Tiger Leaping Gorge Day 2

Woke up at 7.30am today. Since I went to bed very early last night, I was mentally and physically (hopefully) psychiced up for the trip. In fact me and Ross had an argument yesterday where he was really worried that I won't be able to do the 22km from Tina's to Qiaotou. Personally, since I didn't know how tough the dirt tracks (cmountain trail) was, I can't say I was totally confident that I could do it. We asked Tina for some advice on how to do the trail, to walk from Tina's to Qiaotou or take a cab to Qiaotou (how most people would start the trail). She advised that it'll be easier to start from her Guest House. It will be tough for the first hour but will have relatively less up slopes than down slopes compared to coming from the other direction.

We had breakfast and set out slightly after 8:30am. We were warned that the walk would take 10 to 12 hours. The weather was cool when we started out. The scenery was gorgeous as we expected. The first hour up slope was really tough. We were also not that sure which tracks to go half the time. But in the end, we managed to get on the right tracks without making too many mistakes. We tried to follow yellow or red arrows marked on rocks. As compared to yesterday's tracks, we weren't that close to the water (upper track is generally 500-2000 metres above the river), but most times, we could still hear the distant rush of the currents and see the river at times from a huge distance. Once or twice we also heard the distant blast of the rocks (sounds like thunder), we only learnt it was blasting when we asked the workers at Sean's. We drank lots of water along the way, with Ross carrying the day pack most of the times and me carrying on some flat grounds. Along the way, we also saw lots of waterfalls, but most weren't huge waterfalls but the water was very clear and cooling.

Guest houses were appropriately peppered along the way. Usually we will reach a tea house or guest house after walking for 2 hours or so. Our first stop was Tea House. At the 2nd stop, Halfway House, we had a banana chocolate pancake, which Ross felt was very good, I didn't think it had enough chocolate on it, but I'm someone who when eating Nutella with bread, has more Nutella in it than the bread. We had problems going through the entrance because a horse was packed outside. The horse was placed in such a way that we could only enter the House within kicking distance of his hind hoofs. I was really terrified going past him and could imagine him kicking my face as I ran past. We saw a huge group of trekers at Halfway House. A group of 10 to 15, with equally as many young people as old people. I'm really impressed with the elderly folks who try this treks. Our third stop was Naxi Guest House where I had a bowl of noodles. Most of the people here were really nice, helpful and friendly.

The weather was pretty good most of the time. Blazing bright sunlight with cool breeze along the way. Towards the end for around 30 mins or so, we had some rain. It felt really cool whenever we were in the shade, especially under huge rock shelters. The rain drops felt really cold too. After the first hour (of tough upslope), we had 2.5 hours to 3 hours of mostly flat ground, and then another tough upslope of 1.5 hours before 2.5 hours of downslope consisting of a spot called 28 bends (in actual fact more bends than that, downslope). The last stage of downslope wasn't as easy as it sounds though. The trek was full was loose rocks and dry soil, getting a good foot grip was difficult. We met with lots of horses on the way (some people did the track by riding) I was really frantic that I would get kicked by the horses but Ross was there to calm me down. Ross had coke at most of the stops (they don't have Coke Light around here) and he was getting an overdose of it. The food hasn't been terrific in Tiger Gorge too, neither the Chinese or Western. It all tasted mostly excessively salty.

Our last stop along the treks at Qiaotou was Jane's Guesthouse, that was at 5:30pm. We were hoping there was internet there. When Jane saw Ross, she consciously tidied her hair. The funny thing was we spent at least 30 mins there and "Jane" was chatting a lot with us, but when we left, I told Ross that "Jane" was a man. Ross was so surprised, he never thought that could be the case. "Jane" had curly shoulder length hair, a girly voice and feminine movements. For me, what gave it away was his moustache stubs.

Ross had a really oily meat spaghetti while I waited for at least 20 mins for my pumpkin cakes (oily too). The elderly couple there were really chatty and interested in where I was from. Since internet was not available at Jane's, we went elsewhere for internet. The internet service was really slow and unstable. When we were ready to return to Tina's, we asked around for transportation, a lady at a Guesthouse said the best option is to book a car. She was nice enough to call up for us but could not find one. I borrowed her phone to call Tina's to dispatch transportation to fetch us. We wanted to pay the lady 10Y for the use of her phone but she rejected it. We had to wait for around half an hour before our chartered mini van arrived. When the mini van passed by Jane's, "she" was eating a nectarine outside her Guesthouse. I took the chance to confirm with the driver "her" sex and confirmed that Ross was wrong.

It has been a tough but good walk. We enjoyed it tremendously to be treking amongst such beautiful natural surroundings. By the end of the day, Ross's legs are sore, for me, it's my bum that's feeling sore.