| Yangzte River Hydrofoil Trip ? | |
|---|---|
| Jul 12, 2008 06:08 |   |
| guest01124 | How is this trip compared to the 3 or 4 days trip ? I know guidebooks advise against it as it is meant for local transport, but I may not be able to squeeze out 3 or 4 days. I wish to take my grandpa for this trip just to watch the 3 Gorges which my grandpa used to raved about for nearly his whole lifetime. My questions are: 1) Can I still enjoy the views with this trip ? 2) How much will it cost now and can I still get to do the Little 3 small gorges part ? After my tour trip/tour ends at Yichang, I need to get back to Kunming, which is the best option ? |
| Jul 13, 2008 08:03 | #1 |
 | Yangtze Hydrofoil is not just for locals and is a fast and effective way of seeing the gorges. I have used it several times. You do miss most of the last gorge but taking the bus through there is a pleasant way to see it anyway. I recommend stopping in Badong to see Shennong Xi To get the best view from the HF you need to spend time outside in the small areas on deck. It is noisy but I prefer this to spending all the time inside. If you bread the trip between Wanzhou and Yichang it is very pleasant. Read my reviews and tips for more information and prices of sectors. |
| Jul 14, 2008 02:29 | #2 |
| Going on to Wuhan by bus and then flight back to Kunming might be best. Unless you don't mind staying overnight in Yichang in order to fly back the next morning -- there's a Sichuan Airlines flight every morning at 1055. No direct train from Yichang to Kunming. |
| Jul 14, 2008 04:10 | #3 |
| GUEST01124 | Hi JAB, Where can I read your reviews and tips ? You mean I can break up the trips in a HF ? If I stop to do the 3 little gorges and Shennon Xi which you recommend, how much time to I need altogether ? As a non-stop HF already takes 11 hours from CQ to YC, where shall I stop to overnight ? ELLYSE, Which has more places to visit ? YC or Wuhan ? If I leave from YC, is it easy to go ZhangJiaJie and down to Guangzhou or Kunming ? Thanks |
| Jul 14, 2008 07:01 | #4 |
| Read the reviews here on TCG under reviews and tips on Chongqing and Three Gorges/Yangtze River Buses depart from Chaotianmen Bus Station to the Wanzhou Hydrofoil pier throughout the morning. Last HF to Yichang departs from Wanzhou around 1.30pm. bus trip is roughly 3hours. I would recommend Shennong Xi and after you read my review the Unsinkable Boatmen of ShonnongXi I think you will agree. All detials are included in that review. You'll spend the day travelling from Chongqing, Wanzhou to Badong arriving late afternoon. Stay overnight and arrange a trip from your hotel the small agencies in town. We caught the HF from Badong to Yichang around 2.00pm in the afternoon arriving in Yichang well before dark. Last part of trip (1hour) from the New Dam site is by bus. You'll be dropped near the train station and there is a pleasant hotel called Clearview on the same side of the street as the bus station as you make your way towards the train station. If you have time in Yichang wander down by the river and watch the locals swimming as a steady stream of vessels steam by. |
| Jul 14, 2008 07:02 | #5 |
| Shennong Xi tour is roughly 4 hours either morning or afternoon. If you do it in the morning you can catch and afternoon HF down river |
| Jul 14, 2008 07:14 | #6 |
| Sorry, didn't answer your question fully. Wushan is the stop for Lesser Three Gorges and this also requires a morning or an afternoon. You will still need three days to do this yourselves although if you leave really early from CQ you could get to Wushan to make an afternoon trip. Staying the night in Wushan and then leaving early for Badong but you will miss the morning cruise and you will still need to stay overnight in Badong after an afternoon cruise and take the early HF to Yichang in the morning arriving before lunch. You could take the bus to Zhangjiajie from Badong if you don't need to go to Yichang. If no direct bus to Zhangjiajie then take one to Enshi and change. It's a relatively good road and beautiful country south from Badong to enshi and on to Zhangjiajie |
| Jul 14, 2008 08:02 | #7 |
| GUEST01124 | Thanks again. Will I miss any of the 3 Gorges if I leave from Badong to Zhangjiajie without going to Yichang ? This way, I will be arriving for both the Lesser 3 Gorges and Badong-Shannong Xi Tours in the afternoon. Will it be too rush and easy to get seats upon arrival ? Is there any way that I take these trips in the morning instead ? So that I can arrive the night/day before to secure a tour for the next day. |
| Jul 14, 2008 08:07 | #8 |
| Wuhan, definitely! |
| Jul 14, 2008 08:13 | #9 |
| GUEST01124 | Pardon me, I am a bit confused. Is that Shennon Xi and Lesser 3 Gorges are just different names of the same ? |
| Jul 15, 2008 00:36 | #10 |
| Forget Wuhan. Too far down stream. You can plan your arrival in Wushan, Chongqing Municipality for the afternoon, Stay overnight, make arrangements for a morning tour of the lesser gorges That afternoon travel downstream to Badong, Hunan Province, stay overnight, arrange for tour of Shennong Xi for the following morning and bus tickets for early afternoon to onward destination of either Enshi or Zhangjia jie depending on the length of the trip. I try to avoid night travel in these parts even though roads are good but winding and mountainous. Limit to 5/6 hours duration and delays sometimes lengthen trips by up to one hour. If they tell you four hours budget for five. Always add at least one hour. If you get in on time that's a bonus. Yes you will miss the last of the Gorges, the Qutang but you will have seen up close some spectacular scenery and experienced the boat tracking in Shennong Xi. Badong is in the second gorge so you'll be right in the thick of it there. It should be enough. Mush of the Qutang is via bus these days anyway. Unless you take a Yangtze cruise boat which travels thru the locks in the new dam and on to Yichang. But recently they have been deepening the locks so a lot of cruises where also finishing at the dam and bussing on to Yichang too. |
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