Vacation is not a Walk in the Park, or is it??

The bad news is we missed the boat tonight, but the good news is we have one more day of Internet because of it! I'm afraid when we catch our cruise tomorrow internet service will be difficult.

We started out the day at the lovely gardens  by the Yellow Dragon Cave. They were sprucing things up for a big International Music Festival in August, and they had a real variety of plants, including these gourds overhanging the walkway.

We also enjoyed all the pretty waterwheels at the entrance to the cave. Ed and I enjoyed the special "short" line at the cave entrance for foreigners, but John's translation of the crowd complaining as we sailed in was not too flattering!

One of the special things about the cave is a nice boat ride shortly after entering. It was a lazy river ride in a boat, with lovely formations to look at as you passed. We thought it was going to be a piece of cake!

It turned out to be about 3 kilometers of climbing stairs up and down! There was a point we thought we'd never get out. Fortunately, it was well lit, and enjoyable as we walked.

Amanda even got to try out the acoustics and sing an opera solo for us at the echo chamber. It was pretty impressive, and even made it difficult for the Chinese tour guides with their microphones blaring to continue their description of each formation.

In the afternoon we took another "stroll" along the Golden Whip Stream. It was absolutely beautiful, but another 5 kilometers at a slight uphill grade. It rained off and on, but it cooled things off and made the mountains misty.

Did I mention how beautiful it was? Just like Shangri-la! I loved the bridges, the clear water, the mountains, and columns. It was paved all the way, and aside from having to swim upstream in a sea of Korean and Chinese umbrellas, it was very enjoyable!

There were plenty of monkeys lining the trail, and John even posed with one to have his picture taken.

I briefly considered hiring a sedan chair to carry me the rest of the way, but decided I couldn't feel good about myself if I let two small Chinese men burden themselves with me! They were willing to try, however, and I had plenty of offers!

John introduced us to the pleasures of Chinese foot massage today. We had just enough time to stop and each get a massage before running off to the airport.

We didn't realize that it included the head, shoulders, legs and back, as well. We were putty by the time they finished with us!

The bad news was, our flight was delayed and we missed our cruise boat. Here is us looking sad at the Holiday Inn in Chongqing! Fortunately, our tour company will drive us to the first port of call in the morning, and we should be able to pick up the rest of our cruise! Aside from the extra expense we've incurred, it felt good to know we would be taken care of when we arrived tonight!