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Published: October 10th 2007
Tiger Leaping Gorge - 1
Trek is underway with our support team following.Tiger Leaping Gorge is an almost compulsory mini-trek for visitors to this region. We were no exception. We looked around Lijiang for information & found package tours on offer for 600Y & 580Y, found some hand drawn maps at local cafes & asked questions from locals 'in the know' and decided to do it ourselves.
Tiger Leaping Gorge is where the mighty Yangzi River cuts its way between Haba Snow Mountain and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain creating one of the deepest gorges in the world. The entire gorge measures something like 16km at river level & its a giddy 3900m from the waters to the snowcapped peaks. This spectacular natural attraction may not be around for too much longer, either, if Yangzi damming plans go ahead. There's talk of building 8 dams stretching over 564km of the river in an effort to help resolve some of China's water & power shortage issues. Next time I come to do this trek I may have wear an aqualung!
We set out early from Lijiang on (Thurs 04/Oct) in a minivan organised by our accom hostess, her brother driving us, for 70Y each. We had also invited to join us, a fellow flatmate, Sailaja,
Tiger Leaping Gorge - 1
Lazz stuggles to catch his breath & appreciate the scenery - it's bloody high up here! a ~30 year old New Yorker of Indian heritage, travelling China solo. The drive to the start point at Qiaotou took about 2.5hrs with us arriving close to 11.00am. It was quite a hectic place we were dropped at with buses galore, trekkers, would-be guides, ticket sellers, etc. Our driver purchased our entry tickets for us - another 50Y each. We were accosted by many but knocked back all offers of guides &/or horses & quickly made our way to the trail head. We were a little worried at first as, despite the throng at the bus drop off, we seemed to be the only ones setting off - we needn't have worried we were overtaken by others before too much longer.
You trek the upper track, on the northern side of the gorge, although a lower drive-able road is now in place. You climb the contour of this north side wending your way in & out of smaller, and larger, valleys being continually confronted with the massive heights & multiple peaks of the (southern) Jade Dragon Snow Mountain side. The first 2hrs of the trek were not easy, but probably as tough as expected, as we climbed upwards. All
the while we were being tailed by one of the horsemen who had offered his beast for the climb. Sue was particularly annoyed with this as she felt she was being targeted as a 'sure-thing' sooner or later by the horseman. We all told the bloke we didn't need his services with each re-telling getting a little sharper until he scored a "piss off".
Lunch break was at The Naxi Family Guest House where we were fortified with a rest & good food. We set off again around 2pm, & guess what? . . . . . we were being followed by two men with horses! This section of the trek was far more gruelling with a continually climbing track that developed into what is called the "28 bends" as it switches back and forth to its top height of 2760m. About a half hour into this section Sue succumbed to a combination of exhaustion & guilt at holding the rest of us up & struck a deal with the first horseman that saw her take to the saddle. Perhaps another half hour on Marg, too, was feeling very poorly, not so poorly she couldn't drive a hard deal with
Tiger Leaping Gorge - 1
There were many dangers on this trek - we thought this stray horse was primed to give us a savage kicking; we detoured. the second horseman, and she, too, was riding toward the top. I was quite relieved when Marg did this as I'm not convinced she's totally recovered from her operation, lacking the level of fitness she had as well as a diminished lung capacity - I really didn't want her pushing herself too much. I managed to trek on, my ego at stake, but found it sooooo hard; thought I was going to throw up at one point & was sure my calf muscles were about to sieze up despite my head ordering them on. The difficulty of this climb was quite unexpected - no warnings or ratings in any of the literature we'd read. Upon reaching the top the horses were dismounted & recovery time allowed for all. It was funny to see Sue organising a photo with herself, the horseman and the horse at this highpoint - they seemed to be best mates! Just goes to show how persistence pays.
The next ~2hrs was mostly down, or at least on the level, so we could appreciate the great scenery - the villages, their crops, the wildflowers, the rainbow strung between the peaks in what I imagine is a pretty
Tiger Leaping Gorge - 1
Sue riding high in the saddle permanent way given sunlight, as there would be a lot of moisture in the air here from turbulent waters below & the clouds at our level & above.
