Blogs from Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan, China, Asia - page 2

So in the first half of my blog I promised you tigers and dragons and I wasn't kidding, so if you can cope with the excessive amounts of photos and more of my waffle, please carry on with part two… Right, I believe I left you in Shangrila, lucky you! So following on from the delights of the monastery visit we decided the next day to walk part of the famous Tiger Leaping Gorge. We’d arranged a car and driver to take us there and arranged to meet him bright and early outside the travel place at 7.30am, far too early for a holiday but we needed the early start. As we left the hotel it was literally freezing but the driver, with his long hair, Cowboy hat and long black coat, was standing by a ... read more

Tiger Leaping Gorge, the Jewel of Yunnan. The gorge is about 40k in length but seems much longer when it is cycled since it is up and down all the way with some quite steep hills demanding low gears. The middle of the Gorge is where the rock stands in the centre of the Yangtze surrounded by a ferocious current of water boiling up everywhere and is the rock onto which it is suggested that a tiger once used as a stepping stone to escape across the river. There are 400 steps down to the edge of the river but you can be taken down by some tuffies in a Sedan Chair if you are a bit tired, lazy or rich. At this point you can take photos along with a mass of other Chinese tourists, ... read more

Before you read this blog please take a breathe and make sure you can give us your full attention, you don't want to miss a second of this one. I can't even start to explain how excited I am to share this with you!! Put your hiking shoes on, don't forget your water and let's conquer this together :) eeeeeeek!!! xo Becs Tiger Leaping Gorge is the deepest gorge in the world, the snow covered peaks at the top of the mountains are about 5500m above sea level while the bottom of the gorge is sub-tropical weather. This diverse landscape creates it's own little micro-ecosystem. The river that flows through the gorge is China's largest, the Yangtze river. TLG is another one of those “must visit” places when you are travelling through China. Due to the ... read more

We arrived at Qiaotou village in Zhongdian county a little confused about where to go for our hike… the signage isn’t all that great. After chatting with a few locals, we finally got our bearings straight and started walking. We checked our large bags with a hostel at the park entrance since we didn’t want to carry them the entire 16km length of the two day hike. We had already heard that this hike was extremely grueling even for very fit and experienced climbers, so we didn’t need to be weighed down. Unfortunately, we had nothing to carry water or a change of clothes in, so I ended up going to a convenience store and buying a bunch of plastic bags to toss our stuff in. We definitely did not look like seasoned hikers as we ... read more

Two hours from Lijiang or Shangri-La (aka Zhongdian), get off in Quiatou. Try to get there early enough to start the high trail and get to Naxi Family Guesthouse, about two hours uphill from Quiatou, before dark. The first part of the walk from Quiatou is by road, then by cement path, and then by a double-track trail. It's possible to leave most of your gear at a guesthouse and pick it up after the trek. From Naxi Guesthouse, which is a pretty nice place (despite the flies and lack of electricity most of the time), continue along the high trail (steep uphill for another hour) to stay at the guest houses along the way, which are spaced every three hours of walking. The only place that is sometimes unpassable is the large waterfall in between ... read more