Travelling in our "people mover", we went by road 1.5 hours to Leaping Tiger Gorge, mostly following a tributary of the Yangste. We had a toilet stop en route. These were squat toilets in a row of about 20 or 30, stalls with only waist high walls, ("horrendous and disgusting" to quote Ellie).
The gorge was spectacular: narrow and deep, with the water roaring through with tremendous force. In the middle was the rock which enabled the legendary tiger to jump across. This is said to be the deepest gorge in China and possibly in the world.
Another 2 hours on the road after lunch. The altitude (over 3200m) was getting to us. I was feeling very sleepy and dozed off, missing the scenery on the narrow winding road. Eventually we reached a barren plateau with yaks and highland cattle grazing on the roadside. Zhongdian lies in a wide, flat bottomed valley. We checked into our hotel (Zhongdian Ancient Town Hotel). This is quite large. The corridors, lobby and breakfast room in the basement are freezing cold, but our room is double glazed with very efficient heating and hot water.
View upstream from our toilet stop.
Squat toilets with no privacy.
Sedan chairs are available to take you down to the waters' edge!
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