in the wall.  Then we arrived at the temple, which turned out to be mainly a market.  Apparently where the temple was built, a market always was built all around it, and that is what it is today.

Lights in the market

Pagoda at entrance

I'm beginning to realize that the reason we are brought to these locations is so that we will spend our money.  There weren't the pushy people outside trying to get us to purchase knock-off items, and the grounds were very clean - people going around and sweeping, picking up debris, and just keeping the grounds tidy.  Going into a shop was also not too bad, until it looked like you might buy something.  Then, a salesperson sprang, and followed you around for the rest of the time in the store.  We don't bargain easily, so we must have looked like easy "marks".  They pointed at a price, and we just accepted it as the price.

KFC in the market

Rickshaw driver

It was dark by this time, but the area was lighted (sometimes gaudy lighting, but it worked here).  It was difficult to get photos, but even so, we managed to get a few that showed the area.  Interesting to find a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Hagen Daz,
and other shops like this, along with many stores, some higher end, and some not so high.  We just had to stop in to a couple trinket shops so that we could make a purchase or two.  ;-)

We only had an hour here, so before long it was back to the gathering place, and walk back to the bus (about 5 minutes).  We're with a pretty friendly group, so it was easy to talk with people.  One of the couples on another bus was on the Sweden tour for the World Junior Hockey Tournament, so we met and talked for a while.  They are from Salmon Arm and have also signed up for Finland in 2016.  Their names are Doug and Lorraine Ibbitson.

The ride back to the ship seemed faster, I imagine because the traffic wasn't so heavy.  I still wouldn't want to drive here.  They are crazy.

We were one of the first buses back, so were into the dining room fairly quickly.  Good thing because the line got very long once everyone was there.  They keep that room very hot, so we don't want to spend any more time there than we have to.  It was another good meal.  We didn't eat too much heavy food because it was later in the evening (about 9:00) and we didn't want it weighing on our system while trying to go to sleep.  The ship got under way while we were eating, and we continued our journey upstream, heading to the next place, Mount Jiuhua.

Nanjing from our balcony