October 8th (D5), came from Danba yesterday, arrived at Xinduqiao in the evening, and stayed overnight at "Gesang Garden Inn". Today's plan is: Xinduqiao → Yajiang → Litang → Daocheng → Shangri-La Town, the whole journey is 414 hours According to Baidu data, it takes 7 hours and 26 minutes just to drive, which can be regarded as the longest day of driving in our 11-day itinerary. X.J. is the driver. For him, today is also the hardest day. If there is no problem today, there will be nothing to worry about in the next few days. Xinduqiao is 3,500 meters above sea level. I was worried about whether X.J. could get used to staying here last night. Fortunately, after waking up, he felt good about himself and claimed that he could drive as planned. In addition, in view of the extremely long journey today and the plateau at an altitude of about 4,000 meters, we plan to spend the whole day on the road. There is no need to stop at every scenic spot along the way. Anyway, we have to turn back on the same road after three days, and some scenic spots can be reserved for the return trip. Go visit again.
"Garden Inn" provides breakfast, steamed buns, rice porridge, eggs, mustard, fried peanuts, and departs immediately after the meal. Leave the inn at 8:42, drive on the national highway G318 to the west, and enter Xinduqiao Town at 8:44. I found out last night that the "Garden Inn" has actually passed the boundary of Xinduqiao to the east and is located in "Waze Township" . At 8:51, we arrived at the Y-shaped intersection of G318 and G248. We came from Danba along the national highway G248 last night, and now we are going to drive along G318 to the direction of "Yajiang".
The main peak of Gaoersi Mountain is 4,659 meters above sea level. It is located about 5 kilometers west of the Y-shaped intersection. At 8:56, there is a fork road leading to the mountain pass on the left. This is the only way to climb Gaoersi Mountain in the past. Cars from the new To drive from Duqiao to Yajiang and Litang, you must cross the pass of Gaoersi Mountain at an altitude of 4,412 meters. The winding road is very difficult. The Gaoersi Mountain Tunnel was completed three years ago, and now this fork is rarely used by people. We crossed the fork and continued to move forward. We saw that the shrubs and grass on the hillside along the road had changed into beautiful autumn clothes. There were many cars parked on the side of the road, and the passengers climbed over the road wall and rushed down the hillside to take pictures. However, we are trying to reach Shangri-La Town before dark today, so we didn't stop here. The Hengduan Mountains are dangerous and high, so avoiding driving at night is our top priority.
At 9:07, enter the 5,682-meter-long Gaoer Temple Tunnel, and drive out after about 10 minutes. The Gaoer Temple Tunnel is about 4,000 meters above sea level, and the flat land on the side of Xindu Bridge is 3,500 meters. Therefore, there is no need to enter the tunnel from Xindu Bridge. How much does it feel like climbing a mountain? However, the situation after driving out of the tunnel is very different. The altitude of Yajiang County in front is only 2640 meters, which is more than 1400 meters away from the Gaoer Temple Tunnel. "going" prompt, then rush into a ravine, the road winds down, the height drops rapidly, there are many bridges and bends on the way down the mountain, and the road uses many high bridges across the ravine to shuttle back and forth between the two walls of the ravine, Sometimes walk on the left wall, sometimes on the right wall, and gradually descend the height. Turning around and looking back while driving, the high bridges behind us are like stairs to the sky.
At 9:33, drive to the bottom of the ravine, where there is a village and a temple called "Wolong Temple", and the small village is "Wolong Temple Village". Then it was still driving in the valley, and there was a small river parallel to the road. However, compared to the ravine just now, the slope at this time was obviously gentler, roughly the same as a flat road. Beautiful Tibetan buildings can be seen from time to time on the roadside, including inns and homestays.
9:46 Pass by "Pamling Village", which is Bajiaolou Township belonging to Yajiang County. It is 20 kilometers away from the county seat. It is a very beautiful Tibetan village. It is also called "Matsutake Village" because it is rich in matsutake. There is a magnificent "China Yajiang Matsutake Industrial Park" in the village. There are many "hotels" beside the national road, as well as the sculpture of "Tea Horse Road" and the sign of "National Civilized Village". It seems that it is also a tourist resort.
Drive through Bajiaolou Township at 9:52, refuel at "Yajiang City Gas Station" at 10:11, and arrive at "Hekou Town" on the east bank of "Yalong River" at 10:15. The small river that accompanied us all the way is here into the Yalong River. The city of Yajiang County is mainly built on the west bank of the Yalong River. It can be reached directly from Hekou Town by crossing the bridge, but we did not cross the bridge. Instead, we followed the national highway G318 and turned right, crossed the "Yajiang Tunnel", and then followed the elevated Yanjiang Road on the east bank of the Yalong River. Go straight, cross the river through a bridge in front, bypass Yajiang County, and drive directly to Litang. There is a beautiful wall sculpture at the intersection of the county town. I don't know what story it describes. I guess it is "King Gesar".
