Today we enjoyed the luxury of a lie-in and a late breakfast (by cruise standards, at least) from 7:30 am. Immediately after eating, we docked and were bundled into a very old, janky-looking bus to head to today’s attraction, the Snowy Jade Cave. It is a large cavern filled with calcium deposits forming stalactites and stalagmites (the snowy part), some of which feature mineral deposits and green jade-like hues (the jade part).
First, we actually had to get there, which proved to be a heroic effort for our struggling vehicle. The poor bus groaned at every slight incline. At one point, we were moving so slowly that two other buses tried to overtake us simultaneously, right as a motorized rickshaw was coming from the opposite direction. It was a miracle we all made it through in one piece, although our hearing took a permanent hit from all the hectic horn-beeping.
Thankfully, we arrived safely and walked the final stretch to the cave entrance, accompanied by a few curious macaque monkeys. Exploring the cave was great fun. Some sections opened into massive caverns while others squeezed down to tight crevices we had to inch through. Naturally, almost every calcium deposit was named after whatever object or mythical creature it vaguely resembled, of course being China there were several dubious looking ‘dragons’. There was a lot of colorful lighting but sadly this time there was no smoke machine. We also got a kick out of the signs along the path, which transitioned from helpful safety advice to deeply inspirational life advice the higher up the steps we climbed.
After finishing the tour, we had some spare time before heading back, so we sat down to watch the local monkeys. The park authorities had tied large squashes up in the trees to keep the animals fed and close enough for photos, explicitly to discourage tourists from feeding them directly. Big signs everywhere warned that feeding the monkeys turns them into aggressive pests.
Unfortunately, a few Chinese tourists ignored the rules entirely, using peanuts to lure monkeys onto their laps for photo ops. This worked brilliantly until the peanuts ran out. The moment the snacks disappeared, the monkeys grew annoyed and started tugging at the tourists’ hair and clothes to demand more. The tourists managed to break free unscathed, but mere moments later, they were right back at it, randomly poking a monkey sitting on a handrail in the stomach. We decided to head off and leave them to it, as a painful lesson seemed inevitable and we had no desire to stick around to watch it.
We piled back into our janky bus and trundled down to the dock, thankfully without further incident. Once back on board after lunch, we had a free afternoon, so our guide Michael offered to teach us Mahjong. It turned out to be surprisingly easy to pick up, playing much like rummy or other set-matching games, though Michael did have to write numerical values on the tile suite with Chinese characters so we could read them.
The best part of the whole experience was the table itself. It featured a built-in automatic dice roller in the center to determine who started and where to split the tiles. At the end of a round, the center raised up to reveal a mechanism into which you swept all the tiles. The table then shuffled, sorted, and neatly stacked them back into rows before pushing them back up for the next game. It was extraordinarily snazzy.
The four of us spent about two hours playing. Michael seemed genuinely pleased that we enjoyed it so much, circling the table to check our hands and offer tips. A crowd of Chinese guests gathered around to watch us play, which added a touch of performance pressure. Luckily, everyone won a couple of hands, so there were no sore losers in the group.
Afterward, we retreated to our room and finally had time to sit back and relax on the balcony for a bit before dinner. It was a nice way to relax and enjoy the scenery without the crowds. We even saw a pretty waterfall.
In the evening we enjoyed our final dinner on the boat another buffet of Chinese food, however this time we recognised some familiar faces… Smiley potato faces that is! Not quite sure these are a Chinese delicacy but we still enjoyed them! After a few photos requested by the kind dinner staff we headed back to our room to pack.
Tomorrow we head to Yangshuo, making a stop off in Chongqing, the largest city in China and in fact, the largest city in the world! Home to 32 million people! Hopefully we don’t get lost…
Will tell you all about it soon, love Alice x