Tiger Leaping Gorge

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”
- G. K. Chesterton

It has been a while since my last post, but I have a good excuse for it: Over the past few days I have been LITERALY in the middle of nowhere. There is a lot to cover, and I do not think I can do it on a single post. But I guess one must start somewhere, so here we go.

After spending the night on that five star hotel in Lijang (with view thru bathroom walls) I woke up pretty early next morning, since I was eager to get my “feet dirty” on the real Chinese outdoors. Little did I know that I was about to get my wishes granted big time!

I knew that just a couple of hours north of Lijang, there was the world famous Tiger Leaping Gorge. I knew I wanted to go there, but I had not decided how yet. There were basically two options:

1) Take a tour bus from Lijang, spend a couple of hours at the Gorge and move on.

2) Take the famous “High Road”, a small hiking path, 20 miles long across the mountains. It would take a 2 days walk to get to the gorge, but it was said that it was an amazing experience.

I pondered about it for a couple of minutes, weighting the pros and cons and finally decided that adventures were made of discomfort and risk. So I decided to take the high road.

I left the Hotel at 8 AM and I from then on I would be without Zhang’s direct help. He was kind enough however to provide me with a cell phone (in case I got into trouble) and a very nice jacket so that I could properly face the cold and unforgivenin Northern Yunnan weather.

So I headed out to the small bus station in Lijang, where I could take a minibus to the village of Qiaotou, from where the trek was supposed to begin. The minibus was the typical beat up public transportation vehicle, but I must confess that one thing that one cannot say about this country is that the (official) buses and trains are unreliable. They always leave as schedule and tend to arrive at their destination on time. This one was no different. It was going to be a 2 hour ride from Lijang to Qiaotou on a very tortuous road across some mountains. With me on the bus there were many locals, with their curious looks, but also 4 Chinese backpackers who spoke surprisingly good English and a couple from Ireland, who were also planning on doing the 2 days trail to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. We all quickly got acquainted and soon there was some lively conversation going on amongst all of us. The Chinese were all employees of the HSBC bank in Shanghai, which was the reason why they spoke such good English. They were not sure however, if they would be able to do the 2 day hike. The 2 girls on their group seemed a bit “iffy” about the whole idea of wandering the mountains for 2 days. The Irish couple was made up of Ruth, a young elementary education teacher in Ireland and her boyfriend, John, who until recently worked for Havok, a company that makes and licenses “physics engines” for the most sophisticated video games in the market. They were certain about making the hike, so we decided to hook up for this trip. The journey by bus continued for the next few hours without much incident. The Chinese had lots of questions about where we were from and what we were doing in China, so the trip was spent with regular chit-chat. We did make an unscheduled stop at a roadside, where the minibus was surrounded by dozens of Chinese peasants offering many different types of fruits for sale. The Chinese bankers from HSBC bought a few bananas and a very large pomelo fruit, which I had never seen before. All the trading was done via the bus windows. The peasants would raise the fruits up so that the bus riders could examine the goodies, money would be exchanged and the fruits would be brought into the bus, all done thru the bus windows. Also, the price of the fruits was also ridiculously low for US standards. The Chinese paid 5 yuan (about 50 cents) for 3 lbs, juicy and sweet pomelo fruit. They were also kind enough to share the fruits with us, which we did not refuse.

As soon as the shopping spree was over, we were back on our way to Qiaotou, passing thru ravines, precipices and all kind of dangerous landscapes, but at that point, I was used to the Chinese driving style, so I was not worried.

Qiaotou is a little village, with just a few shops, a school and an office were one can buy tickets to enter the Tiger Leaping Gorge park. Buses loaded with tourists pass thru Qiaotou every few minutes, but few care to stop. The ones that do stop (about one a day) do so to drop a handful of crazy backpackers willing to take the 2 day hike.

Traditional Naxi homes on Qiaotou Village

As our bus pulls over, we are greeted by Margo, an eccentric Aussie ladie who has been living in the region for over 15 years. She runs a local café and serves as a resource to the crazy few adventure types willing to do the hike. Margo quickly introduces herself and offers us supplies (candy bars, water, maps) and a place to store our large backpacks until we complete the trip and take a bus back from the Gorge to Qiaotou. I buy from her a large bottle of water, 4 sneaker bars and a map. She will also store my backpack until my return, all for about 20 yuan (less than US$3). Margo also points us to the beginning of the trail, which is used by Naxi shepherds on a daily basis. So we begin our journey. I could spend a lot of time talking about the magnificent view as we climbed up the trail, but I think the images bellow speak for themselves.

