| |
|
26 Tiger Leaping Gorge |
|
|
|
China
Saturday 31 December 2005
Ellie and Eric met us at our hotel and we set off in a taxi for Tiger Leaping Gorge. It was a warm and sunny day and it boded well for a good hike. The taxi was a little mini van, a bit short on leg room and bumpy in the back but bearable for the two hour drive to the gorge. We were soon out of Lijiang and into the Yunnan countryside which still gets better and better the further west we go.
We passed through very peaceful rural countryside with people out working in the fields. The local villages were very traditional with courtyard based houses lining the roads and chillies and sweet corn hanging out to dry from every available balcony or piece of wood. Sometimes we would come across trucks piled high with straw with a few locals perched precariously on the top, fully expecting the whole lot to come tumbling down as they rounded a corner. The road wound up and into the pine covered hills climbing quite high. There were steep drops down to the valley below which again reminded us of the central valley in Ecuador. Our driver was up to par not wasting any time and being quite happy to overtake big trucks going uphill and round blind corners. Considering they have spent five weeks in India where the drivers are also nuts, I kept chuckling to myself as Ellie and Eric quietly muttered to themselves desires for the driver to slow down or not to do such crazy overtaking. I think we have just got used to it on our various travels in South America and India and I thought he was actually reasonably cautious compared to many we have had. We crossed a range of hills and then started to descend down into the river valley below, passing the first turn of the Yangtze River along the way. For some reason our driver opted not to take the nice new road that runs along the left hand side of the valley and he kept on the bone jarring and potholed original road that winds down through the villages. Along the new road were dotted what looked like very new towns and industrial plants, one belching smoke out into the clean air. As the driver finally crossed the river and joined the new road, his mobile came out and he dug a business card out of the bits and pieces at the front of the car and started to call. Soon after we reached the village of Qiaotou which is at the start of the gorge and he pulled to a halt in front of some shops. We had expected our taxi to be able to take us to where we wanted to start our walk but again local connections came into play and we were passed over to another taxi, the person he had been calling as we drove. This new chap provided us with a good walking sketch map of the gorge which heavily promoted Sean’s Guest House at the other end. It was an additional Y10 each to take us through the gorge and we also had to pay our entry fee of Y50 each. With me being wary about making it from Qiaotou to the Halfway Hostel in the six hours or so of daylight that were available to us we had agreed to start our walk just beyond Yongsheng Village, about half way through the gorge. The drive to our start point climbed gradually up and through the gorge. For most of the way it was a tarmaced road but sections clearly showed the evidence of the rock falls they get here in the summer. In some sections rocks were still piled on the road, with the road only being cleared enough to allow the tour buses to get through. Whole sections of road have obviously been obliterated by falls and it’s a very bumpy ride over a rocky surface for a good couple of kilometres. This in itself is not too bad. It is just the combination with the view outside the window that gets your heart going – a sheer drop down to the bottom of the valley. To get from the road at Yongsheng Village up to the path was a steep two kilometre uphill climb along a series of switch backs. I think we were all surprised at how hot it was in the sun and soon layers were being peeled off and attached to packs. Mountain goats kept us amused along the way as they scampered around on the rocks and we were all pretty hot and dusty by the time we got to the top. The views along the way were fantastic with the gorge opening up below us. All the way you could hear the sound of the water thundering through even though the water level is low at this time of year. As we reached the top of the path, which is really a dirt track road, some of the local villagers came past in a truck and it was tempting to hop in the back. At the top though the path levelled out and before long we had made it to the Halfway Lodge hostel. The hostel has great views down the valley and to the gorge below. It is fertile land here and the slopes are all full of crops. There is a small sheltered patio where you can stop to catch your breath, have a thirst quenching drink and a bite of lunch while you ponder the view and consider how far you think you will make it by the end of the day. People who start from Qiaotou Village usually make it this far and stop here for the night. This includes dear old Michael Palin who did this walk as part of his Himalayas series. He does not seem to have created a very good impression with the owner who seemed quite unimpressed by the fact that he had had a figure head of the Beeb at his place. The increase in tourism and the popularity of the gorge were evident here with work underway to add more rooms to the hostel. It was a sight we were to see several times along the way as there are now many more hostels along the trail than those listed in Lonely Planet. It was also something we found strange as incredibly, the Chinese government currently has plans to dam the Yangtze River which would see Tiger Leaping Gorge buried under water. No doubt these hostel owners are either just cashing in for the short term or they know how high the water will come and are planning to switch from looking after trekkers to looking after people out and about on the water. Lobbying is still ongoing to try and stop the dam project but I suspect that there is too much money at stake so another natural wonder will be lost. Refreshed after lunch we continued on our way aiming to make it to Tina’s hostel by the end of the day. The path wound round the side of the mountain but with sheer drops down to our right we both stuck as close as we could to the mountain side of the path. After a while we came across a small waterfall, easily passable at this time of year but I bet it is a bit more challenging in the rainy season. Along the way signs in red and yellow tell you how far away you are from the various different hostels. They are really