Yunan Chapter 3: Tiger Leaping Gorge

As I promised, some of the most beautiful pictures I have posted came from Tiger Leaping Gorge. Tiger leaping gorge is a famous hiking destination in China boasting a depth twice that of the Grand Canyon. The whole trail is a 9 hour hike from start to finish, but we made it a bit longer because we chose to make our way down to the Yangtze River and back to the top of Haba Mountain.

The hike started at 7 in the morning like most of our adventures this trip did. Not because we thought 7 was a good time to wake up, but because Rob’s watch had an alarm set for 7 am and he broke the button that adjusts the time so our options were either wake up at 7 am or just wake up whenever. The hike began and we did not look back. As you can see from some of the pictures the trail allowed me to take some beautiful shots gazing down over the Yangtze River. The trail began quite easy, but then can the infamous “28 Bends.” Our friend who hiked this before warned us that we should get a good night’s sleep before 28 bends. We did not believe it would be that hard, but let me tell you it was quite a task! As you can see from some of the pictures 28 Bends is not only a steep elevation from 1,000 m to 3,500 m but is lined with waterfalls and narrow paths that have you leaning out over the gorge. 28 Bends took nearly 3 hours to hike without rest and we finally made it to the peak of Haba. This brief victory was soured by the fact that we would now have to hike down 1,500 m to the closest guest house for the night.

I should also mention that along the way we kept meeting other foreign backpackers: a couple from Canada, a pair from Germany, and a guy from Holland. It was a little like the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy keeps meeting new, strange characters as she goes on her adventure. We even encountered a wicked witch (see picture)! The old Chinese woman in the photo is the meanest little person I have ever encountered. Along the trail she created a makeshift bridge that allows you to cross over a stream. She insist on charging travelers 8 yuan to use the bridge, but this time of year the steam is essentially dried up and one can cross the water without getting as much as the soles of your shoes wet. I am not a miser, but I was not about to open my bag to give this woman 8 yuan, especially since I did not use her bridge. As I walked by she kept hounding me for money and I kept saying that I did not want to pay. She started throwing rocks at me and yelling in some strange dialect or some swear words I did not know. Rob and I decided that we would have to fight back, so instead of walking away and doing the mature thing we created a bridge over the stream too. Our bridges were identical except we told travelers ours was free. People began using our free bridge over the 8 yuan one and the woman was furious. She destroyed our bridge and yelled at us to leave. By then we had wasted enough time and decided to head on.

We made it to the Naxi Family Guesthouse in great time and it was only 3 pm. Rob and I decided we could take the hike a little further and venture down to the water. We got to the water and a swim was out of the question because of the rapids you can see from the photos….however…this did not stop us. We found a peaceful alcove and jumped in to cool off. When I say cool off I really me cool off because this water was on par with the water in Lijiang! After about twenty minutes of splashing it was time to get out and head back.

We had plenty of time to kill at the Guesthouse so Rob and I ordered some food and drinks and watched the hikers come in. In fact, the Lion, Tin-man, and Scarecrow all showed up to the guesthouse for a night’s rest as well! Now that we were reunited with our friends from Canada, Germany, and Holland a peaceful night turned into a night of drinking and playing music. It was a perfect end to a great day, and tomorrow we would continue through the gorge and catch a bus to Shangrila. The only problem would be waking up on time…

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Jordan J. Foley
傅力波