Tiger Leaping Gorge, and a young Yangzi river

Yunnan really is a beautiful and fascinating province. Hiking the gorge was our last main activity here before heading north into Sichuan, and happily we had the luxury of time, which most of the people we met along the way did not. Rather than charging along the gorge in two days, with one overnight stop high above the river, we strolled it, walking no more than three hours per day and spending three nights in the mountains. Yunnan would be a great place to come on a 2- or 3-week holiday but it would be a shame to have to rush through the gorge on a tight schedule. There are plenty of guesthouses along the route, all of which are spectacularly located opposite sheer mountain faces. Spending afternoons lounging around with a beer and such a view, having already done your exercise for the day, was pretty pleasurable I can tell you.


I suppose I should mention why it's called Tiger Leaping Gorge. As far as I know, local legend has it that a tiger once leaped over its narrowest point. There, that's that out of the way - enjoy the views!


Boys' and girls' toilets at our first guesthouse




The highest point on the walk. The Yangzi is around 1 kilometre below me (the mountains rise sheer over 2km from the river at some points, making this the deepest gorge in the world, so I read).








On the fourth and last day we walked down to the churning river, via some interesting contraptions


Guess which one we chose...