Advertisement
Published: March 24th 2008
Edit Blog Post
I arrived in the village of Qiaotou which is in effect the beginning of the Tiger Leaping Gorge on Wednesday afternoon. Due to my arriving at this time there was no point in beginning trekking that day and I therefore checked myself into a guest house at the foot of the track which leads up to the gorge.
There didn't seem to be many other people about and I killed most of the afternoon reading. I'm not very experienced at trekking and had been told that the trek is best done with a partner. One of the main reasons for this is obviously from a safety point of view. Over the years there have been accidents in the gorge some of which have cost people their lives. I was therefore very happy to meet another traveller, a young Dutch guy named Sjoerd who was also planning on starting the trek the following morning and we therefore decided it would be best tackled together. Knowing that we would be spending the next couple of days together we ordered up some food and beers and spent the evening chatting away. I think he was a little horrified when I mentioned I'd ideally
like to start around eight in the morning.
Having compromised on a nine o'clock start, eaten a hearty breakfast and stored our bags in preparation for our return at some point on Friday we set off. I was a little disappointed to see that the weather was once again cloudy, this wasn't going to make for great pictures. However I was also thankful that it wasn't sunny and thirty degrees as this would have made it an agonising trek.
For anyone who doesn't know much about the gorge here is a brief rundown on it. It's known as one of the deepest gorges in the world with it's height standing at 3,790m. The gorge is 18 kilometres long and divided into three segments; the lower, middle and upper gorges. It's now become one of China's premier tourist attractions. A dark cloud however hangs over the future of the gorge as work is scheduled to begin on a new 278m (912 foot) high dam which will flood the gorge creating a reservoir 125 miles long. The reason for this is clear, the hydroelectric power created by such a venture will help to solve China's ongoing energy problem. Yet it
doesn't seem that those in power have paid much attention to not only the 100,000 estimated people who will have to relocate but also the environmental, economical and cultural damage it will do to this area. I won't go into it in anymore detail as further information on this matter can be found via a simple Web search.
The gorge is well within anyone's trekking ability as long as you're in reasonably good health. In fact I met a Romanian man who was 61 and had just completed the trek. The trail starts by going up and follows that pattern for roughly two hours. As I glanced to the right I was able to view the cloud covered Jade Dragon Snow Mountain whilst the drop below just became deeper and deeper. I'm not a huge fan of heights but I can handle them yet some of the ledges along the way were a little too close for comfort for me. As the wind swirled around me I was making extra sure of every footprint I laid down.
By far and away the hardest and most challenging part of the trek was the infamous 28 bends. Up until this point I'd been fooled into thinking it was all a little bit too easy, that was until I reached bend one. What followed next was an excruciatingly slow and painful ascent to the top via a bendy and at times almost vertical rocky path. Any distant dreams I might have had of climbing Everest were firmly laid to rest after this experience. I had thought this was supposed to be fun!
Still how could I complain when following me up to the top was an old Chinese woman who must have been in her sixties carrying a large basket on her back filled with water, coke and other such snacks. Her basket made my small rucksack look like a handbag!
After much huffing and puffing we finally reached the top at 2760m. The view from the top was, as one would expect outstanding. Rising still higher above me was Yulong Xueshan, the top still obscured by clouds and below the river weaved it's way through the gorge like a long thin snake. It seems that I'm fast running out of superlatives to describe China, it was incredible.
Once we had given ourselves a well earned pat on the back not to mention also buying some outrageously expensive chocolate from the old woman (she had more than earned it in my opinion) it was time to set off on the descent. We trekked for a total of five hours that day and finally arrived at a small village named Bendiwan and the rest stop for the night, the Halfway Lodge.
I had originally planned to do the trek in one day but the weather was turning and in the end came to the conclusion that some things just aren't worth rushing. The next day it was up early to finish the last part of the trek. It turned out that this final section which is to near Tina's guesthouse and the middle gorge only took another hour and a half. You can go on further but my guide book mentioned that it wasn't really worth it.
A local family charges people 10 rmb to go down to the middle rapids and the lower part of the gorge. They charge this (and it's compulsory) as they were the one's who took the time and effort to build the path. Our combined 20 Rmb also included the services of an old woman who was to act as our guide.
This was a path in the loosest sense of the word and the old lady set off at an alarmingly quick pace. She spoke absolutely no English and like many Chinese people I've met before she assumed that just because I could utter a few sentences in Mandarin that I must be fluent. She stopped at a small iron gate where the path became narrower and the drop more vertical. It was at this point that she took the time to point out this was the spot where two tourists had plummeted to their deaths. I'm not sure I wanted to know this. In fact she made a point of stopping at regular intervals to inform us of more people who had gotten a little too close to the edge. Let's put masculinity aside for one moment, I'll glady admit I was more than a little scared.
At one point you reach a small junction where there is a sign which reads "This way, dangerous ladder. This way, safe path" You can guess which I took! Once at the bottom you can get a real sense of the sheer awesome power of the river as it surges on past. It was also here that the old lady guide started to take liberties. She wanted 10 more Rmb for this and 10 more for that, 10 Rmb to take a picture? You're kidding right? As appreciative as I was for her having safely guided us down I decided that I could make my own way back. We reached the the 'safe path/dangerous ladder' point again and this time I opted to take the 20m ladder as most people I'd met had told me it was perfectly safe. I stuck to the golden rule of climbing ladders that is not to look down. Firm hand placements and steady footsteps later I was at the top. Only then did I afford myself a look downwards. Let's just say you wouldn't want to fall.
I was really pleased to get back on flat land and have a fantastic lunch. We then hailed down a bus, negotiated a price back to Qiaotou and that was the end of my gorge experience. Like I said before things on the trip just keep getting better in terms of sights I've seen but having been on the go for nearly 4 weeks now I'm looking forward to putting my feet up for a few days. Slightly wearily I collected my bags form Jane's Guesthouse, said my goodbyes and was back out on the road waiting for any passing bus to Lijiang.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.095s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0557s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb