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Published: February 15th 2011
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Our hostel arranged minibus transport to the Qiaotou side of Tiger Leaping Gorge for 30 kuai a person. In total our group had two minibuses and included Mary, an opera singer from Australia who was on a big Asia travel, Amber, an American teaching English in Beijing, Susannah from Holland who was on a gap year, Rachel, a drama student from America who was in between schools, her cousin Jamie, a Canadian who was between school and work, Kendal, a Chemist and high school teacher who was on vacation, and Krisdian and Hendy two Indonesians on vacation. Qiaotou was only about 2 hours away, though we had to make a quick detour to pick up our driver's son, fiance, friends, and their pet falcon (!) and drop them in the village that I had biked around the day before. We had to switch minibuses and drivers when we reached a bridge over the river which defined a town border. Before it gets to Chongqing, the Yangtze River is called the Jinsha Jiang (gold sand river?) and after it is called the Chang Jiang (long river). Indeed in Wuhan, the river banks are anything but golden!
After the bridge, our bus
was swarmed by a mop of people in suits and badges who wanted to collect a 50 kuai (25 student) entrance fee. I heard there was a fee, so I was happy to pay and get on with it. Others in our group were unhappy with this, tried to argue, and had me argue in Chinese on their behalf. In the end, we all just paid it.
The scenery was of course astounding and only got better as we hiked. A few helpful residents of the area followed us with their donkey, hoping one of us would cave and pay for a ride. They were pleasant folks and helped us find the path multiple times. I think the hike starts at a fairly mild altitude and climbs to maybe 8,000 feet? Mary felt unwell on the way up and switched to the donkey. There are so many guesthouses and options to ride donkeys/horses that I think the high road is a safe bet for anyone, because one can always take an extra day, get stuff ported by donkey, or just have a seat and ride. Also there are places selling (expensive) food and drink every hour or two on
the way up. I would bring water and a snack and stop in a guesthouse for lunch.
At a relaxed pace it took us 8 hours to the Halfway House. I thought the hike wasn't so bad . The infamous 28 bends weren't 28 full long switchbacks. Some of the bends were just a few feet long. We were all huffing and puffing up the mountain, but from what others had said, I had been prepared for worse. Well lately I have been rather good about exercising regularly, so I'm sure that in the past I have had a tougher time on easier hikes. I suppose the entire gorge would be doable in a day if you were in decent shape, wanted a challenge, started early and kept a good pace. Also due to blisters, I did the hike in floppy sandals!
The precipitous peak of (I believe?) the Haba Snow Mountain dominated the background to our right. Far below, the sun sparkled on the surface of the clean turquoise beginning of the Yangtze river. The local features were also interesting and quickly-changing. First we saw fields of black rock on a deep honey background, then we walked
through an evergreen forest. The finale was giant irregular red, black and sand-colored formations next to us, coupled with pointy dark black peaks across the gorge, which reflected the oranges and reds of the sunset. Always there were bright green crop terraces and village buildings nestled in the hills below us.
At the Halfway House, Mary and I got a double with electric blankets for 30 kuai a person. Surprised that in the middle of the gorge they managed to have electricity and running hot water for showers. What a treat! Then we all ate a lot of food and downed large bottles of Dali beer which unlike many Chinese beers had a respectable 3.7% alcohol content. The cousins taught us a positive-feedback drinking game called the numbers game where the more you play, the more silly rules you add on, and the more you mess up, laugh and drink. The Halfway House is also famous for its scenic toilets - squat-over-a-trough-type toilets with open windows that look across the gorge and to the sky above. it was the first time I have simultaneously peed and admired the Orion constellation. After our drinking games, we headed to the roof
to stargaze. Living in Wuhan, I had forgotten the sky had so many stars! We could very clearly see the Milky Way and also my companions saw several shooting stars.
The next morning I had honey and walnut pancakes and coffee, some of their many reasonably-priced and delicious western options. The high snow-capped mountain of the day was the Five Finger Mountain which kept peaking over the foothills to our left. We also crossed several waterfalls. After a bit of an ascent, it was a smooth walk down some switchbacks ot Jane's guesthouse and then down the road for an epic lunch at Sean's Guesthouse (highly recommended). At Jane's our companions ordered a minibus to take us through the gorge back to Qiaotou where we could catch busses ot Lijiang and Shangrila. The windy road carved into the side of the gorge was pretty scary, but it was also an awesome time to crank the tunes in the minibus and have a review of our trip fly before our eyes. At Qiaotou, the Lijiang kids got their minibus and Mary and I hardly stood by the side of the road for 5 minutes when a nearly empty luxury bus
to Shangrila came by. We flagged it down and hopped on for 35 kuai a person.
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