My third day in Tiger Leaping Gorge was occupied with the walk out. The eastern end of the gorge opened up quite a bit compared to the narrower middle section and the high trail changed from a walking track to a dirt road, complete with dynamite blasting. At one point we were perhaps 15m from a blast - and we were not warned at all by the people setting the charges! From the end of the gorge we followed the serpentine road about 30km up the hill toward the town of Haba and Haba Snow Mountain. The scenery as we exited the gorge and looked back was quite stunning. This end of the gorge doesn't see much tourism and the huge landscape is sparsely populated with farms and small villages. The lack of people and traffic left us in near silence for most of the day - slience is a rare thing in China. As we took shortcuts between the switchbacks of the road we saw very few cars - maybe 10 in a whole day of walking. The road is very good but frankly I don't know why they bothered building it - it is so rarely used. At one point one of out shortcuts took us a little of trail and we had to climb up out of small ravine which was a bit exciting, but we soon found a local farmhouse and stopped for a few minutes at the request of the farmers. Everyone in the area was very friendly and seemed not surprised to see us - I guess we're not the only people who have walked this route. Perhaps 15km from Haba we managed to get a ride in a small truck driven by a very nice local guy. He didn't want any money which again is rare in China - almost every ride will cost you. The second photo shows the intensely cultivated land surrounding Haba - the hills are stark and barren but the valleys are fertile and green. It is really quite a nice location
No comments:
Post a Comment