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Published: November 11th 2006
Tiger Leaping Gorge I
Day 1 of the hike - gloomy but extraordinarily beautifulWell after such a great time in Yangshuo, I was a little concerned that I would be disappointed with Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge - not a chance!
Lijiang was beautiful. I stayed in the old town and had 2 days wandering around, shopping, eating local delicacies, venturing into Black Dragon Pool Park, watching Naxi (local minority group) dancing and listening to Naxi ancient music at a concert.
Tiger Leaping Gorge was a fun experience too. I left the majority of my possessions in Lijiang, took a local bus to Qiaotou, found a cheap hotel and mentally prepared for a long day’s hiking. Luckily, I did not have a good map that night because the next morning I was advised by the local café owner that my trek would take 9 hours! No worries. Well …. apart from the weather. I asked Marg, the Aussie café owner, what the forecast was and would I be ok. Who knows, she replied. I headed off and the rain set in just 3 minutes later. Not to be deterred, I continued on my way for the majority of that 9 hours alone. En route, I met a lovely Chinese couple whom I
Tiger Leaping Gorge II
Later in the day 1 as I was approaching the hostel was able to walk with for around 2 hours, met several Chinese men willing to rent me their ‘horses’ (looked more like mules) for the trek, and a few Chinese women selling food and drink on the path at outrageous prices for China - not that I was going to argue about paying 2 yuan (about AUS$0.40) for a banana when the woman had hiked more than 2 hours with the bunch of bananas, 4 x 1.5l bottles of water, cans of coke, snickers bars etc for over 2 hours to get to her stall - and on a day when I saw only 2 other hikers!
The gorge itself was amazing even when veiled in cloud. The happy snaps I have taken turned out a little better than expected, given the weather conditions, but still don’t quite capture just how impressive both the river and the gorge are.
That night, I stayed in a hostel close to the river and met 2 fantastic new friends, Erwin and Cynthia from Holland. As it turns out, I should have travelled with them back to Qiaotou the next day and onto Lijiang rather than continue the walk to Daju. However,
Typical property
This was a typical farm in the Tiger Leaping Gorge area I was not to know what lay ahead.
Next morning I started the trek to Daju along the road. The high road (path) I had been on the previous day had ended and I was now simply walking to the river crossing along a small road. It was lovely, the weather had improved, and the visions of people herding their livestock, enjoying a wedding in the local village, and a child with a puppy strapped to his back will stay with me forever.
I got to the ferry crossing, waited impatiently for the ferry to cross the river to meet me, and then had to wait some more time before they decided to leave again. I was under some time pressure as the bus from Daju was due to leave for Lijiang at 1:30pm and it was already after 12. When I reached the car park from the river, there was a man offering to take me to Lijiang in his mini-van at 1:00pm for 50 Yuan, which was outrageous, so I kept walking and headed to Daju. It was a great shock upon reaching the town that the bus was not running today. So, how do I
Drowned rat
The look of the day.... get to Lijiang? Taxi! This was the only option. . I went into the town asking (as best I could) if anyone was going to Lijiang that day. No luck so I had to fork out 250 Yuan for a 2-hour taxi ride to Lijiang. I was very annoyed but thankful that Erwin and Cynthia has given me the name of a cheap hotel in Lijiang and that saving made up for a significant portion of that taxi fare.
After Lijiang, I flew to Chongqing where I hoped to get on a 3-4 day cruise along the Yangzi River through the 3 gorges. My lack of pre-booking with regard to both accommodation and the cruise, fortunately, was not a disaster as I checked into the nicest hotel of my trip and then got on board a Chinese boat the very next evening.
The boat was an interesting experience to say the least. I was one of only 7 non-Chinese aboard and, as a result, there was no English translation, nor English menu in the restaurant etc. Made for a highly
Looking back....
Towards Tiger Leaping Gorge from a local village on my trek to Daju amusing few days. Oh, and just another little quirk, each morning when there was an excursion, the electricity and water were turned off. So, for several hours, one could not go to the bathroom, nor buy anything to eat for breakfast as the shop and the restaurant were both closed, so it was pretty much a time to sit on deck and wait!
The weather was awful - it was almost impossible to see the sun for the smog. Ed (US/Aus), Maree (Aus), Lainey (Can), John (Can), Allen (US), Jose (US/Peru) and I were all disappointed with our photographs as a result.
There were many signs of change along the river. New bridges were being built, construction sites close to the river had been abandoned, water level markers were everywhere - the 3 gorges dam project has already made a significant impact on the people of the area but the worst is yet to come.
The 3 gorges themselves were good, the 3 little gorges were better, possibly because I finally got off our boat for a few hours to take smaller craft into the 3 little gorges, and the dam was impressive. We got to see
Lijiang
The entrance to the old town. Simply a beautiful place. the dam from its base, standing on top of it and from 2 other vantage points.
From Yichang, where our visit to the dam finished, it was a 4 hour bus ride to Wuhan and then, fortunately for me, I managed to get a train (soft-sleeper) to Beijing. On the downside, I lost the waist belt for my backpack (I think it fell off in the back of a taxi and, due to its black color, was inconspicuous in the dark). This meant that for the remaining 2 weeks of my trip, my pack was being carried by my shoulders only - nasty stuff. All I hoped that it would make it through those final 2 weeks.
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