Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels: China

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Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels
China - Dynamic Yunnan May 24th to 31st 2011
Day 5 : 28th May 2011

We will be heading higher up and closer to the Himalayas. On the way we will pop by a gorge where a tiger leapt over it (must be a super tiger!).
And we will end the day at mysterious Shangri-La, does that place even exists? Well it does appear on the maps, so let's get enchanted!

Going higher & higher - From Lijiang to Shangri-La, about 172 km. (5hrs bus ride including stops) (see Google Interactive Map)

We got up earlier for breakfast at the hotel, and then strolled down the quaint streets of Lijiang one last time to board our bus. It will be another long bus journey today, and midway we will be stopping for lunch and then visit a gorge.

Leaving Lijiang is like leaving an old friend, the place just grows on you. And this friend, I don't know when I will meet again. Goodbye!

On the road to the Gorge, our guide showed us this river, pretty wide for one that's at such a high altitude. The Himalayas must have lots of water. But... Hey! Where's the Gorge?

We had lunch somewhere around there....
One of my friends bought this souvenir for me, it seems like the Kamasutra in bamboo.
But what was my friend implying? A need to jazz up my "ahem" life a bit?

Finally! We reached the entrance of the Tiger Leaping Gorge. A statue of a leaping tiger set on top of a tall rock column, with the mountains in the background set the image on our minds. An image of tigers roaming the mountainside, free and flying.

But why the name? Why Tiger Leaping Gorge?
It seems somewhere in historical past, a pack of tigers were being chased by hunters. Coming to the edge of one side of the gorge, with super-human (oops! I mean super-tiger) strength they leaped over to the other side and escaped.
But still, where is the Gorge? Seems like this entrance is still a half hour ride to the Gorge. We are here just to pay the entrance fee.....

The road onward was winding and hugging the cliffs, now I understand why the entrance was where it was, just before these winding roads. There was just no other place for it.

At the car-park I met this lady in a nice costume, she looked Indian. But she said "No, I am Chinese". Over here, where the two big countries meet, the cultures also cross.

Walking down 50-feet to the road just where the stairs down to the gorge start, I look downwards.
From here to the first viewing platform is 100 feet down. There is another viewing platform right at the bottom, another 200 feet down.
The guide advised : Going down is not the problem. Coming up is! At this high altitude the oxygen is more rarefied. Advise is to stop every 20 steps up and take 10 breaths. Don't squat down to rest or else when you get up you'll black out!
Scary advice.... shall I go down? Oh! What the heck, since we are, here might as well.

And I was glad I did, here I am at the bottom viewing platform.

And viewing the opposite bank, where there is a nice arch bridge. Here, one can see the rushing water, the sound of which sent my heart pounding. Was it pounding with excitement? Anxiety? Nope. I wasn't feeling any of those, it was more a feeling of awe of the thundering, on-rushing of the water.

Here, listen for yourself.

And now for the climb up.
I took this shot during my 3rd rest stop, i.e. 60 steps up. - the people dwarfed by the roaring waters.

It's true, it's hard to breath in the thin air. I think instead of 20 steps and 10 breaths, I will go for 10 steps and 20 breaths. I did that and it took me almost 30 minutes to climb all the way up!

We left the Gorge, the noisy, rushing water behind us and headed for ShagriLa. The view here is fantastic, it it indeed paradise on earth.

Standing there on the mountain top, one has that exhilarating feeling of being on Top Of The World. Only thing missing are flowers - Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
Well it's late summer, so no flowers!

But I am humbled by the world, it has so much to offer to us and we can't get to experience it all.

We arrived at ShangriLa and checked into the Diqing Shili Hotel. From my bedroom window, I peered at our next destination, the Songzanlin Monastery, shining brightly nestling in the foothills.

View of Songzanlin Monastery from the coach park.

Travelers bear in mind that your tour coach will only take you to a tour coach-park, a few kilometers away from the monastery. There one transfers to the local coach - standing room only - to go to the monastery.

The Songzanlin Monastery is the largest Tibetan monastery outside Tibet. Built in 1679, it is more than 300 years old. It is sometimes called the "Little Potala Palace" as it's architecture is similar to the Potala in Lhasa.

One enters the monastery compound through a entrance foyer before the climb up to the temple itself. The panoramic view of the hall above show the decorated arches just before stepping out to step upwards.

Stepping our, I see the immense scale of the monastery, and also the long climb up. Having had a tough climb at the Gorge, I decided to forgo this one and waited for my colleagues at the entrance. Phew!

After the somber monastery visit, it was time to jazz things up a bit!
After dinner in ShangriLa (Deqen) city, we attended another stage show expounding the diverse tribes of Yunnan (again).

This one also had colorful tribal costumes...

... and a shadow dance.

Although the show was nice, colorful and grand, it somehow lacks the Oomph! when compared to the Shangrila-Dynamic Yunnan show we saw in Kunming. Perhaps, it lack the finesse touch of Ms. Yang Liping.

Well, it has been a long but interesting day of visiting a thundering gorge, a shining monastery and another colorful tribal show.
Time to call it a day, Goodnight!

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