After leaving Yajiang County, the National Highway G318 began to climb again, and beautiful yellow leaves appeared on the hillside. At 10:38, I passed "Xianggezong", a small village with an altitude of 3530 meters, and it is also a famous winding road on the National Highway G318. The starting point of "Eighteen Bends of Tianlu". The car circled along the road, and the altitude gradually rose. At 10:47, we stopped at the "Shanggezong Service Area". This is the middle section of "Eighteen Bends of Tianlu". There is a huge stone on the viewing platform, and the red paint says "the ancient tea horse road is 3800 meters above sea level".
Going forward, there is also a "Tianlu Eighteen Bends Tourism Comprehensive Service Station" on the mountain. We didn't stop, and we will leave it for the return trip. At 11:07, we arrived at the end of "Eighteen Bends of Tianlu Road", and almost immediately it was the entrance of "Scissors Bend Mountain Tunnel". There is also a fork in the vicinity leading to the mountain pass. Before the tunnel was built, the old national highway had to take this fork to pass through the mountain pass, cross the Jianziwan mountain ridge at an altitude of 4,450 meters, and head to Litang. 11:13 After driving out of the west exit of the "Scissors Bend Tunnel", what you see immediately is very different from the east end of the tunnel. The outside of the tunnel at the east end is green, as if autumn has not yet arrived, but the west exit of the tunnel is red and orange. Green, yellow, green, mixed with four colors, the season has entered late autumn.
11:17 Stop at the "Xiong Zongka Viewing Platform". The main attraction here is the alpine pasture. There is a long mountain ridge opposite the viewing platform. The top of the mountain is wide and flat. There is only grass and no trees. The ravines are full of deep forests and lush trees. This kind of scenery reminds me of a man who is "bald", with a bald head, but there is still a ring of hair around it. The viewing platform is equipped with a small shop, toilets, free parking lot, and a Tibetan pavilion, indicating that the altitude of this place is 4281 meters.
At 11:24, we left the "Xiong Zongka Observation Platform" and continued on. At 11:43, we drove past the "Nimagon Mountain Observation Platform Tourist Service Area" without stopping. This area is located at high altitudes along the way, and the hills we saw were all bald. During the journey, we encountered rain for a while, and the rain was still covered with ice slag. However, the weather on the plateau was also unpredictable, and the sky was clear again after a while. At 12:10, stop at the "Kazila Mountain Observation Deck", because it is the National Day holiday, there are also medical service vehicles from the nearby township health center on duty. There is a huge stone tablet in the parking lot, indicating that the altitude of Kazila Mountain is 4718 meters.
Leaving the viewing platform at 12:13, continue along the national road G318, passing through the pastoral area on the way, the free yaks ran directly onto the road, so be careful when driving when encountering them, because they don't care about cars and their behavior is unpredictable. At 12:37, we drove through "Honglong Town", at 12:38 we saw large Tibetan characters "Oh Mani Pai Meihong" on the roadside hillside, and at 12:57 we passed "the hometown of matsutake in China - Yajiang, I wish you a safe journey" Archway, we drove out of the Yajiang River and entered the territory of Litang County. One minute later, he passed through the "Litang County Dahebian Public Security Checkpoint", unattended, and it was 6 kilometers away from Litang County.
At 13:04, we crossed the "Toloraka Mountain" through the Litang Tunnel, which was originally one of the bottleneck sections of the national highway G318. The road to cross the "Toloraka Mountain" pass is very dangerous. The tunnel was built in 2015, and here is also "a natural moat turned into a thoroughfare". We crossed the "Toloraka Mountain" through the tunnel, and it felt like walking on a flat road. 13:11 Arrive at the intersection of Litang County, where there is a gate in the shape of a flying crane, as well as the Kangnan Passenger Transport Distribution Center. We originally planned to have lunch at the distribution center, but after driving in, we found that there were only toilets and no restaurants. Helpless, I had no choice but to follow the guidance of the "navigation" and continue on. Instead of entering Litang County along the National Highway G318, I took the National Highway 227 (that is, the Provincial Highway S217) southward and drove directly to Daocheng, which is 150 kilometers away from Daocheng.
13:39 Pass by "Zhaga Family Banquet Modern Ecological Ranch", the text in front of the door introduces that this is a poverty alleviation project led by several Tibetan party members to lead poor households to a well-off life, which seems to be related to tourism. We stopped at the open space in front of its gate, and with the last bit of bread and red sausage brought from Xiamen, we just had a casual lunch here.
