Some of the best adventures start with someone telling you "You can't go". In this case, this is what I am told in Lijiang when asking about Tiger Leaping Gorge hike. There was a landslide, so it's closed.   Oh well, I think... "Closed" wouldn't stop me in South America, but I'm in China and can't talk my way into and out of things. Besides, it's been raining, I only have 2 days and my foot hurts anyway.

So I decide to go to Shangrila instead, 5 hours up into the mountains from Lijiang.

On the way, as we descend into the Yangtze valley, I am glued to the window... beautiful scenery. And then, we pass through Qiao Tou, the trailhead for hiking the Gorge. Before I know it, I'm off the bus. As it leaves, I'm in a classic NowWhat situation.... what have I done, now I am stuck in some random town where no one speaks english!

A few seconds, later, and SUV stops. Two foreigners give me the scoop: Call Jane, have her pick you up and sneak you past the guards, stay at her Tibetan guest house, then leaving early in the morning before anyone notices.

I'm still a bit hesitant.. after all, I haven't told anyone what I'm doing, and I should be online for emergencies this weekend. So I order some food and some cold water, and go online. Good connection. Great eggplant and wild mushrooms. I send the warm beer back that came in lieu of the water, and eventually settle for frozen carbonated coffee cola that comes as a replacement for the beer.

Given that I'm online, I call Jane who turns out to be Tibetan indeed... I do a few hours of work, and as I wake up I notice that my toe (which had been hurting) is now positively infected. I can barely walk in my hiking shoes.

The other hikers who stayed at Jane's leave, and I calmly pack up and decide I might as well try for half an hour, and start walking with one hiking boot and one sandal.

It's not really working.. foot hurts too much. Bummer. Oh well... I'll come back. But if I come back anyway, no point in staying on the trail, is there?

So here it is, once again.. the moment that changes everything.

I decide to take a small foot path straight up the mountain. After passing two people who keep telling me I should go back, the trail is further down, I come to a third man who insists that I should go back. I hesitate. after all, what's the point of walking randomly up a mountain with my whole traveling pack. I curiously look through the gate into his courtyard, and before I know it, I am invited in and I have to stay for breakfast.

He explains that his daughter speaks english and will be there soon... so for now I limit myself to looking around, smiling, and cracking the fresh walnuts he gives me, while he splits some wood and starts a fire, clearly excited about making breakfast.

The house looks very well built, but half abandoned.. lots of gear lying around, indications of a formerly working farm. But -- there is no land to farm, at least not enough to support such a serious house... There is brand new solar water heater, a satellite TV dish. Wood neatly piled up in a half finished section of the house. A machine for, as it turns out, making noodles. Another one for making some kind of flour, running off an electric motor. A stove that looks exactly like the ones the peace corps tries to get people to build in South America.

The daughter and her friend eventually come out, between some initial shyness and lots of giggling we figure out that their english is about as good as my mandarin. Somehow, though, between that and sign language, we figure things out. Her father drives a taxi, in Shangrila. That explains the car key dangling from his belt. They live in Shangrila, and only come to their country house on weekends.  I take of my sock, show my infected toe, and explain that I want to go through the gorge but can not.

At this point, breakfast is ready.. it consists of steamed bread and a liquid that looks like corn soup. It's not. It's made by putting hot water,a piece of what appears to be butter, and some green leaves into a bamboo tube, sticking a plunger in it, mixing it well, and pouring it throw strainer that seems to be hand made from vines or bamboo fiber. I have a slight suspicion that this is Yak butter tea, but it doesn't really fit the description... I'll find out soon, I guess, in Shangrila. It tastes quite good... buttery, who'd have thunk. Mr Taxi driver then explains that he has a horse, and asks me if I know how to ride a horse. Yes, I say, not thinking much of it. He then points to my foot and asks if I want to use his horse, since i can't walk...

He first suggests a two day trip, but I'm thinking my foot isn't that bad, and an overnight trip requires more logistics for both sides. So we settle on getting me to halfway house, about 5h from where we are.

