Grand Lijiang

Lijiang/Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao Xia)<br><br>I took the 7.50am bus to Qiaotou, the starting point for the Gorge west to east.Tiger Leaping Gorge is a canyon of the Yangtze River. It's about 15 km (9 mi) long and 2km (1.5 mi) deep. At the west end of the gorge is the town of Qiaotou. At the east end is the town of Daju. Most people that come here hike from one end to the other, either along the "High Trail" or the "Low Trail". The low trail ...

... for me with the country side and villages but mainly seeing the different minority groups which you see more off if you get via off the beaten track.<br>I had decided to stay out of Li Jiang as I heard it was to crowded, loud and had hordes of tourist so I opted for Shuhe Old Town which was perfect for me also the others were staying there as well. Please note if you want to go to Shuhe to stay or even for a look there are ways you can get in with ...

... br>Ben je leur dis : *************************************** ******<br><br>Et pour ceux qui disent : Voyons donc, on dit pas les choses que Jacob dit qu'on dit pis qu'on pense, y'es vraiment schizophrene phase terminal abreger ses souffrances d'un coup de masse derriere la tete maudit<br><br>Ben je leur dis : Vous existez juste dans ma tete anyway!<br><br>Ici a Lijiang, je suis dans l'auberge de Mama Naxi. Les Naxi sont le groupe ...

... here though as we are staying at a fab guesthouse called Mama Naxi Guesthouse and its only 2 pounds a night each. There are loads of travellers staying there and every evening we get together for a feast of a dinner for just 1.50 each... bargain and really delicious.<br><br>The town itself has changed so much since I was here 10 years ...

... stay close to the mountain and not walk along the river side of the path. We saw one slide from 4 years ago and another slide on near Tiger Rock that occurred last year. It took out part of the road and stairwell. Many people were injured and one person was killed. The wildlife in the area is black bears, brown bears, wolves and monkeys. The Yangtze (sounded like Youngs when Mr Guo pronounced it) River was very calm near the parking lot. It began to move ...

... of us felt inclined to go in as we only had 15 minutes. Then the serious riding began. A 5km climb which got the heart racing, a rest stop (thank God) and then an enjoyable downhill before hitting the plains where we were challenged with our first real off-road biking, actually it was more like a dried creek bed, I'm sure it was ...

... We waited patiently enjoying the views. The local cat immediately began to befriend us in hope of getting a portion of our lunch. Lunch came out, no chicken, but scrambled eggs. The claw we thought she made was in fact an egg. So we had eggs, potatoes and fried rice, not the best combo, but the food was good and the cat got plenty. We made an entry into her book, loaded up on water and were on our way. Our plan was to stop at the ...

... the other side to come up with another song. The last group standing wins to a round of screams and cries of victory. My "tour group" decided to join in the fun and was welcomed by the locals. In fact, they were one of Lijiang's hottest tourist attractions that night as everyone stopped to take photos of the Lao Wais sitting on Bar Street. Look, look... I met a white person on my trip to Lijiang. I was almost offended that no one wanted to take a picture with me. I ...

... especially good for the France game where we probably knew over 50% of the people in the bar that night, making for a fantastic atmosphere. And the conversation over dinner or drinks is always so stimulating as we all come from such different corners of the world with different experiences of both China and life in general. From Dali we moved onto Lijiang. This is at a higher altitude surrounded by high peaks, so the weather was a welcome cool relief. Stayed in ...

... I go for a **** and see the sign in the Prague café's toilet which explicitly requests 'for urine only'. Clearly solids will overload this town's equally quaint and congested sewer system. There are public toilets designated for this purpose for which there is a small entrance fee. Pay-per-poo. The 'healthy breakfast' option of fruits and muesli certainly gets me fully ready for a visit to these public conveniences and then a days walking. Next ; Elephant Hill