Tiger Leaping Gorge

Mama Naxi arranged a van to take us from Lijiang to the Tiger Leaping Gorge trail head. I'm under the impression its the deepest gorge in the world, and it is under danger of being damned to provide energy to the area. In the small van was Sharon from New York and Omer from Isreal. The two hour drive was not too eventful except running into groups of police or livestock. There is a high trail, which we did, and a low trail- a road. Near the beginning of the high trail we left much of our luggage at Jane's Guesthouse. Our conclusion was that Jane was in fact a male, and we wanted only our luggage to spend the night at 'her' guesthouse.












After a bit of confusion to find the actual trail head, we started the long, long ascent to the pinnacle of the high trail. Lots of climbing and bending upwards. We almost immediately ran into, and eventually shared the rest of the trek with, a Kevin from Nevada who has lived in China for a few years and a Monica from Poland. We were also followed by a man with a donkey; Sharon eventually decided to pay for the donkey's services.

The hiking was quite strenuous although never overbearing. Nearly every kilometer or two would be a shack with someone selling liquids and snacks: fruit, water, tea, snickers, and a place to sit were always around the corner. As artificial as it sounds, they actually did not take much from the experience- only made it easier to enjoy the scenery and the walk.

Not only small shacks selling food, but the trail had a half dozen charming hostels along the way. I could have spent half a week in any of them. We stayed at the hostel to the left, and had a wonderful dinner with conversation which lasted into the night. The hosts were Naxi, I believe, and prepared great food and great service.






















The following morning we woke late enough for some of the fog to disperse and commence on our hike. There were scattered showers, but they were pleasant. The only problem was presented in descending to the river along the slippery, muddy trails. Arriving at the end we ate a full meal and arranged for a van to take us to Shangri-la. Sharon and Omer continued with us to Shangri-la as Kevin and Monica went towards Dali. One of the more surprising aspects of traveling through this part of China was the cohesiveness of the Westerners and the ease of which groups formed and split.

Soon I'll compose a short post on Shangri-la. Also, keep an eye out for a flickr album to pop up.