I wake up to steady rain and decide that I
will just stay in the idyllic comfort of the Naxi Family Guesthouse and
live out my life far removed from the rancor and rat race of the world below.
I bid farewell to my trekking friends -- Isobel,
Caroline, Yusef, and the crazy Czech couple -- and order another large serving
of banana pancakes and Yunnan coffee. But then to my deep chagrin I realize
that the wi-fi is still not working, that starting a new life here in the Yunnan
mountains is untenable and that I will have to leave this little utopia and set
out on the steep, windy trail through the Gorge.
Fortunately it stops raining and the sun
bursts through as we climb up the steep switchbacks far above the canyon floor.
Mountain goats surround us, and one goat stumbles and slides past me – wow,
even the mountain goats are struggling with their footing on the precipitous
cliffs above the Gorge.
We feel transformed by the sublime beauty
and majesty of the towering canyon wall rising above us as we rise higher into the
heavens.. then finally we crest a ridge and we gaze out upon --– a highway
clogged with tourist buses, a system of drainage pipes and the blue roof of a large
warehouse.
Isobel is not impressed: “This place is
among the World’s Top 3 Gorges?!" she spits out, her voice dripping with disdain and disgust.
It seems the powerful investment driven
Chinese construction juggernaut has penetrated deeply into Tiger Leaping Gorge over the past 5 years, somewhat detracting from the wilderness experience we had journeyed to the far western reaches of China in search of.
Still it is a beautiful gorge, and all this infrastructure meant that when we arrived at Woody's Guesthouse that afternoon our bags were waiting for us along with a fine late lunch of sliced pork, onions potatoes, and Yunnan coffee. It was also an easy matter to find a driver to take us onto our next destination, Mount Haba, a true wilderness experience.
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