We went straight up along the border, and it only took 2 days to go from 500 meters above sea level to 3000 meters above sea level.
We entered Tibet from Yunnan and took the Yunnan-Tibet line. This beautiful line is more interesting than the Sichuan-Tibet line on National Highway 318, but it is also a severe test for vehicles. With a displacement of 2.0T, coupled with a powerful four-wheel drive system, Tanyue did not have any problems throughout the journey, which is a great encouragement for us who are driving on roads that are inaccessible. Because we have to challenge the Xinzang line and various canyons later.
What greeted us when we entered Tibet was Mangkang’s Jiajia noodles. This is a way to eat unlimited free noodles. You can challenge the record of 100 bowls on the wall. The hospitable Tibetans are singing and dancing. This kind of strong folk customs It will last more than a month in the subsequent trip. If you come to Mangkang, you must go to the ancient salt fields in Mangkang. The salt field photographed from high altitude is like the palette of nature, which is extremely beautiful. These ancient salt-making techniques are still preserved to this day. I told my friends that if this place is in a plain area, it will definitely become popular. It will definitely be an Internet celebrity check-in place.
Another destination in Tibet is Rinongba Glacier. One morning, the owner of the homestay told me that the nearest glacier had flooded, and there might be a section of the road that is not easy to walk, but travel is for challenges, how do we know we can’t cross this river if we don’t try?
Tanyue, who has strong motivation, is not afraid of muddy water and takes us across the river with ease. At 4 kilometers from the glacier, we stopped and hiked to Rinongba Glacier at an altitude of 500 meters. When a snow-capped mountain that can only be looked up from the bottom of the mountain is at your feet at this moment, the feeling is indescribable. In this way, we endured the severe headaches brought about by the altitude sickness and the severe cold that can be felt in summer, and we went all the way to the foot of the glacier.
Afterwards, we headed west all the way to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, where we did not stop too much, because our destination was the Everest base camp and Ali No Man's Land. The average altitude is more than 4000 meters, severe cold, no supplies, no internet, no electricity and food, and in some places you can't even see an animal...
This is the most severe test in our 100 days of self-driving on the border.
Mount Everest Base Camp, a place that many people yearn for, but has no choice but to stop because of its remote location or altitude sickness. It is located in the Garma Valley of Qudang Township, Tingri County, at an altitude of 5,200 meters, and the straight-line distance from the summit of Mount Everest is about 19 kilometers. We are not here to climb mountains, but to record the starry sky on the top of the highest mountain in the world. In the hot summer, I didn't expect that after the sun set, the temperature would drop sharply, and the whole world would become so bitterly cold, but I recorded the starry sky at the highest altitude in the world. So far, we have no regrets in our starry sky record journey.
It took 13 hours to drive all the way north, and crossed the Xinjiang-Tibet line of more than 800 kilometers. The harshness of this section of the road was vividly displayed in summer. It was snowing all over the sky in July, and the road surface was slippery. When Tanyue turned on the snow mode, when climbing on the icy and snowy road, its anti-skid ability is super strong, which is remarkable.
I never thought I could see the white-haired wind in summer. The phrase "frightened by the wind" is true. I tried to get out of the car to experience the temperature outside the car, but I took a picture and hid in the car. There is only one sentence that comes to mind: summer is so cold, what kind of scary place will it be in winter?
In this way, we sang along the way and bypassed Yecheng. When we saw the brightly lit city, it meant that the most painful and unforgettable thrilling journey of our 100-day self-driving border was over. Xinjiang, which is rich in melons and fruits, is welcoming my arrival.