DAY 57 - LIJIANG TO TIGER LEAPING GORGE

THE ULTIMATE CHINESE MANUFACTURED SPANNER IN THE WORKS!

Rhys and Chuck looking stressed whilst contemplating our next move.

DEVASTATING! Just as we were about to hop in the car en route to Shangri-La, we received the shocking news from Jason that our Tibetan permits had been cancelled last minute due to the worst snow storms in China for 50 years. We were bunched as the road into Tibet was our only viable route into Nepal and India from China. This is the ultimate Chinese spanner in the works! See video below...

We decided to head North to Tiger Leaping Gorge anyway and think about our alternatives in the car. But other than frustrations at Chinese red tape, we didn’t really accomplish anything due to the lack of a detailed map. Nonetheless, we drove on towards the Chinese mountainside and finally reached the magnificent Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Around 25 km in length, the gorge is located where the river Yangtze passes between the 5,596m Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and 5,396m Haba Xueshan in a series of rapids below steep 2,000 metre cliffs. Legend has it that in order to escape from a hunter, a tiger jumped across the river at the narrowest point (still 25 metres wide), hence the name. Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the world’s deepest river canyons.

Chuck at Tiger Leaping Gorge

The only route into the Gorge is a narrow dirt road that weaves its way along the mountainside 300m above the Yangtze River. We were all a little sketchy about this gravel track which is frequently damaged by rockslides. Our trust was placed with Dave who managed to navigate the Hummer 15kms into the gorge to our accommodation in Sean’s place despite having acute vertigo.

Sean’s Place is a BnB perched just above the dirt road halfway into the Gorge. Sean is a really friendly guy and offered us some advice on the weather conditions in Lhasa and our alternative routes. Chuck, Rhys and Fintan grabbed a feed whilst Dave got his game face on, hammering out all alternative routes for Crazyjourney. After 2 hours of brainstorming, Dave returned with a small sheet of paper filled with jotted notes. Our only feasible options were:

1: Kazakhstan into Russia and on to Europe.
2: Kazakhstan and the Stans into Iran.
3: Backtrack to Bangkok and organise a boat to Calcutta, India.

The 3 Alternative Routes. Click on image for a more detailed map

After a lot of deliberation, arguing and communication with the head of the travel agency in Beijing we decided that the only really feasible option due to our time frame and money constraints would be Route 3. It would have taken 3 to 4 weeks in order to obtain a permit for Kazakhstan and we weren't keen on ditching our guide and being chased by the Chinese military either. Although we have to backtrack, we intend on taking a different route in order to see some different places along the way. All in all we're not really loosing too much time with this option.