Jul 18 2009

Up and up and up

AltimeterRoadworks at 4000mP1040107And so it goes on, the road snakes further and further through the most awesome mountain ranges. At certain corners there are small concrete bollards to prevent the unwitting driver from tumbling into the abyss. After a while though these seem to peter out and the metalled road is still under construction. From a small town at 2050m the road climbs for an amazing 67Km (that’s over 40 miles) to reach a dizzy height at the top of the pass of 4160m (that’s over 12,000ft). The reward is in the view as you are treated to the first glimpses of snow capped mountains that soar and stretch way to the beyond. The road workers are working mainly by hand – it must be extremely tough living and working at this altitude in these conditions (not many jobs command such a world beating view though 🙂 (4160m in the sky, on the bus to Deqin 18 July)

 

 

 

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Jul 17 2009

Insperation welcome

A very warm welcome awaits me at the Halfway Guesthouse, where the view from the room is awesome. It is packed full of westerners, but the view is magnificent and Frankie and his family are exceptional hosts. Michael Palin wrote about the view from the toilet here – it is amazing 🙂 – he was looking at the Haba snow mountain though, and in front of you is the Jade Dragon snow mountain (Haba’s what you’re sitting on on this side of the gorge) – maybe they’ve moved the toilet in the meantime. Showered and refreshed it’s time to get some insperation… (Halfway guesthouse 14 July)

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Jul 17 2009

Gorgeous hordes

P1030801 OK so Tiger Leaping Gorge is not the most edgy place on earth, but even minutes after setting off from the Naxi’s it was easy to see why this has become a backpackers’ right of passage. It is a stupendous sight – in almost every direction, nearly all the time. First opened up in c.1986 the trail is well defined with some steep sections, particularly as you climb on day one, as I did, up the 26 bends and over the ‘peak’ (2690m) here you are treated to spectacular views of the Jade Dragon mountain range across the gorge (you trek on the Haba mountain range side, the gorge is this amazingly narrow fault between the two). Through sections of forest and lush bamboo growth the sound of crickets fills your ears. Lower down there are small ‘swarms’ (what is the collective noun for butterflies?) of small purple butterflies. Higher up their black and white big brothers rule. At turns you can hear the pounding, gushing thunder of the mighty Yangtze below. There are, of course, lots of other people walking the trail – mostly westerners, but the space is enough that you don’t need to feel in a crowd and a short 5 minute break for water or a biscuit puts you back in your own space – surrounded by truly inspiring scenery. (Naxi to Halfway day one TLG 14 July)P1030811

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Jul 17 2009

Getting high to Wenhai

Blue T shirtSo after the rain stopped, I set out from Lijiang with Peter. We were heading for Baisha and thereafter upwards onto the mountain range to the west. With the awesome Jade Dragon Mountain range to our north east. Our intended stopover was a village by a lake called Wenhai. The weather again threatened but for the most part held off as we made our way through dense forest above a monastery/tea house/farm at 2600m. In time we emerged onto a dirt road, a very, very long and winding dirt road. It meandered some 12k up the side of the mountain topping out at 3150m with a view down to the lake and eventually the village of Wenhai. Here we were bound to find a warm welcome, some food and a bed for the night… As we made our way into the village there seemed no sign of guest houses or inns, but after asking a group of farmers – chatting together at the end of the day – we were directed to a restaurant – wow, what luck!

Before committing however, I took a look around the village – and stopped at the local shop – think Londis at 3100m in the sky. So then on to our rural welcome, this was great… a restaurant, how lucky 🙂 (Wenhai Village 3050m 12 July)

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