Day 3 Diqing-Derong-Township-Daocheng (4 15KM)

This article is under review. ...

Starting from Diqing in the morning, fog enveloped the vast plateau. Just out of the city, the car-mounted Khalid navigation lost its way, and the mobile navigation signal was intermittent. We confirm the direction of the road ahead to every passerby and every car that breaks down on the side of the road. Later, I learned that this is a newly-built national highway 2 14, and a large number of tunnels and viaducts lead directly to mountains and rivers. Without the navigation system updated in time, I was at a loss and thought we were in a barren mountain.

I deeply lament that the country is rich and the people are strong, and such a high-grade free national road has been built in such a distant frontier. Unfortunately, the road has only been built at the junction of Yunnan and Sichuan. Crossing an obscure bridge and entering the Sichuan border, the road conditions began to get very bad. The road conditions outside the provincial boundaries are quite different, which may be related to the construction planning of the two provinces. There is a cavalry team in Lu Yu. They cross mountains and mountains along the ancient tea-horse road. At this altitude and road conditions, the ancient tea-horse road is much more difficult to walk than expected. Thinking about Pu 'er tea slowly fermented on horseback, I miss the lazy time of drinking tea and chatting in Kunming more and more.

Along the Jinsha River all the way upstream, the mountains on both sides are steep and the scenery is no less than Tiger Leaping Gorge. After bidding farewell to the Jinsha River, I crossed an unknown 3500m pass, and the altitude dropped rapidly to below 2000m, and suddenly my eyes were golden.

A small village named Baiba appeared in front of us, and a large area of golden green Yang Shulin reminds people of the poem of golden flowers all over the city. According to the calculation of time, we have missed the golden season of Qingyang forest in Daocheng, and life is always kind to those who are persistent. This idyllic village is located between two high mountains, resisting cold air, and the village is not high in altitude, which appropriately creates a Jiangnan beyond the Great Wall.

After bidding farewell to the beautiful village, the altitude rose rapidly and the environment became worse. Various Tibetan-style buildings are constantly appearing on the roadside. After the altitude climbed to 4000, snow began to appear on the roadside. This little beast has never been back to the north in winter since it was born. He was very interested in snow and ice, so he got off and picked up some pieces of snow and put them in a plastic box to play with.

After continuing to climb the "Kuruko" mountain pass at an altitude of 4,700 meters, the winding dirt road of 30 kilometers is a headache. It is dangerous to turn sharply downhill, the center of gravity of the car is high, and it will get out of control if you are not careful. After crossing the pass, the altitude dropped too fast, which was a headache. I found that the feeling is more obvious when the altitude drops, and it should not be too warm at high altitude, otherwise the altitude will be obvious. Of course, it's best not to drink.

The road condition is very bad, and a forklift is cleaning up the collapsed road surface. My car chassis is not high, and I barely passed. A woman in Tibetan costume was carrying a laundry list of stones by the roadside. At such a high altitude, I can breathe when I walk, but a woman is carrying a heavy load. I admire it in my heart.

After passing through Sangdui, the speed of a newly-built expressway soared to 100. Seeing the white tower in the distance, we cheered and the rice city was in sight. After a day's hunger, I found a yak hotpot restaurant. Yak meat is expensive, and a family of three can't get enough to eat. After confirming with the store that it was not a Muslim restaurant, we bought two canned hot pot lunch meat to barely fill our stomachs.

After a full meal, stay at Daocheng Hot Spring Hotel. Because it is the off-season of tourism, the hotel occupancy rate is pitifully low. The whole hotel was in a state of depression, and even the rooms were frozen stiff. Even hiding in the bathroom and drying the photos of Yuba for a while makes people feel very happy.

Take a simple bath, go to bed early, and arrive in Aden early the next morning.

It's MINUS seven degrees at night in Daocheng. When I get up in the morning, the windows are frosted and the windshield spray holes are frozen (I forgot to change the antifreeze glass water before I left). The temperature here is very good. If you want to go to a higher altitude, it is estimated that you need to change antifreeze and oil.