Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge

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Lijiang is a maze of alleys with copious great cafes, guesthouses and of course shops offering every possibility for tourists to part with their yuan. My first night I swapped Ipods with a woman selling maps - she liked the chinese music Stef had sent me but wasn't too into the rest - her music was great. The old town is a visual feast not to mention the huge range in cuisine available. "Yaso yaso ya ya so?" - the singing competition between cafes across the narrow canals that wind through town. I think you could stay months and still be discovering. Baisha village is just out of town - the local Naxi are so friendly - met several local characters while sharing a big bag of walnuts I'd bought. Dr Ho is a local icon in his herbal medicine clinic (photos later unfort.) - looks to me like a cartoon character - a really nice old guy.

Next day it was off to Tiger Leaping Gorge - I had the idea of checking it out in a day but soon gave that away getting inspired talking in the bus. With my hotel room back in Lijiang costing 60 Y (~US$7) and only a toothbrush missing from my day bag I was soon on the trail to stay overnight. I met trail mate pome Andrew on the bus and kept meeting up with fellow walkers (typically French, Italian ..). There's an Aussie 'Margo' running a cafe at the start of the trail - she's a stroppy, mini skirted, hyperactive, mothering type who has been in China 9 years and has the locals at Qiaotou sorted. The gorge is impressive with a steep mountain wall in our faces on the other side, rapids below and fields of corn and sunflowers to wander passed. There were virtually no Chinese tourists on the trail-just one family who preferred to be on horseback. I'd virtually not met a kiwi in China and suddenly there was a whole group - many in their 70s doing some pretty hard walking. These guys though were experienced trampers and seemed to have travelled most places I could think of in the world. The mountains initially shrouded in mist stood clear in front of the guesthouse garden at the end of the day. The guest houses along the trail were surprisingly comfortable - even a warm shower as well as great food. It was a relatively serene change from Lijiang. 'Halfway Guesthouse' was a great option to refresh and stare at the mountains. Had a fasinating chat to an ex Vietnam vet who now wanders long-term through asia while being paid out by the US govt for a host of things including dioxin poisoning. His discription of going by "oversized donkey" along the trail were hilarious - just as well his legs nearly touched the ground on some of the narrower parts.

I opted to hitch a ride with the kiwi group next day who went by ferry (slow single cylinder diesel) across the swift Yangtsee and then bus by a different road back - including a coupe of hours on cobblestone (the extent of stonework in China is more than impressive). It was great to be more physically active for a change - and leave the crowds behind - have been feeling such a passenger in China.

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