useful signposts, it is just a shame that it is paint that has been daubed onto the side of the mountain rather than signs that could be removed. We reached the highest point of the climb and took a well earned rest until the wind picked up and forced us ever onwards. About an hour and a half after leaving the Halfway Lodge Hostel we could see more buildings down below the high path and started on our way down to Tina’s. The paths down were little more than goat tracks and being steep it was hard going on the knees. A little girl tending her goats in one of the fields waved and said “hello” and I almost sensed that she was saying “nutters” to herself as she watched us go by. As with the Halfway Lodge Tina’s is expanding. Her original hostel is still standing but over the road there is a one year old new block. We had wanted to call ahead and book rooms but Lonely Planet has no phone number listed. I thin that we were lucky and got the last two rooms that they had. Certainly no-one else came in after us. Expansion was also reflected in the price which has doubled from the Y10 in Lonely Planet to Y20 per person for a room with shared bathroom. The rooms were basic with two beds, a desk and a coat stand but they were clean and came with a thick duvet and electric blankets. We had not needed to bring our sleeping bags with us after all! The shared “bathrooms” were hole in the floor style toilets with a shower attachment stuck to the wall. Outside there is a little patio and we decamped here to relax, rest weary feet and watch the sun go down. A rather drunk Australian called Jeff latched on to us. He was harmless enough but having a conversation with him was a bit tricky, partly due to alcohol and partly because he just did not seem all there. Someone asked him what had brought him to China, meaning why had he come here, and he answered “a plane”! It was beautiful watching the sunset. To our right the sky was still brightly lit b the sun and it was very definitely daylight. To our left the colour was darkening to a mauve/blue colour as the sun started to set. In front of us the mountain gradually became a dark silhouette blocking out all the light from behind it as if someone was pulling up a curtain. We were all quite relaxed but as the daylight waned it started to get pretty cold. None of us really wanted to move and it almost became a battle of wills to see who would cave in first and want to go inside. Not that inside was much warmer as none of the buildings have any heating in them!
We were the only Western tourists in the hostel, which seemed to be full of a Chinese tour group. The men spent the evening chain smoking and playing cards and mah-jongg, the women simply disappeared after they had finished their meal. One large room served as kitchen, reception, bar and dining room and this is where we spent the night. In the middle of the room a small charcoal brazier was perched on a couple of bricks. A square metal table was placed over the top with a hole in the middle which was lined up over the brazier. We had earlier seen the staff and the ladies from the tour group sitting around this table to eat and we followed suit. It was a typical and traditional Naxi (the local minority people here) hot pot dinner. Essentially it is similar to a fondue but with a much bigger pot. The pot comes to the table full of boiling stock. You then add into it different bits of meat, vegetables, tofu and noodles and munch your way through it all as it colds. It was great fun social eating and tasty too. We had asked for chicken and to flavour the stock they had left the chicken’s head and one of its feet in the bottom of the pot. It is not a sight that we are used to seeing and it was one that Ellie could not bear. Each time the chicken’s head appeared she shuddered until we finally hid it out of sight in a bowl. Before dinner was over Jeff the Aussie stood up, wobbled badly and confirmed he was off to bed. He was tiddled when we arrived at 5pm and now three hours later he was well and truly worse for wear. He had been getting the evil eye from Tina for quite some time after he knocked over his bowl of food. Lonely Planet says that the staff here are friendly and for the most part that was true. Tina herself though was a real misery guts. She had a really sullen look on her face and only seemed interested in watching soap operas on TV. Once we had finished our hot pot the table and chairs were moved away so that only the brazier remained in the middle of the room, which was then turned into a dance floor for some traditional Naxi dancing. A DVD provided the music and the dance steps and any aspirations we had of being spectators entertained by the staff dancing were soon dashed as we found ourselves dancing with them. In some ways the dances are very simple. You stand close to the person next to you, interlocking your fingers. The dance is then just a series of steps, each dance apparently mirroring the movements of different animals. The line gradually moves from left to right bending round in a circle as you go. I suppose it is really just a Chinese form of line dancing. Once we had mastered the steps it was easy to do, unless you lost your rhythm, and the learning process created much laughter all round. Having been cold before dinner, food and dancing round a brazier soon warmed us up and I think we all peeled off layers and for a short while regretted that we had put our thermals on. The dances seemed to last for ages and each time one finished we all laughed and clapped. It was a really good atmosphere but our tiredness from the walk soon kicked in and we left the staff to dance while was watched from the sidelines. It was difficult to gauge how old they all were but I reckon they were late teens/early twenties. They certainly loved their dancing and kept going for a couple of hours. Just as we were contemplating sneaking out to one of our rooms they finally exhausted themselves and flaked out in front of the TV. We then resorted to the standard New Year’s Eve practice of finding things to do to keep ourselves awake until midnight. Packs of cards came out and we played Shithead and Rummy. Just before midnight we went up to look at the stars from outside of our rooms. Without any light pollution nearby we could see thousands, all brightly blinking and winking away at us. As midnight came and went we hugged, kissed, tried Auld Lang Sine (but none of us knew the words) and whizzed inside to the comparative warmth of our rooms, duvets and electric blankets. |
||||
|
Visitors: |
|
|
|
Copyright © 2001-2007 Stefan and Vanessa Aalten-Voogd |
