Think around 80 buses, each with a whopping 40 people inside, each one having to pay the enterance fee of 65 yuan (11 dollar) and you can just about do the math of extortion for one of natures beautiful places... well before you include all of the hikers taking the mountainous trail of course.

This morning I have woken with chest pains, there are shy whispers of a form of asthma induced by climate changes, exercise and smoke (think hefty fires in the cabins on our trek) but we are not convinced, however I am equally not convinced I should be doing this.

Hell to it, this was my gem of China and I not only refuse to succum to the negatives of having a shortness of breath while standing as I do from Tiger Leaping Gorges unmistakable entrance, a huge billboard with two white folk in north face jumpers with smiles blazing.

Fee paid, budgets swamped and 100m in we reach Janes guesthouse, seen as Jane herself was eating we took it upon ourselves to distribute our luggage and leave the bulk of it in her store room, we take one of the paper maps from the counter and disappear in search of water.

Useless for distances but up to date with locations we decide that persevering from Janes to a town and guesthouse 2 hours in would be a good way to test my lungs ability. We take our first steps along the main road with only a fried egg sandwich in our stomachs (a proud creation of ours capable by combining the bakery and restaurants in Shaxi) which we are grateful to switch for a peaceful pathway that leaves modern Qiaotao behind.

'Want a ride?'

This would have sounded odd had we not already seen the amount of mule poo that swamps the track. Through the pounds of my heart and 40 breaths a minute I make a sound that somehow resembles a convincing no and the man-with-mule duo leave me be, unlike the chinese couple ahead, armoured in outdoor clothes. 20 minutes later they are each sitting astride their own porter, so much for the purple grip gloves and walking poles. Each time we hear the ring of the donkeys bells we take a photo break in order for my chest to play catch up and my voice sound sprightly.

We make slow progress, but no slower than our directions intend and enjoy some fantastic views of the Jinsha (Golden Sands) River, which is actually the high end of the famous Yangtze River. This means that we have now walked alongside all 3 of the famous parallel rivers of north Yunnan.

At one peak our access is restricted, apparently, progression can only be made if you observe the view point. To observe the view point you must pay 3 Yuan, but once you have paid the yuan you are subject to having a photo shoot by a little old lady who runs out of her hut, grabs your camera and positions you in all manner of poses including scenes from Titanic. Passing this bizarre ritual you are immediately rewarded with the honour of using the 'Topest toliet' before continuing onward and upward, thanks luv.

It doesn't kill me to reach Nuoyu village and the Naxi Family Guesthouse that is not only marked on the map but also upon stones on your route. Even worse, different coloured paint overlap one another in an accommodation war. There are even slogans for restaurants in Zhongdian and Lijiang city. The guesthouse is recognised as allowing you to be immmersed in local Naxi customs (I still dont know if that includes torturing insects and leaving them to scream around the courtyard) and we were received into a traditional home like guests and were immediately handed tea. Naxi, like many cultures typically form their houses around a central square, upon one balcony of which we were given a room with a fantastic view of the Jade Dragon Stone Mountain. The river, running between this peak sitting at 5596m of altitude and the Haba (on our side of the river and thus invisible to us) at 5396m means that the mighty gorge is recognisedas one of the worlds deepest river canyons.As part of the Yangtze it is incorporated into the three parallel rivers heritage sight.

We meet two other take-it-easy hikers who encourage us to share there Yak butter tea (tea leaves, butter and salt) and after having a taste I could see why they were eager to share. I cannot imagine drinking 40 cups a day like many traditional Tibetan nomads. Actually, this is interesting, when a guest in Tibet is invited for tea they will usually drink in sips and have their glass replenished after each take, in this way a bowl is never empty. Should you like the Yak butter juice as much as we all did you would follow the alternate custom of leaving it untouched until it is time to leave when you -out of a will not to offend your host- will down the entire cup.

I am scared about the next day, we have stopped our hike just before the dreaded 28 bends of height gain that the map warns all hikers of. My fitness today being no confidence we agree to spend 6 hours on the attempt rather than the required 2-3. We are both low on energy and are not communicating too well, I suppose there have to be some draw backs to spending most of your time trying to shake off that beaten track. A sleepness night is not what I needed on top of a fearful physical task but thats what I got and as beautiful as the the mountains were throughout the sunrise, shrouded in their mist, the sight could not warm my insides (yes this even happens while travelling, and any blog that doesn't mention so is lieing somehow). Porridge did a better job actually, and off we set at noon, over 3 hours later than the others.

I was laughing wildly when we reached the summit of the gorge two hours later, partly because of the over exaggeration of guidebooks but also because of a temper filled local woman who decided that you could only visit the viewpoint if you bought a product. Thinking we deserved a snickers Prue and I went to access the outcrop of rock off the main path but by the yells and frantic arm swings I think that 1 snickers meant only 1 person, screw you.

Lungs a blazing but much better on the decline and flats we made excellent progress. Only a couple of french lads passed us by, they would have stopped to chat if they had not been committed to completing the entire gorge in a day in order to sightsee another town tomorrow so they could leave on a night bus that evening for another city 16 hours away... easy boys, I am so happy to have time on ourside, or the ability to cut places from my schedule so I can actually see something. We eventually caught up with the girls who left our hostel earlier in the morning, and our confidence to finish the hike that day increased. Only stopping to eat fried rice (that we bought along so I would not perish on the 28 bends) we soon crossed the three quarters along aptly named 'Half Way Guesthouse' and for the first time felt truly in awe. The pathway, cut into the rockface increased our sense of danger of landslides, the drops to our right more vertical than ever and waterfalls cascading over the trail warned us of the people who have slipped over the edge. Not quite as terrifying as it had been described I will admit but an adventure all the same, and definitely gorgeous.

Down, down, down to Tinas, and if Tina is the miserable old b**** who barks and lies about having no dorm rooms to make you make triple prices then good luck to her. I claim we have already called and booked and suddenly a vacant room appears ansd we are the only 2 in a dorm built for 8, perfect. Food is for thought, and beer, shower and sleep... easily done.

Two more tasks await, getting our asses down to the riverside in order to watch the famous river rapids squeeze through the gorge and witness where the legend began. A tiger is said to have leaped the width of the river at its narrowest point (25m) in order to escape a pursuer, conviently it seems there are two locations at which the tiger accomplished this astronomical feat. One of which requires a good old hike and one that buses can pull right upto, fancy that.

The view from the hikable one (which you can only reach by paying a fee for the use of a non government aided family built track) is outstanding, and you appreciate that the river is officially declared incapable of being navigating via raft, although has been conquered in a 1986 expedition by a team who floated along the entire Yangtze, what a feat.

I can confess I was pleased to be able to make it back up the home made slippery path, thankful to the 'Z' family for the steepness. From here we traced the road to a huge land slide blockage, complete with its own walking path, and a hoard of mini van drivers waiting to scam us on the other side. Luckily, we just pitched in on another couple being scammed and got a fair price for the lift back to our luggage, passing tens upon tens of rammed buses taking tours of the gorges low road. Jane didn't know us from Adam so we collected our luggage free of charge and flagged a mini bus back to Shangri la, high five to Tiger Leaping Gorge, a bit of a hype but a fantastic couple of days.