The turnaround at Shennong Riverlet

As I said...the current going downstream was very strong. This was our boat being pushed by the rushing waters.

All attention shifted to the front of the sampan...the lookout...keeping a sharp eyes on the waters ahead as our boat moved swiftly downstream.

Our boat captain...that's him with the tilted hat, could now afford to relax and smile. The hard and difficult part was over. So, he broke into a huge smile. Then....he too started singing!

It was truly magical...his voice and the song that he sang reverberating beautifully in the narrow confines of the river.

I wished I had a sound recorder with me.

This serves to remind myself that I must have a recording device on my next trip.

I have missed numerous opportunities to record exotic songs, sounds, tunes and chatter on all my previous travels. One big miss I won't forget easily was how the Mongolians sing and make music with their noses[ nasal passage]....when we were last in Mongolia.

More on the "Boat Trackers "

A close up view of how the trackers do their job. The end of the pulling rope is attached to a piece of thick cloth slung over the shoulder and back.

This boat had successfully been pulled over the shallows and made the turn around trip, now heading down river. It was much easier down stream as we travelled with the current. But steering is now more tricky. Both the bow and stern requires good control otherwise the boat may capsize.

These men were frantically reattaching a rope that had snapped.

It was truly heartbreaking work!

They fully deserve my respect and admiration.

Our boat too had turned around and this was the view of the upper reaches of the stream.

Sampans pulled by "Trackers".

Before long, Shirley our "Tujia" guide entertained us by singing a traditional love song in her native dialect. It was an interesting kind of song as we, the travellers, were involved too by echoing certain parts of the chorus that she had taught us.
It had a nice rhythmic melody and was perfect as we cruised along.

This is the tough part of the boat journey....hitting the shallows. It was a rock-strewn river bed that was so shallow that at some parts less than a foot of water was the depth! Naturally, the boat can still be pulled over a foot of water. And naturally too a boat fully loaded with about 12 persons will get bogged down in the rock and mud! It was at this point where we witnessed the age-old legends of the "boat trackers" at work.

The boatmen kept their paddles and brought out coiled ropes made from a kind sturdy rolled up bamboo vine...not the usual manila hawser type. They attached one end to the sampan and the other coiled round their shoulder. And using their body weight and sheer muscle power began to pull the fully loaded sampan inch by inch over that stretch of bedrock. I watched them closely, their teamwork and their unique spiritedness. Then suddenly.....one of those pulling our boat...his rope snapped and he fell into the mud and water. I felt very, very guilty seeing all this!! I was certain many others must have felt the same way too. Here we were, all cosy, comfortable and dry and all being deadweight on the boat posing a huge weight problem to these boatmen who were huffing and puffing and heaving away...to drag us over the shallows.

I really felt the urge to jump over to help them out. [ See my Gunung Tahan posts where we were in similar situations in 1969 at the Tahan River. We all came out to help push the boat over the shallow rapids.]

But we were expressly told not to worry and to sit tight. Just let them do their job.

And that was what they did....excellently! When one other boat fully loaded with bigger sized caucasians got fully stuck and no amount of pulling could budge it, instant help came from the boatmen of other sampans. With additional manpower....the job was done.

I understand that " trackers" only earn about 3 or 4 $ US a day. !!!

All of them deserve our RESPECT for the way they continue to work to preserve their age-old tradition of boat tracking.

Life-vests are Mandatory!

As we boarded the sampan, we sat on a simple plank seat placed across its beam. Then well-used life-vests were issued to every single traveller and the wearing of it was compulsory before setting off. Only the boatmen themselves do not put on as for them it would hinder their paddling movements. This was the basin steps from where we set off.

Heading up river, the many boats loaded with visitors make a beeline for the gorge. Meanwhile, our chirpy "Tujia" guide Shirley, gave us a running commentary in passable English about the history, geography and culture of this place.

A boat soon overtook us to our left. I captured this shot quickly. You can see clearly 5 boatmen [without lifevests ] . And also a female guide in

blue dress.

This was our boat. Judging from the flow of the water and the current in the river...it was very tough work for the boatmen !

Excursion by Sampan to River's end

Soon, our cruiser arrived at the heart of "Tujiaren"..that is, the native people who have lived here from ancient days. They are mostly farmers and they live along the slopes of the mountains or along the river banks. The menfolk are also good fishermen in their sampans. The waters of the Shennong and its tributaries teem with fishes.

But the most famous thing about this place and their culture were the legendary " trackers" in the past. These were men who literally used their full body and muscle power to pull ships of all sizes in the more dangerous and upper reaches of the river.
The upper reaches are usually very shallow and the land around there is very rocky, flat and muddy.
These "trackers" use long ropes attached to the ship and coiled over their upper back....and it would require many, many men working together as a team, on both sides, to pull it off.

Each of the sampan is manned by about 4 Tujia men. In addition, on our boat, we have a young and pretty Tujia girl who was assigned to us as guide since she was able to speak rudimentary English ! Her name is also "Shirley".

Here you can see "Shirley" facing us standing up, describing the history and culture of her people and place.

Shirley surprised all the 12 of us in the boat when she started singing a love song in her native" Tujia" dialect.

When she was singing, her sweet and melodious voice echoed through the gorge as the menfolk paddled the sampan with the big, single oars.

It was really good...her singing!

And was a perfect setting in that place.

This is the point where we alight from our cruiser and board the sampans.

More Scenic views of the Gorge

It was a perfect morning, with good weather and much sunshine as our Chinese cruiser moved silently over the gentle waters of the Shennong. Everything seemed quiet. Only the chatter and slight noise from our boat broke the eerie quietness of that place. Part of it, as I look back, seemed frozen in time....the peace and tranquility of the area we passed through, I mean. It is hard to imagine that once upon a time, especially during the 3 Kingdom period, fierce battles were fought here at the Shennong River.

Journey up the Shennong River

Slowly, our launch cruiser sailed into the mouth of the Shennong River and continued up stream.
There was so much to see...even hear, on both sides of the river as we moved along....closer and closer to where we would get off and move into the traditional Chinese sampan for a very exceptional experience up the last 1 km plus of the river.

A passing sampan. It required 2 men to steer and navigate it as currents are strong here.

Craggy slabs such as these and other rock features are a common sight here....worthy of some Geological studies.

A limestone cave that was once high above the water line, in the upper reaches of the rockface. But as you can see, the present water line has risen to its level already.