Yangtze walk

Since the last email we have travelled by bus to Lijiang about 4 hours north of Dali and, after a few days in that ancient town, bussed another 3 hours further north to the upper Yangtze River where we walked the Tiger Leaping Gorge, a 25 km trail etched into the river canyon walls. The canyon was awesome (see the Oxford definition), the deepest river canyon in the world. The trail snakes around the river bends about 1000 ft to 2500 ft above the river itself. The total elevation rises from the river bed at 6900 ft above sea level, to the snowcapped peaks at near 19,000 feet. Directly across the river from the gorge trail, the staggering rock faces rise vertically 3900 meters straight up from the river bed, almost 13,000 feet top to bottom.

We took two days to do the hike, spending two nights in charming family courtyard guesthouses in local Naxi villages that dot the steep slopes along the trail. The Naxi are a Chineses ethnic minority, famous as one of the few matriarchal socities in the world. (Life in their households seemed pretty normal to Glenn). The food and hospitality were great at the end of a day's hike and we kept our walking hours short enough to enjoy the great food (and yes, beer) and the company of about 15 other hikers of varied nationality who also collected at the guest houses as the day went on. The weather was perfect for walking with overnight lows of 5 C and highs of 15 C, not a cloud to be seen. I'll ask Ted to post some photos on the blog that give you some idea of the sights. (I bet a Google Earth flight would also be fun.)

 We have enjoyed Yunnan immensely with its fantastic geography, ancient towns and country charms.