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The journey to reach Lijiang, home of the Naxi Kingdom, a normadic Tibetan tribe (sounds like something from Lord of the Rings) was an ordeal, our overnight sleeper train pulled in at 5am. We're tired and we still have an 11 hour bus journey ahead of us. As we leave the station there is a cresendo of chants of "Lijiang, Lijiang", I make the cardinal error of nodding to one woman, before I know it there are four of them shoving brochures in my face, pulling my arms in all directions trying to get us onto their bus. I ditch the small woman I originally nodded at and follow the tall one that looks like she'll win if this does break into an inevitable fight.
We arrive in Lijiang finally and are taken to our guesthouse, an amazing Naxi courtyard run by 3 generations of family, including the young toddler who's already clinging to Elaine's leg kissing her. We head out into the town, this place is stunning, amazing courtyards, cobbled streets lined with streams and willow trees, (the place was nearly ruined in '98 by a massive earthquake). We settle down in one of the many cafes to western
food, coke float and mango smoothie, oh my lord, this is what its all about, we've found paradise.
We go for a bike ride to the minority villages, 20kms round trip, we are met by a sweet old Naxi lady and she drags us back to her place, tea, nuts and then she's pulling a Naxi outfit out and dressing Elaine up...I'm laughing, Elaine is embarrased, then NO NO, I'm being dressed, cap and all, as the woman drags us around the garden taking pictures of us. Typically we ended up having to pay for this fancy dress party, but it was such an amazingly giggly experience and a real attempt at seeing a culture up close.
Night time in Lijiang is eventful, the bars on either side of the street are thronged with Chinese tourists on the sauce. The aim of the game is for your pub to sing derogatory songs to the other side and then challange them to sing back, amazing fun. We settle for the local reggae bar and the worst Chinese rendition of No Woman, No Cry we've ever heard, it was so bad that I considered taking over myself, not a sound
to behold.
Next day (and only two days after Emei) we are heading to Tiger Leaping Gorge, a three hour bus from Lijiang. It's at this point I need to point out my Chinese nickname "BFG". I take my seat on the bus, but I can't get my legs in, not only that, I can only get one bumcheek on and it's 3 hours of dirt track, oh my lord.
Finally we arrive and take the high road of the gorge.The gorge is where the Yangze River is pushed through the tallest canyon in the world (yes taller than the Grand Canyon), it's a two day trek.
The trek is amazing (we have joined up with another couple from London that we keep bumping into since we originally met them in Beijing, as I write this they have just turned up in Dali). Elaine is struggling, a hangover, so she's not getting the sympathy she deserves. After a day of trekking we reach Halfway Guesthouse, the other couple grab a room overlooking the gorge, "anymore like that" I ask, the young Naxi girl says no, so we take the one with no natural light, only I turn
round to see another girl walk past, swing open the door to another couple and give them the option of yet another stunning scenic room, I look bemused at our girl as she turns away giggling! Brilliant!
Anyhow, after a day of trekking I think I deserve a beer, only 1 becomes 5 and these are big bottles, 660mls and it's at altitude and there's a table of lads, 2 Dutch, 2 German and an Aussie and they're talking about footy, and I'm off. I'm on their table in a second leaving Elaine and the other couple for dead to talk about World Cup line ups, before I know it Elaine's gone, along with everyone else apart from our group and then it's midnight and it happens to be one of the Dutch guys birthdays. More beers, an awful European rendition of Happy Birthday (Elaine says she heard it at least 10 times from the bedroom) and before I know it it's 2am.
7.30am, oh my god! What have I done, biggest school boy error ever, while the other boys are unattached and probably rising at midday, I've got commitments to my girlfriend to make. I vomit, I
walk, I vomit, I walk...it's the common theme of the day and I think Elaine is secretly enjoying this due to my failure to sympathise the previous day. The highroad of the gorge with vertical drops isn't the best place to be seeing black spots, but hey ho..I deserve it.
We finish the trek, one final vomit. It was an absolutely breathtaking experience and fingers crossed the completion of our China hiking experience (our knees fear further adventures and our feet are a scabbed mess).
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Tony
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Ride Onnnnnnnnnn...............keep goin'......................don't stop...............you're missing nuthing!!!