Roughin' it through the 28 Bends

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The morning after the fire riot, I was up bright and early to take a bus to LiJiang, where I planned on taking a three day hike through the Tiger Leaping Gorge. I was planning on doing it alone, hoping to meet people I could join on the trail. However, on the bus I ran into three Irish girls and an Australian guy I’d met in Dali. I convinced them that they should come with me to do the trek in three days rather than two… and off we went, immediately from the bus station. It was great having yet another group of solid friends while traveling.

The gorge was beautiful and absolutely worth savoring over a course of three days. The first night, we stayed at a Naxi Family Guesthouse where I introduced the girls to the wonders of Chinese eggplant. We invited a British girl staying at the guesthouse to join us during the next day’s hike. The next day - meant to be the hardest of all three days - the five of us forged out through the 28 bends, finally reaching the Halfway House, our next night’s accommodations. The best part of the hike was the third day, when we scrambled down a dangerously steep path to watch the water roaring past us. By the time we returned to LiJiang, it was dinnertime. We unpacked our bags at Mama Naxi’s Hostel, ate some dinner, and had a fabulous night at an Irish Bar. Sure, Mama Naxi was not happy when we arrived at the hostel four hours after our 1am curfew, but it was an incredible time. The Aussie and I taught the entire bar how to play Kings. It was such a hit that from an initial group of 7 players, it quickly grew to above a dozen. Oh and that bartender knew how to work the mojito… and really any drink that included lots and lots of mint.

After a tearful goodbye, the next morning I returned to Shanghai for two more nights of China before heading to Europe, for the classic post-graduation adventure.

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