TIGER LEAPING GORGE - CHINA

Geared up for some more strenuous physical activity after a fairly relaxed stay in Dali, I made my way with my Dutch companions, Arajen and Mariska to the town of Lijiang and then the following day to the well known, 'Tiger Leaping gorge' in the north of Yunnan province. After another eventful bus ride during which the female driver didn't shut her mouth for the entire journey, we arrived in the small town of Quiaotou and after purchasing a few supplies and eventually finding the beginning of the trail, we began our 3 days of adventure in the gorge. Unfortunately the weather on our first day wasn't particularly good but at least it wasn't bucketing down and we made quite rapid progress (despite the fact that I was walking part of the way barefoot and the remainder in my preferred form of footwear i.e. thongs).

After around 2 hours of walking we made a brief stop for lunch and then embarked on the most difficult part of the trail, a tough slog for 1.5 hours and 400 vertical metres to the summit of one of the smaller mountains on the edge of the gorge. As we ascended into the clouds, the weather seemed to become less and less enticing weather but thankfully I had my music with me and was able to keep myself moving all the way up. After reaching the summit we were greeted by a very thick layer of fog and were barely able to see 10 metres in front of us. However. despite such limited visibility the ensuing walk along the summit ridge was still quite enjoyable and after descending a little on the other side, the sun began to burn away some of the clouds and we were treated to some great views of the gorge and surrounding mountains.

The latter half of the afternoon was fairly easy going although there were a few slippery sections for which thongs were not exactly suitable attire, but I managed ok without eating dirt too many times. I particularly enjoyed passing through the small villages nestled amongst the mountains, all of which provided me with an idea of what China must have been like before becomming such a rapidly developing country. Progress in the afternoon was however a little slower given that Mariska was not feeling particularly well and after descending from the high trail down to the sealed road, just a few hundred metres above the gorge, we decided to call it a day. That night night we stayed at a modest guest house with good food and hot showers, both of which were very much welcomed, however after cleaning ourselves up and filling our stomachs were all asleep at the ungodly hour of 9pm !!!

The next day we set off early after a good breakfast and walked the 30 or so minutes down the sealed road to the popular 'Walnut garden' where we intended to spend a rather relaxed day exploring more of the gorge. Unfortuntately Mariska still wasn't feeling particularly well and was quite tired from the previous day of walking so after attempting to hike down to the gorge, she eventually returned to where we were staying, whilst Arajen and myself embarked on a guided tour of the middle gorge. Our guide, a farmer whom we had bumped into along the way was quite nimble despite both his age and small stature and whilst not really an authentic guide (no english to be heard whatsoever), he did prove quite useful, mostly because by being with him we weren't required to pay any of the 'tolls' at different points along the trail. As such, the cost of our 'guide' was only a few Yuan (i.e. cents) more than we would have paid anyway, which more than justified his presence in our expedition party.

The walk along the middle gorge certainly made worthwhile, sticking around for an extra day as we were treated to some great views of the surrounding mountains and from this position we were provided with a completely different perspective than from the high trail. I simply couldn't comprehend just how high the cliffs were on both sides of the gorge, in some cases extending upward for more than 3500m !!! Being so close to the river also meant we could appreciate its full power (there were some rapids which I think would have scared even the most experienced kayakers and rafters) although I wasn't a particularly big fan of clambering over the 'Tiger leaping rock', just a few inches away from being smashed into a thousand pieces...

The hike out of the gorge proved quite an effort and after scaling 25 vertical metres on possibly the most unsafe ladder in the world, we zig-zagged our way upwards until finally we were back on the sealed road. That afternoon proved to be quite a relaxed affair and basically encompassed drinking beers in the warm afternoon sun. These activities continued well into the night and the combination of beer and the hostel specialty, 'happy bread' certainly led to some interesting occurrences later on. That night, Arajen sustained a badly sprained ankle after tripping on the stairs en-route to the toilet, thereby ensuring that he would not be able to complete the remainder of the hike the following day.

Around 7am I awoke in a very messed up state and was barely able to walk myself given how rough I felt. However after a bowl of porridge I eventually managed to get going and walked along the sealed road towards the town of Daju for a few hours and with the help of some locals I found my way through fields and down the gorge to the ferry crossing. The ferry operators proved to be most disagreeable chaps and in the end I had to pay an exorbident amount (for China) just to cross only because I was a lone passenger. Taking this on the chin as another example of locals taking advantage of an innocent tourist, I endured another hot and tough hike to the top of the gorge where I arrived at the bus stop, just 20 minutes before the bus to Lijiang was meant to arrive.

Upon my arrival however I was informed by a group of Chinese tourists that the bus drivers in the region had gone on strike and it was unlikely that I could get to Lijiang by bus for at least a few days. With only 40 Yuan (4 Euros) to my name and not a credit card in sight (or a bank for that matter), I found this to be quite a problem because I certainly couldn't afford to stay in Daju for days and didn't particularly want to either. Eventually, through a combination of persistence and pleading, I managed to get this group to take me with them to Lijiang in their hire car in exchange for all my money. Although this involved me sitting in some of the most uncomfortable positions on the floor of the car, I figured it was a small price to pay considering what I was getting myself out of.

An added bonus of travelling with the group was however the fact that we visited a number of interesting places along the way, including an extremely beautiful glacial lake with an amazing blue colour as a result of minerals being present in the water. After getting some good photos and relishing the chance to stretch my legs, we continued our journey and eventually made it back to Lijiang, thankfull to have somehow gotten myself out of a pretty tight situation. Feeling tired, a little ill and quite hungry I managed to get myself into a hostel and enjoyed a few moments peace before hitting the sack early again.

The trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge was definitely one of the most enjoyable activities I have undertaken on the whole of my travels in 2006 and some of the scenery along the trail was just as incredible as that which I have taken in during my time in South America and Europe. Whilst all aspects of the trip certainly didn't go to plan, hiking the trail is an experience that I will look back on with very fond memories for a long time to come. Unfortunately my descriptions of the trail and surrounding scenery do not even come close to painting a picture of what it was like, so I hope that my photos do a better job at this...

Photos 1- 5: Arajen, Mariska and myself during different sections of the gorge.
Photos 6-36: The gorge in all its glory and grandeur.
Photos 37&38: Glacial lake which we visited on the way back to Lijiang.