Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao Xia)

From the beginning, we knew one of the things we wanted to do in China was hike Tiger Leaping Gorge, where the Yangzi River (also known as the Yellow River, the third longest river in the world) cuts through one of the deepest gorges in the world. It's 16 kilometers long and 3900 meters from the river to the mountain top, and it takes around 2 days to hike.

The high path of Tiger Leaping Gorge.

We arrived in Lijiang on Friday and checked in to First Bend Inn, a courtyard hotel in the Old Town that's known for having lots of info about hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge. They just gave us a map and told us when to catch the bus. There had been a landslide awhile back but the roads and path were open and it hadn't rained recently, so we were good to go.

Saturday morning we left early for the bus station to catch a bus to Qiaotou, the closest starting point for hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge (you can also start at the other end from Daju). We didn't actually ride a bus, though--it was a minibus, and it was a rather cramped 2-hour ride to Qiaotou. The bus stopped at Margo's Gorged Tiger Cafe, right before the entrance to the gorge, and we had to pay the 50 RMB for tickets before we even got off the bus (the guidebook does say that some people try to sneak into the gorge when the guard is sleeping, so maybe they finally wised up to that trick!).

Margo gave us all lots of advice, which was good, but a little confusing. She made it sound difficult to find the path, but the only thing we needed to know was kilometer marker 194--the path is right by the marker.

The view from the first part of the hike.

The first 2 hours were uphill, but not terribly strenuous. It was hot, so we stopped for a snack and ice-cold Cokes at the Naxi Family Guesthouse. I don't even like Coke, but I think that was the best soda I've ever had! A big group of Chinese hikers left right as we were finishing, so we waited 15 minutes or so to give them a head start so we could enjoy our hike alone. When we left, though, they were still outside the guesthouse, getting on mules for the next part of the hike, known as the 28 bends, the hardest part of the hike.

The mules seemed like they would be faster than us, but they weren't, and they had obnoxious bells on, so we decided to try to pass them. I didn't think it was possible--there were so many of them!--but Joel was adamant and I didn't really feel like trying to avoid piles of fresh mule dung while climbing a steep gorge all to the soundtrack of cowbells, so I agreed to try.

People, it was hard. The bends? They're steep, and it would have been difficult even if we'd taken time to rest along the way. We were going full speed (well, as full speed as I could manage), and for a little while I was pretty sure the blood vessels in my stomach were going to explode (that's really what it felt like). But we were passing them, and then we passed them, and then we had the gorge to ourselves! It was worth it, and of course when it was over I felt great.

All in all, the bends took a little less than an hour and a half, and suddenly we were at the top. We could hear the rapids below yet it was incredibly quiet. The sun had gone away a little earlier and the peaks of the gorge were covered in mist. We stopped for a moment to rest, but we didn't want the mules to catch up, plus we wanted to make it to our guesthouse at a reasonable hour, so we didn't linger.

We hiked another 3 hours or so (I can't quite remember), and it was mostly level or a gentle downhill slope, so even though my legs were tired, it wasn't difficult. We even saw a rainbow toward the end.

The rainbow--a reward for our efforts?

We reached Halfway Lodge at 7 p.m. after a total of 6 hours of hiking. We were going to go on to the next guesthouse, but they had clean, new doubles with incredible views that we couldn't pass up. It seemed everyone stopped there for the night (I'm guessing at least 50 people), so it was a little loud and dinner took awhile because the kitchen was busy, but they had hot showers and those views, so we were more than happy with it.

Halfway Lodge. (Notice the bundles of dried corn--we saw this often at houses along the way).

We left the next morning around 9, and there were only 2 hours left to Walnut Garden. That part of the hike was fun because there were little waterfalls along the way, and one larger one that actually fell over the path.

Keeping dry shoes on the second day wasn't easy!

We stopped in Walnut Garden for lunch at Sean's Guesthouse. The guidebook makes a big deal out of Walnut Garden, a small village that mostly consists of guesthouses for hikers, but compared to Halfway Lodge, the view was nothing.

On the advice of First Bend Inn and Margo, we decided to take a taxi back to Qiaotou instead of hiking another 4 hours or so to Daju. The taxi ride along the lower road was a bit hairy at times (the driver liked to talk on his cell phone while negotiating the sharp, rocky bends), but we made back safely, and it only took 20 minutes or so. We caught a minivan taxi back to Lijiang and I slept the entire way. It was much more comfortable than the minibus and dropped us off downtown instead of at the bus station.

And that was our Tiger Leaping Gorge adventure. It wasn't necessarily the most incredible thing we've ever done (as some people make it out to be), but it was definitely worth it. For me, the best part was sitting in the window of our room at Halfway Lodge, soaking in the view and resting after a good, hard hike. We could hear the rapids below, and it was so peaceful in spite of the crowds in the common area. Even if the rest of the hike had been awful--and it wasn't--it all would have been worth it to spend the night in the middle of the gorge. It was definitely one of the highlights of this trip.

Resting after a long day's hike--life is good.