TRANSPORT
Day 1
Flight – From Hong Kong to Kunming, China – 11.30 – 2 pm.
Bus – Number 2 from Gate 4 to Kunming station – 25CNY
Train – High-Speed Train to Dali (2hrs)
Taxi – Dali Train Station to Old Town Accommodation (90cny + about 50 mins)
ACCOMMODATION
Sabbath Boutique Inn…They were so nice, had an amazing dog, the room was lovely and clean. It’s right in the heart of the old town too. They also organized the bus to Qiaotou (The place where you start the TIGER LEAPING GORGE TREK). 125 CNY, takes 4-5 hrs.
Day 2
Bus – to TLG @7.30 am. We stopped for a toilet break and an old lady was selling fresh strawberries and picking fresh berries from the tree…delish!
Arrived in Qiaotou at about 12.
*There is a tourist info office just over the bridge to help you on your way.
You also have to buy a ticket there for the gorge – 45 CNY entrance.
To start, you need to walk by Jane’s guesthouse (there is so much info online on the step-by-step instructions so I’ll summarise here).
Now the start…it’s about 45 minutes uphill on this dusty road with lots of construction and trucks passing by – it was also really hot!! Then you reach a little area where old ladies are selling water etc, you turn off there which barely looks like a path, and make your way uphill again for about another 45 minutes! There are signs to guide you on your way but I highly recommend downloading MAPS.ME (IT IS AN OFFLINE MAP AND I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN LOST OTHERWISE) You need to stay on the middle gorge – the high trekking route at all times or you’ll end up going down to the lower gorge and you don’t want that! I actually found the start the hardest part of the whole trek because I had all my bags too which were pretty heavy!!
It took me about three hrs to get to Naxi Guesthouse which was so pretty!! I took a wee rest there for a bit. The next step is the 28 bends (a steep climb that they say takes about two hours but it’s only about 1-1.5 hrs I reckon (it was not as hard as the first section and you walk through the forest sometimes). When you reach the top there are AMAZING views. Then it’s straight and downhill to Tea Horse Guesthouse!!!! You HAVE to stay here! It is fab and the views of the mountains from the rooftop are so breathtaking!!! The menu is huge so there are all sorts of things to eat!! My bed even had an electric blanket (it gets chilly at night)! Just spend the evening chilling 🙂 The stars were pretty cool too – who knew! What a beautiful place 🙂
Day 3
I got up at 7 am with amazing views from the bedroom window. I got my own room. It was so cheap (150cny with brekkie, shower, kettle, and it was a big room).
For brekkie…omg…I got coffee, a massive bowl of creamy, banana porridge, AND a huge pancake with bananas and honey on top!!! Delish!:)
I started hiking at about 8.30. Today was much easier, mostly flat along the side of the gorge so everywhere you look there were fantastic views! You need to stop and take it all in!! After 1.5 hrs I stopped at Half Way Guesthouse for a cuppa and equally, the views from here are unreal but I wouldn’t stay here because there is a lot of construction going on there atm! (April 2019)
I continued on with the same beautiful scenery again. It was rocky and narrow so watch your step! You pass a few waterfall streams too.
After about 1.5/2hrs you reach Tina’s Guesthouse. You can book a bus there for Lijiang or Shangri La for 50 CNY. The bus leaves @9am or 3.30 pm. So make sure you make them!
I got there about 12.30 so I did the walk down into the gorge, it takes about 2.5/3 hours and is not easy so make sure you have enough time. You can get a free lift to the start which is 2km away, then you pay 15 CNY to get in. You have to climb down for ages (and then you also need to give yourself enough time to climb back up)! Walk along the Skyview (not that well signposted, but there is kind of only one way – I used maps.me again) and down right where the water is. There are cool photo ops and the water is so powerful you think it will break through the rocks, soooo cool and loud!!! The climb back up is steep and hot! Also, there are ladders you’ve to climb which are steep and at the side of the rock so just be aware. You’ve to climb about three sets of ladders (50-80 steps on each)! Cool and scary! You pay another 15 CNY to get out of the gorge and 10 CNY to use the ladders! So the total is 45 CNY but well worth it!:) Alternatively, you can just chill in Tina’s and have some food and beers if you don’t want to go down to the gorge!
I got the bus @ 3.30. It was comfy and I slept. The views are cool if you can stay awake! I got to Lijiang @ 6 pm and it was a 15-minute walk to my hotel. It was called Yue Tu in the old town – FAB. I recommend staying in the old town as it is so pretty and tranquil there.
