Tiger Leaping Gorge -- 虎跳峡

I've decided that I've seen enough temples in China, that I'm going to dedicate myself to seeing the great natural scenery and one of those is the famed Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan.  It takes a day and a half to get there.  Fly to Kunming, an overnight train to Lijiang and then a two hour bus ride to Qiaotou, but I got there during the week I was supposed to be traveling with the students.

The first day was cloudy.  The gorge is 25km long from south to north.  The upper trail can only be reached by hiking.  Here's the path rises up and enters the gorge.

At the top is the famed 28 bends.  A kid with a donkey offered me a ride, and I swallowed my pride and took a lift.

The Upper Tiger Leaping Gorge!!

The dramatic scenery is due to the high, steep mountains that surround the gorge.

I spent three days and two nights in the gorge.  Each of the two nights I spent at one of the tourist lodges that have been built.  Sunrise over the mountains.  Because the mountains are on the east, the sun actually doesn't reach into the gorge until 11AM in February.

Most of the Upper trail is a flat rocky road.  Easy hiking.

Along the way, you have to let families and their donkeys and goats pass.  They move FAST!

Down there?  The Middle Tiger Leaping Gorge.  I'm going down there....

Yeah, I'm kind of amazed that I made it down this cliff face myself.

The reward!!!

At the northern end of the Middle Tiger Leaping Gorge, the western side opens up into a flatter slope and this is the second town I stayed in.

Here I am with my guide.  She lives here in town.  It turns out I had the entire guest house to myself because many potential guests were scared off by the fact that the town was without electricity.

I was invited by Mr. Xia to his house for dinner!  He's one month younger than me and a classic example of modern China.  He has a 5th grade education and has never been beyond Lijiang.  But his three kids are all educated and going to college.  It was an amazing moment to be eat dinner with two of his kids and wife in the dark.

The last day I awoke and had free until my bus left at 3PM.  No electricity and a phone with no charge meant.....that I was without anything to occupy my mind.  This is SUCH a foreign concept to me, especially in my wired world.  

I took a 6KM walk to view the Lower Tiger Leaping Gorge.

I sunned myself for hours on the porch of the guest house and I just reflected on life.  I took stock of things that I'm happy about...I missed Onions....and I thought about what I want to to this summer.  It was a surprisingly useful 8 hours of basic reflection.

The northern end of Tiger Leaping Gorge.