Qiaotou Village from above as we climb



The Mighty Yangzhe River


The Yanghze from even higher. Notice the Mountains.


As we climb further, the Mountains get more impressive.


The Mountains around the gorge are nothing short of majestic.


Pedro at the top of the world

We spend the whole day hiking, and during our way, we meet quite a few Naxi shepherding animals. Quite a few times, we were also followed by Naxi natives pulling horses. Their hope was that we would get tired of walking and pay them to use some of their horses. No cigar Jose, we simply ignore them and eventually they bug off.

By sundown we reached the so called “Halfway House”, a traditional Naxi home that now serves as an “informal” night stop for the travelers going to the gorge by foot. It is a very cozy place that serves local food and warm tea to tired hikers (and also hot showers). The Halfway house also offers an ESPETACULAR view of the mountains.

We spend the whole day hiking, and during our way, we meet quite a few Naxi shepherding animals. Quite a few times, we were also followed by Naxi natives pulling horses. Their hope was that we would get tired of walking and pay them to use some of their horses. No cigar Jose, we simply ignore them and eventually they bug off.

By sundown we reached the so called “Halfway House”, a traditional Naxi home that now serves as an “informal” night stop for the travelers going to the gorge by foot. It is a very cozy place that serves local food and warm tea to tired hikers (and also hot showers). The Halfway house also offers an ESPETACULAR view to the mountains. We are beaten tired and we all have blisters on our feet from the rough climb. But the Naxi staff on the Halfway house quickly point us to the solar heated showers. As soon as we leave the showers, there is a set of green tea cups waiting for us on the balcony. Talk about customer service!!!

The Balcony at the Halfway House. Eating with a view has a whole new meaning!

For dinner we are served honey and oats Naxi pancake and lots of Yak meat. We are also joined by an American couple (Jeff and Jessica) and 2 brits (Peter and Hannah). Jeff and Jessica are from North Carolina and work at Duke University. Peter used to be a banker in the UK and dropped everything to see the world. Hannah lives in Australia and is a radiologist. She works a year and takes a year off to see the world too. We all share dinner together at the balcony, staring at the mountains and sharing good laughs about our adventures so far.

As the sun goes down, the air gets really chilly, so we head to our dorms. The blankets look very thin and I was worried about freezing to death (there is no heating) but I am told that the blankets are made of Yak fur and should be more than enough to keep me warm thru the night. And guess what? Although it was bellow freezing during the night, I had one of my warmest evenings ever. I need to get myself some Yak blankets.

Next morning Ruth, John and I leave early to finish the final leg of our hike. We are all sore from our last day hike, but spirits are up with excitement as we all want to see the gorge. Also, it is mostly downhill from now on, so we should get to the gorge before the end of the day.

The hike on the 2^nd day is as gorgeous as the first day. We landscape is amazing and we see lots of sheep, waterfalls, HUGE spider webs and quite a few Naxi going about their business. Also, John and I spend a good chunk of the hike talking about the current state of the computer gaining industry (for Ruth’s despair).

Ruth and John near the waterfall.


Waterfal from bellow.

By the end of the hike, disaster strikes: I hurt my right knee badly and have to limp (grinding my teeth from the pain) all the way down to the gorge. It is an excruciating process, since it is a steep descent and my knee is supporting my whole weight. But I have no choice, since there are no rescue services and I did not come this far to give up at the end. Ruth and John patiently wait as I make my way down very slowly. After much pain and suffering I finally get to the Gorge and the view does not disappoint.

The Legendary Tiger Leaping Gorge


Ruth and I near the Gorge.

Down the gorge I also meet again Jeff, Jessica, Hannah and Peter, which followed a different path down. As they learn about my wounded knee, Jeff and Jessica offer me a set of 4 blue pills, saying that it should alleviate my pain. I am not sure what was on those pills, but after 15 minutes from taking those, my pain was gone.

After hanging around the gorge for a while, The Irish couple and I take a van back to Qiaotou. We pick out stuff up at Margo’s, give goodbyes and I head North, towards the Tibetan border.