We reached our overnight stop in late arvo, I suppose, and sat on chairs situated on the sundeck, actually the top of the dunny block, and just stared at the mountains as we recovered with a beer or whatever. There were quite a few Aussies on this trek as it turned out and I reckon this guest house, the Tea Horse, had a full complement that night. We lined up a 4 bed dorm, us and Sailaja, for 20Y each! The rest of the evening was spent getting to know some of the other trekkers. The Aussies here were 4 pretty serious hikers from Canberra, a couple, Peter & Nat, from Sydney & Wal & Simon from Melbourne. We shared a dinner table with Wal & Simon and spent much of the night in hysterics as we exchanged stories & we were exposed to some of Wal & Simon's antics. They seemed like life-long buddies but had only known each other a year & a half when they were thrown together due
Tiger Leaping Gorge - 1
Marg in hot pursuit of Sue - giddy up! to common circumstance & here they were travelling for 3 weeks or so in China & having a wow of a time. We hope to catch up with them in the New Year once we're back home.
The next day's walking was not so bad, maybe 2hrs on a fairly level track followed by the descent for the last couple of hours. Again, the weather was fine but hazy with the clouds sitting at this level and making it difficult to take photos that really captured the look & feel of the scenery. We walked in & around valleys & got great views right down the length of the gorge at times. Looking across to the cloud shrouded mountains was rather surreal as you could only make out the hillsides sloping toward you & not the deeper set mountain peaks.
Our morning break was at the Halfway Guest House where we coffeed looking across to beautiful valleys or down the gorge one way or other. This was the place where Michael Palin, in his book "Himalaya", had spoke of their squat toilet offering the best view in the world - with no wall on the gorge side to the squat
so you the opportunity to sit & contemplate things. I'd actually had a similar thought at our previous night's accom where, they too, had a squat similarly positioned. We pressed on after snacks covering similar terrain as earlier in the day except for the several waterfalls that fell near & on the track. At one of these, Marg took the opportunity to cool off by showering in the chilly waters. It was interesting to see some of these water flows were crystal clear, as the water ran over rock, and others were quite murky, obviously laden with soil.
We thought we were heading to a guest house called Walnut Garden but once we hit the low set road at Tina's (our end point?) we followed the road for ages trying to find this highly recommended spot. We finally stopped at Sean's Guest House & he informed us the area here was called Walnut Garden and no such guest house exists.
We must have got to Sean's place at about 3pm and were well & truly ready for lunch. Perusing Sean's menu was interesting, wink, wink, he offered an optional extra with almost every listed item that made it "Happy" -
Tiger Leaping Gorge
Valley view again. You can see a good part of the track we trekked on the right hand side. & only an extra 6Y. We ended up sitting under his canvas canopy until bedtime with more & more people arriving & doing likewise. We lined up a double room for 50Y, with a spectacular view, while Sue went up-market & got a room with a AC & a bath.
A couple more Aussies were staying here - a retired couple, Eddy & Barb, on holidays visiting & travelling with their daughter Genevieve who has a volunteer posting in China for a year. Genevieve was out walking, we had passed her on our way down, while her folks took it a little easier. These parents were well-travelled & had lots of stories & advice to share. Peter & Natalie arrived in the arvo; these two we'd vaguely met the previous night, & they stopped & propped with us, and again some great stories were shared. Peter & Natalie were making their way home to Sydney overland through Asia after Natalie's 20 month working stint in Munich. Peter had met her just prior to her transfer there & followed her over a month or so later - aint love grand! Peter had lesser jobs in this time there & was perhaps
Tiger Leaping Gorge
Some of the many white-capped peaks to be spied from up here. a bit of a 'kept man' for some of his stay. He was doing some bar work and that sort of thing.
Next morning we made moves to get back to Lijiang. First step, minibus to our trek start point Qiaotou. This little bus had 7 passengers as well as the driver. The road was the lower trek route but not at river level, still bloody high, particularly when you're concerned your minibus may just push it's luck somewhat. The road was not great - sections damaged by rock falls, sections under water from waterfalls and sharp winding turns around the mountain contours & a steep precipice to the river one side. With our driver continually on his mobile and, we thought, a bit too casual in his approach to the road, we were all very grateful to make it to our destination intact. All we had to do now was get one of the buses heading back to Lijiang. It took a little time to suss out where, exactly, the pick up point was, but it wasn't too long before we were wending our way back at the price of 20Y each.
Our Lonely Planet guide book had told
TLG - Map
This hand drawn map, a give away from a Lijiang cafe, was the best map of TLG we could find. us only dormitory accommodation was available on this trek but we found many places offering much better than this. The couple of year's since our book's publication would probably account for the many descrepancies we've found all over Yunnan. It looks as though heaps of money have recently gone into, and continue to go into, developing this province & to better cater for the very many local tourists.
What a great experience this trek was & it was good to have the a couple of nights where we could speak to other English speakers despite the fact they're probably a special breed unto themselves!
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Olga
non-member comment
great story
This was the most detailed account I have ever seen about time between stops and the level of difficulty. Thanks so much!