Tiger Leaping Gorge trek - Qiaotou to Walnut
Garden
North of Lijiang the Yangtze
River (here called the Jinsha Jiang) turns abruptly north at Shigu,
then narrows to a few metres and cuts its way into an impressive gorge almost
4000m from river to mountain top. It's supposed to be the deepest gorge in the
world. The High Trail from Qiaotou to Walnut Garden follows a spectacular path
100s of metres above the river, and passes through beautiful pine woods and the
occasional village.
Lesley, Freda and Edie took a taxi to the far end of the gorge at
Walnut Garden while Ali teamed up with a Swiss girl, Corinne, we'd met on the
bus from Lijiang. The mountains (above centre) are the Jade Dragon Snow
Mountains, 5000m peaks every one.
Corinne on the High Trail. There were some impressive drops to
the river 1000m below, but the path was excellent - it has been used for
centuries as one of the Tea Horse Ancient Roads for transporting tea
from China to the highlands of Tibet.
Looking down the gorge (above right) to the narrows north
of Walnut Garden where the Chinese authorities plan to build a dam. This
ill-conceived project is one of many on the Yangtze which will displace
thousands of people and disrupt the river ecosystem. More details can be found here.
We met some interesting characters along the way. This Naxi Gem-collector
(above left) sold me some quartz crystals for Freda and Edie. The woman (above
right) is harvesting beans near Bendiwan Village where we spent the night.
Left to Right: the view from the Half-Way Guesthouse in Bendiwan
Village; looking up the Tiger Leaping Gorge at sunrise; the team back at Sean's
Guesthouse in Walnut Garden. Freda had lost her first tooth, Edie had fallen of
a ledge into a marijuana plant, and Lesley had suffered a sleepless night - so
we decided to head back to Lijiang on the first bus!
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