Natchez, Mississippi – Day 11

Note: Mary flew from Baton Rouge Airport, Louisiana on March 12 to her home in California. I’m hoping to get her back with me by mid-April. My current plans are to drift SLOWLY north along the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee where I’ll then turn northeast heading for New England for the Summer. Can’t go north too fast because it’s still cold up there! The Mississippi River is rich in history…I expect it to be an interesting passage.

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The motorhome is still parked at the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge #1662 in Natchez, Mississippi.

Natchez remained mostly undamaged from the Civil War. Hence this old city with its narrow and many one-way streets remains a beautiful city. To read about Natchez, click this link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez,_Mississippi

Yesterday I drove the Bronco the about two miles to the Historic Natchez Foundation building located at 108 Commerce Street where their motto is…Keeping Natchez the place you can always come home to…

Executive Director Mimi Miller and her able assistant Patricia Catchings graciously allowed me access to their photographic archives. I told them I was particularly interested in that area known as Natchez Under The Hill…along the Mississippi River waterfront.

It was once a den of iniquity and notorious section of Natchez as described in this historical link…
http://www.visitnatchez.com/custom/webpage2.cfm?content=News&id=96&Cat=NatchezUnderTheHill

Several other short stories of what life in Natchez Under The Hill was like can be read by clicking this link…
http://www.visitnatchez.com/custom/webpage2.cfm?content=Articles&cat=NatchezUnderTheHill

Here are some of the photos that I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

The Historic Natchez Foundation building…

Since all of today’s photos are all my photos of their very old black and white photos…I turned these two T-shirts I saw in a novelty shop into black and white…

All of the below photos were chosen by me because they either show Natchez Under The Hill or the waters of the Mississippi River as they once were…

I just love these precious old black and white photos of days gone forever. Little of the original Natchez Under The Hill remains  today as documented in my second Natchez Blog entry which you can read by clicking this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-7rN

I’ll explore more of Natchez today.

Enjoying historic places is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Mississippi. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

OLD CHINA ON THE RIVER LI

We board our boat, that looks much like this one, for an 83 kilometer trip up the River Li. Ten thousand people a day tour this river to see mystical rock formations. The river bank is thick with blooming acacia; its fragrance fills the air. I would point out that both of these boats are in motion.

The vendor has hooked his boat to the tour boat and hands off  fresh vegetables and fish to the kitchen. The kitchens on these tour vessels are at the back of the boat in the open air.  We watch fascinated. The vendor is precariously balanced as he hands off his product.

The cook can be seen cutting up a chicken or duck.

The much vaunted rock formations everyone comes here to see are smooth, rounded hills and spears treasured for their mystical appearance and ever shrouded in mist.  I’ve seen professional aerial pictures of them that are beautiful, but I find my photos disappointing. They just don’t seem to have that same mystical effect. It doesn’t matter anyway, life along the Li is a glimpse of Old China and fascinates me.

The Dong people are known for their bamboo boats, houses and flutes. It looks like this boatman is offering a ferry service to get a bicycler and his package to the opposite bank. You can click on these photos to make them larger.

People live on their boats. The house boats we see are put together from whatever scrap can be  garnered.

Cows appear to be free ranging, but if you look closely, you will see their tether rope.

People carry heavy bundles. There is little mechanization.

They hand carry water up from the river the old way.

Water buffalo enjoy cooling off in the river. Notice the one with its head underwater; he is grazing.

Up he comes with a green morsel to eat.

These men have harvested and are preparing some type of green to sell. In China, everyone eats multiple types of greens.

A floating garden held up with oil cans. The bamboo fence and net protects the garden from ducks and flying birds.

People from the villages come down to the river to wash their clothes.

So many make their living from the river and work from their boats.

This fancy ferry boat has a motor. The boatman uses his petrol sparingly and prefers to paddle whenever possible.

We are passing a popular Chinese tourist area.

Everyone walks along the river.

The big draw here is an abandoned Yau village with beautiful 200-year-old buildings. People left here 120 years ago because they were persecuted and moved higher up the mountains.

Maybe the lucky ones are those who live on the river. We see villages of children watching and watering their water buffalo; dogs and pigs roam freely. Whole families living on sampans and all around the storybook shapes of the mystical hills.