Lijiang to Qiaotou

Qiaotou - or Bridge's head - is the entry point to the most famous track to be done in Yunnan. I'll be disappearing into the gorge (Tiger Leaping Gorge 虎跳峡) for the next 3 or 4 days, and can now write from Qiaotou, at a hostel that finally has descent access and seems to be able to talk to my HardDisc as well (so that I'll have some space for more pictures).

 

I decided to run away from Lijiang as fast as possible - guess I might write about it at some later point properly, when I get to sit down for a while. Lijiang is a heaven for you if you want to buy a whole lot of Schmonzalach. Otherwise - give it maximum a day and run away (or skip altogether). I went for a day-trip today, to a little village called Baisha just off Lijiang, after checking out - planning to be back for the last bus towards Shangrila.

 

Although every ride I took today ended up dropping me off a couple of Km from where I was trying to get to, I miraculously made it on time back to the hotel, and got on a bus one hour before the last one (an hour which was to be well spent).

 

The ride towards Shangrila (at least the part so far, and I expect the rest as well) is amazing. People talk about taking night-rides. I don't think this is actually available for this route, but if it is - don't take it!  Go during the day, and get your nose stuck to the window. The Bus goes up mountains, and comes back down to beautiful vallies on the other side. On and on with beautiful scenery.

All these touristy cities are not that interersting, but the roads kick ass.

 

At some point I actually got to think that there won't be that much extra in going through the track, as I've been seeing the same views/ scenery for the past couple of hours from various angles. But then - I am not one to break long standing traditions, even if they're dictated by Lonely Planet.

 

But of course, we need to spice it up with a bit of adventure of sorts.

For one, it seems that this is a good timing to get to the gorge. While the lower route is blocked with mud-slides, and road-construction works, the loaded tourist buses are staying away, and so are the prices around. Judging from the amount of places along the way that have big signs saying "Tiger Leaping Gorge" - this is a disaster just waiting to happen, and very soon.

 

And there's a good reason I'm mentioning all of this - at the first sign I saw, I jumped into attention, sure that the bus is about to stop and drop me off, but it continued to go. I looked back, and saw the two Chinese guys that bought their tickets in the same time with me, saying they're heading to the same place. Apprrently it was the same area, rather than the same exact place ...

And the driver seem to have heard my thoughts about continuing all the way to Shangrila.

Yes, you figured it out ... another one.

 

The signs continued to say Tiger Leaping Gorge, but the bus driver didn't say anything, and the two guys seemed to be sitting there.

At some point one of them heads forward, and tells me he's going to ask the driver ... then some commotion - apparently the driver decided the 3 of us are together, and they're heading to another mountain further up the road.

 

I was let off, and the driver said, the village I'm looking for is about 1km back. I waited for a while for a bus, but decided to just head on back. Good warmup for the following day - only that I intended to leave behind 70% of my bag's weight behind. Luckily it was downhill, and indeed after about 1 km I reached the village. Alas, the area I was looking for is on the other side of the village, so another km or so.

 

Mid-way, I asked someone (in Chinese), what direction is the Tiger leaping gorge. "Let's talk English".

"Ok, where is the Tiger leaping gorge?"

He pointed further down the road.

"Great, do you know where this place is?" - I showed him the name of the guest house I was hoping to find.

"Yes, Tiger leaping gorge, that way, then turn right" (pointing more or less left)

"Right, but do you know where THIS place is" showing him again the name of the place.

"It's about 500 meters, then turn right"

"You mean left?"

"Go there, then turn right. Ticket office, Tiger Leaping Gorge"

"Right man. Thanks! Let's talk English indeed"

 

But here I am, batteries getting charged, photos downloaded, ready to go.