Lijiang still
20, May 2004
I just got back from Tiger Leaping Gorge! I trekked there for three days, and it was absolutely beautiful! Me and my two friends (the Norwegian girl went home) trekked from Guest House to Guest House (only about 4-5 hours a day). We took it easy, because half of the reason people trek there is for the cool Home stays (Guest Houses).
We stayed with two different Naxi family’s (a Minority Tribe) and with some local farmers there. They had everything a person could want, lots of cheap food (50 cents a meal), cheap beer (50 cents for a big bottle) and Playing cards (a backpackers best friend), oh yeah and a really warm bed (we climbed to about 3,000 meters or 9,000 feet). All the rooms we stayed in cost 10 Yuan ($1.25) a night!
On our last day we trekked down the gorge to the river, we wanted to see Tiger Leaping Stone. Legend says that a long time ago a man saw a tiger on that stone and it jumped across the river, thus giving it the name Tiger Leaping Gorge! Anyway, we got kind of lost on our way down (which gave me an idea for an extreme tour I could give to people, if the money was right of course. It would involve me getting everyone lost in a far away land! What do you think of that one? Heehee!) and I figured (incorrectly) that if we could just get down to the water, we could follow the river to the almighty stone (we were lost anyway right?).
So, I walked to the edge of a landslide to see if I could spot a path near the river. When I turned around to yell up to my friends that there wasn’t any path down there, the ground fell from underneath my feet and I slid on a huge granite rock for about 30 feet. The thing that saved me from total destruction was about ten weeds all grouped together sharing the same roots! My foot hit a lip at the end of the rock (only an inch high, but enough to slow me way down) and I grabbed my new best friends (the weeds), then I almost (I’m not ashamed to say it) pee-d my pants.
The drop was well over 200 feet and I thanked God for letting that bird eat that seed and take a crap there, which turned out to grow into a cluster of weeds, that one day would save my life! After that, the day just kept getting better! I think everyone should start the day off almost dying! The day can’t get any worse than that right? Anyway, thanks for all the prayers and positive thoughts!
I’m back in Lijiang now, I renewed my Visa, so I have 42 more days here in China if I want. I plan on spending most of them in Tibet, but first I have to catch a flight from Chengdu (which means getting to Chengdu first). I can’t believe it’s cheaper to fly there than to take a bus, which is good, because if the bus was cheaper I would have been tempted to take it, even if it was a 38-60 hour ride (a little time fluctuation there no?). OK, I’ll try to keep you updated and not fall off of anymore cliffs.
Tags: China, Lijiang, Minority Tribe, Naxi family, Naxi's, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Tiger Leaping Stone
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