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Published: April 29th 2008
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The Tiger Leaping Gorge was... gorgeous :-)
Yes, I know its an easy one...
Friday, April 25th
I left the little guesthouse at 9 in the morning. The weather was mild and cloudy. I couldn't see the summit of the mountains. There is a partially tarred road where cars and buses bring tourists groups to the main view points.
I soon left that road to follow the upper path that goes gradually up to the first mountain guesthouse. I had a drink on the way and started to climb the so called 28 bends that lead to the top of the pass. Near the top, there is a rock from which there is a stunning view over the gorge. An elderly lady is at the gate and collect a small entrance fee. The rock was “privatised” recently, it seems... It took me at least five minutes of dialog with my fear of height to be able to stand near the edge of the cliff. Thousand meters below, mighty Yantze river is roaring in the gorge but I can't hear it.
From there, the path goes down in the forest and it's a good rest after the
effort of walking up.
I stopped at the Tea Horse guesthouse to lunch : a Tibetan tea and a Naxi bread. It was my first Tibetan tea. I liked it but only in small quantities.
All along the way, the path is often at the edge of the cliff. It offers loads of magnificent views of the gorges. It also offered me plenty of opportunities to engage a positive dialog with my fear of height. In general, it went pretty well. I was getting used to the situation.
Je vis arriver une file d’ânes et de chevaux portant des sacs de ciment. Je me sentais à présent suffisamment confiant pour rester sur le bord du chemin. A cet endroit, la pente était raide, mais il n’y avait pas d’à pic. Le chemin était suffisamment large pour croiser un âne. Le premier âne fit un pas de côté vers la montagne pour me croiser sans problème. Rassuré, je me tournai pour regarder le paysage. À ce moment que je sentis une pression dans mon dos. Le sac de ciment du 2e âne heurtait mon sac à dos et me poussait vers le vide. Je n’eus même pas le
temps d’avoir peur. Je retrouvai mon équilibre et m’accroupis pour être plus bas que les sacs posés sur les flancs des bêtes tandis que le 3e âne passait. Voyant mes mouvements, le cheval qui suivait s’arrêta puis comme je ne bougeais plus il reprit sa route. Le reste de la caravane suivait à quelque distance. Je me remis en route en me promettant de désormais croiser les animaux côté montagne. Visiblement, ni l’âne ni moi n’avions intégré dans notre schéma corporel, le volume de nos bagages respectifs.
I took a picture of a caravan of horses and donkeys. I walk faster than the donkeys but as I often stopped to take pictures. The caravan was bringing cement to build a new food stall. Contrary to what the Lonely Planet says there are no reason to carry loads of water as there are more places willing to sell drinks than I could possibly drink.
As I missed the Halfway guesthouse and I didn’t feel too tired, I went on to the point where the upper path goes down to meet the road. As I found that Tina’s guesthouse was a too big structure, I went on 3 km till Walnut
Garden where I stayed at the Chateau de Woody, enjoying the luxury of a private bathroom.
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