thericechronicles: A Trip Not To Take

Saturday, October 14, 2017

A Trip Not To Take

My Dear Great Ones,

If you like to have your senses assaulted by a high pitched, microphone enhanced, Cantonese(more ugly sounding than even German or Russian) voice, incessantly speaking in an aggravated tone; gaudy lights that sear your retinas; disgusting smells of unkempt toilets, and overcooked dumplings that trigger your stomach to hurl the contents of your lunch overboard; plus pushy, loud crowds that have gone feral due to the inhuman, hot, sweaty conditions of the a waiting room; then a Pearl River cruise in Guangzhou is the answer. It is a taste of hell! Below is some photo evidence of the torture Celia and I endured. We naively got hoodwinked to going from advertising that suggested a Pearl River cruise is one of the greatest things to do in life. NOT! Big time NOT! Big waste of good money!

Here I am being herded into a very small, very crowded, waiting room. A woman is blasting instructions in cantonese over a microphone that only adds to the stress.

Once it is finally time to board the ship, we are herded on to the dock like cattle. MOOO.

The gaudy lights on the boats are an insult to the eyes. Dark sunglasses would have been welcomed.

The trip on the Pearl, actually it should be called the Sewer since it so polluted, is hard on the eyes due to the millions of lights. The Chinese just don't understand that classy and subtle is better. Instead its full on blast your eyes with lights.

Inside the boat the smell of urine, from the unkempt toilets, and a buffet of dumplings and poor critters, plus the noise of the people trying to be overheard over the too loud guide yelling in a microphone, will cause you despair. It is hell.

The Canton tower changes lights every 30 seconds or so. If you wait about 2 hours you can pay a fortune to ride to the top and go on a vertical ferris wheel, thats right vertical, (check it out online) and see exciting Guangzhou below. No thanks.