Not Margo's Night!

Trip Start Dec 26, 2005
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Trip End Jan 25, 2009


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Thursday, April 27, 2006

It's been an interesting night with John (room mate) having the runs all night - makes for an interesting experience sharing with a guy with diarrhoea - and Margo got locked inside a bathroom and had a near breakdown because noone came to her rescue until it was basically too late. It all happened at 1am when John rose from his bed and made a huge racket in going downstairs. I thought it was 5am and he was taking this opportunity to go and take a few photos of the town before the tourist rush - but that was my semi-conscious mind working. As it happened, John heard screams from down below and thought that someone was getting attacked. Far from it. Poor Margo went to the bathroom and ended up getting locked in. Apparently, she was knocking about and yelling out for one hour before she finally got rescued. Towards the end of the hour she became quite hysterical and broke down crying. Poor lady. I slept through most of the evening except when John sprinted to the toilet for his release A sign enroute up the mountain.
A sign enroute up the mountain.
 . The rooms at this hotel are very small and privacy is non-existant.

We left The Old Town Square early to catch our 2.5 hour bus to the town of Qiaotou... Margo's home and the start of our trek through the Tiger Leaping Gorge. We had the pleasure of having a first class bus which made for a comfortable journey, but the roads enroute were in a state of disrepair.

Qiaotou is nothing special, but as I travelled through this region, I noticed huge changes between mainland China and bordering Tibet, especially with the appearance of the people. The Tibettan people are much more attractive and friendly.

Having lunch was a hilarious event, with Margo yelling orders to everyone near her including John. Whilst she has an amazing sense of humour, she can sure get snappy and I was very pleased that I was away from her as she attended to providing food for 12 of us. I had a very satisfying tuna melt on pita bread. An interesting meal that I've added to my repertoire of food... simply scatter tuna on a slice of pita bread, add tomato and a few spices and then top with cheese and put in the microwave. This, along with the Yunnan coffee, provided much energy for my trek through TLG Another view of the buildings we stayed near.
Another view of the buildings we stayed near.
 .

Tiger Leaping Gorge (TLG) is situated about 100km northwest of Lijiang Old Town lying between jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain in the upper Yangzi. It's believed to be the deepest gorge in the world. From the top of the gorge you look down the steeply angled (70 to 90 degrees) mountain sides to the Golden Sands (Jingsha) River with its 18 frothing rapids more than 200 metres below. The gorge stretches about 15km and is 1500km upstream from the 3 Gorges Dam... refer Yangzi entries. Currently, the area is threatened by a plan to build eight big dams in a 564 km section of the river stretching from Shigu town near Lijiang and the TLG, downstream to the Panzhihua in Sichuan province and the mouth of the Yalong River. Construction of the dams would affect 13 towns and townships in four Yunnan counties, flood 13,000 hectares of prime farmland and force the relocation of 100,000 people from the fertile river valley. Construction work related to the scheme has already begun, even though the central government has yet to approve the feasibility study. I'm so glad I've had an opportunity to visit the TLG before this takes place:)

Today we trekked 11km to the mid-point, Teahorse Guesthouse. The first day was the harder of the two, with the group ascending from 1800m above sea level to 2700m Getting ready to leave in the morning.
Getting ready to leave in the morning.
 . During the walk, we had to navigate 28 sharp bends which definitely took it out of me... took about 1 hour to do this section. I'm sure I've got mild Asthma because at the end of the 2700km, I could feel it in my chest with a slight cough. During the walk, we passed several villages including the Nuo Yu and Landou villages. The path was fairly easy to walk on but very narrow in sections, including a few centimetres from towering drops. I spent most of the walk with Marie... a lady from Brisbane in her mid 50s. We were of similar understandings in doing it easy and taking in the stunning scenery and taking heaps of photos... will upload when I get to a good computer (Kunming).

It was bliss arriving into our overnight accommodation on the first night, Tea Horse Guesthouse. I shared this room with John. A very basic guesthouse, I couldn't bring it upon myself to do a number two in the very public toilet squat toilets. There were two of them, side by side, with no door to give you privacy. I can do most things, but when it comes to doing a number two in front of other westerners, I don't think so! Luckily it wasn't urgent.

I had a fantastic night at this guesthouse... there were other young backpackers from all over the world which made for a very enjoyable and social evening. It was good to get away from the other group members and meet other personalities... travelling with the same 12 people for an extended time becomes stale for me. I met a few guys from China, one of which was particularly hilarious (and drunk) - I won't repeat what he said to me on this. A very affectionate and funny guy:) There was an abundance of Bai Jo on offer, but I constrained myself for we had another day of walking the next day. It was great to relax in beautiful scenery with great company... great night:)
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