A leaping tiger & some peril

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I should mention that I am now in the province of Yunnan and prior to the trek I spent a night in Lijiang which was again very touristy consisting of an old town which was a maze of cobbled streets and rebuilt rickety wooden buildings but to be honest I feel there was not much to blog about so I shall move swiftly on.

Well, here it is, the much anticipated Tiger Leaping Gorge trek. I am pleased to say that there was no tigers as the chinese have eaten them all and another bonus was the only things I had to negotiate along the track was an over-protective mountain cow, a snake a couple of mountain ponies and the scourching sun. Have you noticed something? I haven't mentioned Chinese tourists, ok they were a couple and I mean just a couple. Mind, had there been a cable car running along it then it would have been over-run with them. Unfortunately they are building a road along the gorge and once that has finished there will be no stopping them. So somehow I think I have gotten in there in the nick of time.

The whole trek took one and a half days. The hike was most of the time on a stoney path on the side of mountains with a very steep ascent to 2670 mts. Also along the way there were waterfalls to walk through and some very precarious cliff edges to negotiate but at every point the views were heady and sublime. I made an over night stop in a hostel about three quaters along the way where I met a great mix of people and we watched the sun set and rise on the terrace perched on the side of the gorge, whilst drinking a much deserved beer.

The second day I set off with the Chinese swallow and made the one and a half hour walk to the point where a tiger is said to have lept the 40ft from a stone to the shore. There I spent the day walking down the gorge and stumbled across a local who had discovered his very own tourist attraction and decided to risk life and a couple of limbs to climb his rickety stairs and crawl across planks of wood hanging over the rapids of the gorge to have a look at a cave. It was a great experience. Infact I am going as far to say that this was my China highlight.

Thanks for reading and I am looking forward to blogging about more of Yunnans little treasures. Take care.

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Photos

Aview
What is behind me

Peril
Looking for the caves

Don't look down
Will these hold?