Ok, so we are a little behind in our updates. We are now in Baoguo village on the eve of our climb up Emei Shan in Sichuan province, central China. But we got hear from Yangshuo via the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces, Lijiang, the Tiger Leaping Gorge, and Dali.
This post describes out time up to Dali. Our next post will pick up from there.
Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces
Claire here.
It took two buses, a minivan, and a 40 minute hike up a hill from Yangshuo to reach the village of Tiantou—situated in what is known in English as 'The Dragons Backbone Rice Terraces'.
Tiantou has no road access, so everything that enters the village comes up on the back of a person or a pony; including some (Chinese) tourists who are carried around on saloon chairs. We were the only people we saw who carried their own bags up the hill.
The local women have a thriving industry carrying luggage of all shapes and sizes up the hills on large baskets on their backs. They were quite bemused—and a little annoyed—that we wouldn't let them carry our bags. But given they were on average twice our age and about a foot smaller, we just couldn't let them.
The Dragons Backbone Rice Terraces area is very picturesque and there are many walking trails and farmers tracks that lead to various view points.
We spent the day following the various trails admiring the views amongst the clouds, taking pictures, being bemused at the middle-aged Chinese men—with their high tech cameras huge lenses and tripods all taking nearly identical photos from the same spots—and enjoying the pleasantly cooler climate
Making our way to Lijiang
From the terraces we made our way back down by foot and bus to the city of Guilin. Our next destination Lijiang was as with many places in China a fair distance away (1700 kms).
We broke up the journey somewhat by first taking the overnight train to Kunming. Arriving mid morning, we spent the rest of the day wandering somewhat aimlessly around. There was a nice park full of people taking open air dancing classes, playing musical instruments, singing and generally enjoying the atmosphere. Apart from that and a nice cafe owned by Americans, there didn't seem much in the way of attractions in Kunming.
We had carefully planned our route to the bus station for our overnight bus using the local city bus that the Lonely Planet said would take us right past. It didn't. Thankfully the assistance of a young women who spoke no English and went far out of her way got us on another bus going the right way. Unfortunately we got off this bus to early necessitating quite a long jog to the bus station. Thankfully my propensity for needing to be exceedingly early when long distance transport is involved meant we got there in plenty of time.
Our time in Lijiang
The overnight bus to Lijiang was bumpy due to an seemingly continuous supply of road works. But we arrived to the very pleasant sight of Lijiang as the sun was rising and people were busying themselves for the market.
Our hostel was Mama Naxi's—which is somewhat famous on the Chinese backpacker trails. Mama is of the local Naxi (pronounced 'na si') minority and is a big personality. She cooks all-you-can-eat family dinners for her guests, bedecked in a tall white chef's hat. She plies hikers with bananas and generally bosses everyone around, especially Dada—her husband who supplies tea for anyone who sits down for more than a minute.
Eli here.
Lijiang is a very old city, a UNESCO world heritage city no less. The drawcard: essentially the old part of the city has remained the same for over 600 hundred years. Its cobbled streets are dissected by man-made waterways that supply pools for cleaning clothes, washing vegetables, and drinking. We spent our days wondering the streets, eating local delicacies—mostly deep-fried potato and dried yak meat—and visiting shops selling scarfs, wooden toys, and long cotton pants.
But our main reason for coming was not necessarily to compete with the hordes of domestic Chinese tourists that roam the cobbles. No. It was to visit the Tiger Leaping Gorge, only a few hours north. And that we did.
Walking through the Tiger Leaping Gorge
What is it about the Chinese and creative geographical names? The Tiger Leaping Gorge is no exception. As legend has it, a tiger—of unknown species—was seen sometime long ago jumping from one side of a gorge to a rock in the middle then over to the other side. The river it lept across: none other than the great Yangtze—one of the most important in the world, and certainly in China.
Apart from the opportunity to walk, we had to see this great rock and contemplate whether the two-stage leap was feasible. I remain skeptical...
Ok, back to the beginning. Rising early, we took a minivan from Mama Nixi's to Qiaotou at the start of the gorge. Delayed by petrol and ATM stops, and a special brand of roadworks, we made the trip in three hours. At times the road resembled an off-road rally, with vehicles of many varieties overtaking on blind corners despite the bumpy terrain. But with these antics complete, it was time to do what we came to do: walk.
Almost immediately we could spy the snowy peaks that shadow the gorge. Sharp, reflective, and covered by snow cloud, they only seemed to get further away as we climbed higher. Over the next two days we would add the steepness of the gorge and the rushing muddy might of the Yangtze to our picture collection.
Our first leg took us to the Naxi Family Guesthouse for lunch—a delightful family home serving rice as a specialty and drying corn, rice and other staples in its courtyard. From here we battled our way through the '28 bends' and down, arriving at Half Way Guesthouse for the night at hour 6.5, which displayed impressive views of the gorge below.
Along the way the locals offered rides—for a fee—on their horses and tried to charge us for taking pictures from spots that they had supposedly maintained at some cost. Resolute that these later charges were extortionate and opportunistic, we never did pay, even though these 'spots' offered the best views of the gorge. Some coincidence you might say...
After a restful sleep at Half Way and a rice porridge breakfast with floating banana, we made the two hour trek to Tina's Guesthouse. Perhaps the most dangerous leg, this trek took us past cliff faces and across mountain streams—and at the same time. Slippery though the rocks were, they were no match for my five fingers!
Wired from our walk and with hours to kill, we made the bold decision to descend from Tina's down to the gorge below. Even bolder, we opted for the steep 'ladder' path over the much safer 'meandering' path. Here, you must picture a makeshift collection of rusted metal pipes, some planks that have seen better days, and a generous supply of fencing wire. Mix it all together and you get a ladder suspended 20 meters down from one narrow ledge to another. A second ladder was a slightly more palatable 10 meters in length.
But the climb down was worth it. We saw the rock—which was an optimistic leap to say the least—and the Yangtze up close. It was a fitting end to the trek.
After returning to Tina's we took a van back to Mama Naxi's. The next day we were off to Dali.
* * * * *
Oh, and in other news, we aren't going to make it to Tibet this time. The Chinese government has stopped issuing all tourist permits for the next month and a bit as the autonomous region prepares for some government sponsored commemorations. It is worried that foreign tourists may witness the Tibetan peoples' displeasure and the Chinese army's response. We are disappointed, but currently formulating a new plan.
Love to all,
xxxxx
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