Day 4 of Yunnan and Tibet Tour Meili Snow Mountain-Yanjing-Mangkang

Distance: Meili Snow Mountain - Yanjing - Mangkang

The highest peak of Meili Snow Mountain is Kawagbo Peak. According to Tibetan legend, Kawagbo turned out to be a nine-headed and eighteen-year-old man. The fierce god with arms was later enlightened and ruled the border areas and the snowy land of Fuyin. He was riding a white horse and holding a long sword, looking majestic and majestic.

This morning, I climbed up to the highest viewing platform of the hotel early to see the Rizhao Jinshan Mountain and feel the majestic patron saint of the mountain, riding a white horse and holding a long sword.

Although I thought I got up early, when I arrived at the rooftop platform, people watching the mountains had already lined up.

Thick clouds covered the surrounding peaks. , the whole picture became dim and dark. Suddenly, a gust of wind tore a small opening in the upper left corner of the sky, revealing a mountain peak, and then gave it a highlight. The top of the mountain immediately emitted a golden light, which was extremely beautiful.

Driver The master told us that not every tourist can see the true appearance of Meili Snow Mountain. Some people even stayed here for a week in order to see its beauty, but failed to do so. It seems that we are all the lucky ones.

After leaving Feilai Temple Hotel, there was a carousel along the mountain road. It was very beautiful, so I took a photo here as a souvenir of my trip to Meili Snow Mountain.

In fact, no one has ever climbed to the top of Meili Snow Mountain.

Here is a real story. On December 21, 1990, a Chinese and Japanese mountaineering team tried to climb this peak for the first time. Five members of the commando team arrived. At an altitude of 6,470 meters above sea level, the vertical distance from the summit is only 240 meters. Suddenly, the temperature dropped sharply and a blizzard came. The Japanese team members wrote in their diary: "The weather is getting worse and worse, the wind is getting stronger and stronger, and Kawagbo's face is hidden in a thick cloud. We I couldn’t hold on any longer and prepared to retreat.”

As a result, the wind stopped again at night, and the moonlight illuminated the way to the descent and summit. The mountaineering team survived and could see the final climb clearly. Due to the terrain, the climbing team returned to Camp 3 to rest and decided to rush to the summit again.

At the same time, the behavior of the mountaineering team approaching the peak strongly impacted the beliefs of Tibetans. Thousands of Tibetans even prayed to Kawagbo at Feilai Temple: "It's time to show divine power." Come on, drive away the arrogant climbers, otherwise we will no longer respect you!”

Starting on December 29, 1990, continuous snowstorms trapped the mountaineering team in Camp Three, and they were separated from the base camp! Contact was intermittent. On the morning of January 4, the sky suddenly cleared up, but the location of Camp No. 3 was completely buried and turned into a vast expanse of white. So far, all 17 mountaineers of the China-Japan Friendship Mountaineering Team have died.

From 1987 to 1996, Meili Snow Mountain has hosted nine climbing expeditions, all of which failed. Among them, 4 were jointly climbed by China and Japan, 1 was climbed by Japan alone, and 4 were climbed by the American team. Because they did not want to cause any more casualties or hurt the feelings of the local people, the local congress formally legislated in 2001 not to allow any organization or individual to climb the Kawagbo Mountain.

As a mountain 2,000 meters lower than Mount Everest, why is Kawagbo so difficult to climb?

The reason lies in the special climate here. Kawagebo's glacier is the most typical marine glacier. Its north-south mountains intersect with the east-west water vapor of the Bay of Bengal, forming a mysterious and ever-changing climate. One second it was sunny and windy, and the next moment there were violent blizzards, ice collapse, and avalanches.

Leaving the mesmerizing Meili Snow Mountain, we ran into a small river. The river was filled with mud and flowed down the valley in a gray manner.

At first, I thought Which tributary of a big river is this, or is it an unknown small ditch? After asking the driver, I found out that this is the famous Lancang River.

The small river in front of me is actually the seventh longest river in the world. , the third longest river in Asia and the longest river in Southeast Asia. The Lancang River flows through the six countries of China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its name is the Mekong River in the lower reaches. The total length of the river is 4,900 kilometers.

It is really amazing.

After driving 100km along the Lancang River, we came to the next scenic spot.

I remember that CCTV once released a documentary about this scenic spot. Tibetans dug brine wells to dry salt on the banks of the Lancang River. I thought it was very fresh at the time.

I happened to pass by this place today. Come and visit.

On both sides of the Lancang River, there are many salt ponds built on the rock walls. On one side is the Tibetan salt pond, which produces peach blossom salt, and on the other side is the Naxi salt pond, which is rich in snowflake salt.

The Lancang River is actually a freshwater river, but brine can be produced from the wells on the river bank, which is really amazing. So people dried salt on the spot. Because the river bank was steep, people built wooden shelves according to local conditions. Sun salt.

Crystal clear evaporated snowflake salt can be seen everywhere in the puddles beside the salt pond.

Pools with different salinities show different colors.

The salt pond is built up of layers of wood and covered with red mud to dry the salt. Salt water sometimes penetrates the red mud, and then drills through the wooden frame under the red mud. Over the years, it drips down, forming salt crystals like ice hanging, which are extremely beautiful against the blue sky and white clouds.

Leaving Yanjing, the vehicle circled on the mountain road and passed through the Hongla Mountain Pass at an altitude of 4,400 meters.

As the altitude gets higher and higher, the forests slowly transition into alpine meadows. Looking down from a high place, the flat meadows are surrounded and divided by forests, which are green and yellow. The distant mountains and white clouds are dark blue, quiet and Peace, maybe this is what heaven should be like, right?

Tonight I will stay near Rumei Village near Mangkang. This small place is close to the Lancang River, and the river is right at the door. It is so close that it is outrageous. Unfortunately, the town is too small. It only took about 10 minutes to go out and walk around. It was lack of people, remote and desolate.

I remember someone joking on the Internet that the most remote city in China is Delingha. I think this town really feels a bit like Delingha. Didn’t the famous poet Haizi have a poem related to Delingha? It may be appropriate to use it here:

Sister, tonight I am in Delingha, covered in darkness

Sister, I only have the Gobi tonight

At the end of the grassland, I have nothing.

I cannot hold a teardrop when I am sad

Sister, I am in Delingha tonight

This is a desolate city in the rain

Except those who pass by and those who live there

Delingha┄┄Tonight

This is the only, last, lyrical.

This is the only, last, grassland.

I return the stone to the stone

Let the victory win

Tonight the highland barley belongs only to herself

Everything is growing

Tonight I only have the beautiful desert sky

Sister, I don’t care about humans tonight, I only want you