Tiger Leaping Gorge...Minivan Spinning Round

Mon, Jul 27

Mike

Woke early and got onto street about 6:40 AM. Breakfast was two glasses of tea, an apple pancake, some yak yogurt (flavored with vanilla), and an orange drink. It got us going.

Our plan was to reconnoiter at the north gate for the tour. There were food vendors there, so I tried a rice cake "burrito" (a rectangular rice cake, filled with various food items and topped with a spicy sauce, then rolled up).

We met up with Eric, the tourist guy. A few minutes later he introduced us to a French family (husband, wife, and 4 year old girl), along with the husband's sister (who had been living with her boyfriend in Shenzhen for 3 years, and so knew some Chinese). Curtis spoke a little French, and the family agreed to join us. So we paid 250 each (Curtis and I paid 250, they paid 250). Eric found us a minivan, and we were off at 8:15, in the drizzle.

The road went to the north, slowly uphill. We stopped so I could buy 6 Lijiang white snow peaches - pretty tasty. Then, we came on a lookout point over the Yangtze River and the mountains. It was cloudy and we could not see the two 5600-5800 meter mountains that span the gorge. We then headed downhill the next 20 km or so to the river. As we were going downhill, the driver lost control, skidded, and ended up in the uphill lane facing uphill. We were a little shaken, and the rest of the trip was rather slower, especially when 2 km later we saw a car that had run off the road and was tipped on its side.

Where we met the river, you can go north across the river to Qiaotou and then up to ShangriLa, or to the east along the north side of the river. This is the customary way of seeing the gorge. We continued straight, not crossing the river. This road continued for 21 km, along a wide quiet river, until it came to an entrance gate and a parking lot. It was now 11:10 AM; we agreed to meet back at 2:00 PM. Entrance was 52 Y apiece.

The trail was wide, paved, flat, and followed the river. On several occasions, because of the problem of rockslides, the trail was tunneled through the rock. As we approached the 3 km mark, the river started getting much wilder. Ahead on the north side were dozens and dozens of buses, and people walking down to the river. As we came upon this on the south side, it was clear that we had reached Tiger Leaping Gorge. The river foamed and leaped. On a canoeing scale of 1 - 5, this was a 5+++: clearly impassable by any river craft. As you stood, maybe 15 m above the river on a platform, you occasionally got splashed by the foaming waters. I took 3 10-second movies of the river on my camera.

Lunch was yak meat, walnut cakes, a peach, and a few of the plums from the first day in Lijiang. Finally, the other family came by (they had traveled the trail much more slowly). I offered the girl a peach; even though she was a picky eater, she grabbed at the peach and wolfed it down.

We all walked back, and got back to the minivan by 1:45. The rain had stopped when Curtis and I arrived at the parking lot, but now it started up again. This time we drove slowly, and made it back to town by 4:10 PM. We two went back to the hotel in the drizzle.

After 6 PM, we started out again, walking - first in a drizzle, and then in a medium hard rain. By 7 PM we reached the internet cafe, really soaked. Finally, I was able to successfully write and send the July 25 and 26 messages.

It was 8:30 PM when we finished, and Curtis absolutely insisted on pizza. We went to a place that advertised pizza, and ordered a salami pizza, a bottle of beer, and a glass of wine (for Curtis). The pizza was made “California style,” with a thin crust. I saw Naxi style fish with peanuts on the menu, so I had only a small portion of the pizza, and ordered the fish. It was truly fantastic. Total bill was 111 Y (although I think the owner miscalculated) and we left 120 Y. Truly, it was an amazing dinner.

It had stopped raining (finally!) so back to the hotel a little after 10, for packing, showering, and getting ready for a very early start to Chengdu.

Curtis

To start the day (and to get out of the rain-- light on-and-off drizzle), we had a snack at a little restaurant. I had a Lijiang pancake, which is sort of an apple strudel, with a very glutinous flour. It was yummy with some ginger tea.

Mike and I shared a minivan with some French tourists on a ride to the Lijiang side of the gorge. The ride there wound up and down over a ridge and was quite harrowing. There was a little drizzle on and off as we were above and below the clouds. At one point the driver went a little too fast on a curve and spun around, but thankfully we stayed on all four wheels. We blocked traffic for a few minutes until he got straightened out. After that he was much more cautious. A couple of kilometers down the road we saw a car that had skidded and turned upside down. Fortunately he had gone off on the inside of the road and not the cliff side. The driver called for emergency services on his cell.

The Lijiang walk is easier to arrange and much easier to negotiate. Basically a fairly wide and flat walking path of stone with several tunnels, around 3 kilometers each way. It leads to the south side of the gorge where you can walk down to the rapids at the "tiger leap" point. There is a stone tiger that you can see as you approach the last tunnel. When you walk down to the low observation deck you are about 5 meters above the water, but the spray from the torrent comes up to your feet and there is mist all in the air. Mike calls it a level 5+++ rapids. No one could survive on a raft or barrel or any such device.

I was hoping to have a few more trails to hike. The people on the other side (the Shangrila side), whom you could almost talk to if you could hear over the torrents, had to climb down several hundred stairs from a much higher road. There was a great wall of buses parked up there, and that would have been another option, but it would have required booking a Shangrila driver. So we opted for the geriatric path. Anyhow it was quite beautiful and dramatic. I will save my energy for climbing the Leshan Buddha.

On the way back we saw another truck that had been towed. The pair of vehicles was off in a ditch; at least the tow truck could call another tow truck to pull him out.

I am coercing Mike to let me go to the pizza restaurant, which imports mozzarella from New Zealand. All this Chinese food has taken a toll on my stomach the last few days - it is not really on my top ten list of cuisines. I did have some yak milk yogurt this morning. It is lightly sweetened with a little vanilla; you drink it with a punch-through straw. We also had some dried yak meat for a snack at the gorge. It was tasty, but sat a little uneasily with me. I'm trying to save my Chinese stomach for some real Sichuan food. Then I may have to hit the Imodium again.

We fly out to Chengdu tomorrow morning, so have to get up really early.