Tiger Leaping Gorge

After a day in Lijiang I caught a bus north-west, to Tiger Leaping Gorge. Hiking together with Luke (UK) for some 8 hours the first day, we finally arrived at the Half-way House at 6 pm, soaking wet from hours of rain, and with pained feet! Hoever, despite a rather rough climb andlots of water, the last stretch was fantastic, with sunny weather and an amazing view of the Yangtze river as well as the mountains that make up the gorge. The Half-way House was an ok hostel with an proper (i.e. amazing) hot shower (you learn to appreciate hot showers when you travel in China..), crammed with hikers. The breakfast menu was not impressive though--but the rice porridge went down somehow, before we hiked some 6 hours more, down to the river and then along the river, in the gorge itself, to the tiny village of Walnut Garden a bit further up the road. The view there was even more amazing, and the weather was stunning--all in all, two perfect days! Arriving back in Lijiang I have had dinner and shopped a bit; tomorrow I will explore the town a bit more before I catch an over-night bus to Kunming.