I quickly check my email and schedule a conference call between DC, CA and China for monday morning, and then we head off... after 2 minutes, Mr Taxi driver runs into a younger guy and after a short conversation they decide that that younger guy will go with me instead. Fair enough.

The "horse", which I decide to call farty, turns out to be a very good and well mannered mule.

The trail is beautiful, with fantastic views of mountains and the river far below. I am in awe about the beauty of the houses here.. it reminds me of Bali.. such a nice surprise in an area so economically poor.

Lots of new construction, even here... We stop at Tea Horse Guest House for lunch - nice people, fantastic food and cute puppies. This would be a fantastic place to stay, beautiful rooms with a great view. But, no CDMA internet coverage. Bummer.

So we continue on... a few minutes the mystery of solar water heaters and washing machines on top of a mountain is solved-- there is a jeep up here, so there must be a road. More beautiful views, walnuts apples and pears along the trail (apples turn out to be great rewards for farty, who is starting to get tired).

The trail is marginally doable on muleback, and feeling sorry for farty I get off in a few places and walk.

We pass some Chinese hikers, and my guide ends up carrying their backpacks for them - good for him, another 50 RMB. Poor farty, though, as eventually the backpacks are strapped to his saddle.

At around 2pm we pass a group of 4 teenage girls, a women who looks like she could be mother, and one young man loading rocks into the bed of a pickup truck. It's a strange sight.. a combination of sad and cute, watching them cheerfully make a team effort to lift heavy rocks into the truck. They wave and giggle as we pass by, and shyly say "hello" and "how are you", practicing their english. Eventually, after passing two moderately motivated guys trying to fix the road after a landslide,  we arrive at Halfway. Bye bye, Farty.

The views are incredible, the owner is very nice, and... there is CDMA! The rooms are ridiculously nice, given where we are, with brand new modern bathrooms, including heat lamps!

I decide to stay, and ask him what the white powder in the giant wok over the fire is. He says, in decent english, that it is Tungsten. I don't believe it until he starts talking about light bulbs, and I try to lift one of the sacks, and it's 5x heavier than one would expect.

So as a short afternoon walk I decide to visit his Tungsten "Factory"; sounds like he has a sluice box that somehow collects tungsten ore particles from a stream.

On the way there, I get lost again, see some nice farm terraces (corn, sunflowees, vegetables, lots of pumpkin, and walnut trees), and get to a dead end. I head back, and just as I get to the road. a truck comes towards me, and on it are 4 giggly teenage girls eating apples. I signal that I want a ride, and before I know it I am in the back as well, eating an apple and trying to hold on. The destination turns out to be the landslide just before Halfway house... we all get off, and the rocks are dumped out. The girls get to work immediately. A lot of rocks fell into drainage ditch beside the road, and I decide that this is a great way to get exercise without having to aggravate my foot further. Amazingly, the girl I pass the rocks from the ditch to manages to dispose of them faster than I can supply them; and she weighs about half as much as I do and has probably worked all day. More giggling. After the ditch is clean of rocks, I say goodbye and head on to halfway house.

The tungsten refinery is in full swing, and another sack of wet tungsten ore is poured into the Wok. I have dinner with the two Chinese backpackers who didn't want to carry their packs. After dinner I have a second dinner with the owner's family, and -- the road work crew from before. It's the owner's wife, his daughter, and 3 employees who usually help at the guest house, but since the gorge is closed there were few visitors and they were commandeered to do road work. A close look at one of the girl's hands shows that this happens a lot -- she is missing one nail and has lots of bruises and scars. I feel like a baby with my infected little toe.

We look at some pictures, more giggling, then at Google Earth. Tungsten Miner, Guesthouse owner, and (according to LP) medicinal plant tour guide decides to offer internet access at his guest house. What an amazing enterprising guy!

I ask lots of questions about hikes that can be done from there; there is a trail up to the glacier. About 5h to a little hut (occupied part time by yak herders), from there another 5 or so to the glacier. It's possible to hike over a pass (3800m) into the next valley.

And now, exhausted and sore, I'm in bed, typing this up. What a day!

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