Tiger Leaping Gorge (虎跳峡) a valley so named because legend has it that it was so narrow that a tiger managed to leap from one end of the valley to the other. It is the deepest gorge in China and oh-so-full of rocks. As a result, the waters is a violent body, splashing and swishing in a deep brown colour as it flows down from one end to the other. Whirlpools are commonplace in this ravine that separates the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain from Haba Snow Mountain.
Oh no, people don't come here for calm and peace. People come here for the ultimate adventure, to see the fiercest waters at the foot of two large mountains around thrashing about endlessly.
At first, we'd decided to trek with our 55L backpacks from the Upper Leaping Gorge to the Middle Leaping Gorge, where our hostel is. But, after careful consideration (the gorge is a very dangerous place- it has claimed a lot of lives), we decided, instead, to take a 2 hour bus ride from Lijiang to our hostel in Tiger Leaping, put down our bags and then trek without any unnecessary baggage instead.
Did I mention our knack to make friends along the way? Although this bus driver is no Xiao Zhang- he's older and more mature- Felicia and Joyce managed to dig out a lot of information from him, including the fact that he's the boss of our hostel, and he had named it after his wife. The two girls continued to probe, asking questions like "How did you two meet?" and "So do you love your wife more, or does she love you more?" We also talked to a very hot American-born Chinese who is travelling alone.
By now, we were used to rocky roads and scary-looking mountains. Some caucasians in the bus were alarmed though, saying that the roads were too narrow and rocky to be safe. If the roads were narrow, wait till you see the footpaths.
After dropping our bags off at the hostel and a quick lunch, we went trekking. REALLY trekking. Unlike in Mount Huang, where climbing mountains equal climbing man-made step after step, there isn't any paved path here. Instead, there are dirt paths, dug many years ago by different families living in the area, so if you are using the road, you have to pay a passing fee. We were stopped by this very old lady at the beginning of the path. Of course, being budget tourists, we wanted to squirm our way through. But in the end, we relented and paid, since it was no fun being trapped on these narrow paths while trying to argue with her.
Down, down we went. The Middle Tiger Leaping comprises of a path from the driving roads that goes right to the river bank. Going downhill was no joke. If you're lucky, you'll be relieved by the sight of tree trunks and grass. If not, there's basically nothing by the side of the path, just the edge. So there I was, a scarady-cat, climbing down and seeing the ravaging waters below me from time to time, thinking all the time what will happen if I should slip. It takes just one step. One wrong step.
We managed to climb to the bottom in the end. There was this huge rock where everyone clambered on to take pictures of the whole place. We even spotted a woman in heels! Now how the hell she managed to reach the bottom was a mystery.
We climbed back up after a picnic at the bottom. The rest of the day was spent in the hostel, resting and admiring the mountains.
Nearly at the hostel. Us posing with Mike, the American-born Chinese we met on the bus.
We're really getting used to these rocky roads. Look, no barriers.
We reached Tina's, our youth hostel.
That's Tina, wife of the owner.
Other guests enjoying lunch with the mountains.
Starting the trek.
Going down.
Walking inside a cave. You can see the river at the bottom.
Literally at the edge.
The bottom of Tiger Leaping.
Joyce and a French guy whom she talked to during the trek. She can make friends ANYWHERE.
At the site where the tiger supposedly jumped to the other side of the gorge.
Old school bridge- and there are people guarding it, because you need to pay a passing fee.
张老师的妈妈. Mr Zhang is this guy who runs a hostel nearby. His family dug the road down to Middle Tiger Leaping, and today, his mother guards the path. When climbing up, I told her I saw a few people going down-- she was so alarmed cos she thought they didn't pay.
Along the way up, the sedan carriers also finished work, so they pick up their families.
Every time someone opens our hostel door, this is what we see. Mountain after mountain.
End of Part 9
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