Moving on, at 13:57, we passed the "Zhaga Mountain", and there is a temple on the mountain. Passed through the Jiawa Public Security Checkpoint at 14:10, still unattended. Less than a minute later, we met Sancha (actually Sicha) intersection. We followed the road sign of "Daocheng Yading" and went straight along the new road on the far left. 14:13 I saw a golden-roofed temple on the side of the road, which seemed to be called "Eri Temple". Going forward is a large area of high-standard farmland, which seems to be a delicate agricultural project.
At 14:26, drive into the "Kangxia Service Area", where there is a sign of "Haizishan National Geopark". There is a mountain pass in front of the road, which should be the entrance of the Geopark. In autumn on the plateau, the footsteps are very fast, and the trees on the surrounding hillsides have also changed into autumn clothes early. As far as the eye can see, the mountains are golden and it feels very beautiful. This is also the location of the road class, with a large parking lot, public toilets, and local Tibetans selling food at food stalls and providing paid horseback riding services.
After a short rest, we drove into the mountain pass ahead, and we entered the "Haizishan National Geological Park". The road went upstream along a turbulent stream and continued to climb. At 14:42, I saw the wreckage of a blue car, which fell into the stream. The color seemed to be quite new, and it should be a recent accident. At 14:48, we arrived at the "Stone River" viewing platform. There was also a sign of "Puyonggou River Valley Autumn Photography Spot" on the side of the road. I guessed that the roadside valley should be "Puyonggou". Remnants of glacier movement. The valley is full of autumn, and the surrounding hillsides are colorful. No wonder this place is called "autumn photography spot".
Continuing forward, first pass through an ancient glacier channel, and the ancient glaciers have ground the mountain ridges they flowed into flat hills. 15:11 Arrive at the "Rabbit Mountain Tourism Comprehensive Service Station" and stop for a while. The landscape here is very strange. There are large and small broken stones all over the mountains and fields, and no grass grows. Its most famous is the "rabbit" on the top of the mountain, so this mountain is called "Rabbit Mountain". There is a viewing platform on the side of the road, and a huge stone stands on the platform, indicating that the altitude here is 4696 meters.
15:17 Leaving "Rabbit Mountain", the road began to go downhill, and the road was still full of boulders, guessing that this should be the peak of the ancient ice sheet. At the foot of the mountain is a large alpine swamp with a meandering stream and dots of water. The swamp is also full of stones. It is guessed that they were all cut and transported from Tuer Mountain by ancient glaciers.
At 15:43, I stopped again at a roadside parking lot. This should be regarded as the core scenic spot of Haizishan Geopark. There is also an artificial rockery made of natural stones. Standing here and looking out, there are endless meadows all around, with large and small stones scattered among them, as well as numerous water beaches and ponds, and short hills in the distance. The scenery in front of me reminds me of the Red Army The "grassland" that the Long March walked through can hardly be imagined to be on the top of a mountain with an altitude of more than 4,000 meters. Haizi Mountain is a flat-topped mountain, because there are dotted with small lakes and pools on the flat top (local people call it "Haizi"), so it is named Haizi Mountain.
Continue to move forward, and at 15:54, we encounter the "Haizishan Observation Deck". The road sign shows that the altitude here is 4,500 meters, so we will stay for a while. There are simply built roads around the viewing platform, and cars can drive off the road and enter Stonehenge to park. We climbed up a tall boulder to look at it, and only then did we clearly feel that we were on the top of a high mountain, because the viewing platform is located on the edge of the flat peak of Haizi Mountain, from here we can overlook the lake and road below the mountain. However, Turning around and looking back, there are still endless low hills, boulders, and vast plains.
The viewing platform is 51 kilometers away from Daocheng. We continued on our way, and then there was a long downhill road. Due to frequent accidents, the relevant authorities placed abandoned police cars on the side of the road to fool and deter drivers. At 16:18, drive through the three-fork intersection of Yading Airport. There is a Tibetan "pyramid" in the middle of the intersection. The fork on the right leads to the airport. We go straight on the left and continue to Daocheng, which is 40 kilometers away from Daocheng and 140 kilometers away from Aden. kilometer.
Go forward for about 2 minutes from the intersection of the airport and see a "Stone River Park" on the side of the road, which is also called "Haizishan Glacier Stone River Scenic Area". Shangri-La Town, Daocheng County is still 115 kilometers away. X.J. said that at least two more hours of driving will be required. Continue to go down the mountain, the slope is steep and sharp, the speed limit of the road is 30 kilometers, and another scrapped police car is placed here to scare the passing drivers.
At 16:31, we saw a golden-roofed gatehouse on the left side of the road and two golden-roofed temples on the mountain. We didn't stop. At 16:33, we met a T-junction, turned right to the national highway G549, leading to Xiangcheng and Derong, we continued to go straight along the national highway G227, passed through Sangdui Town, and drove to Daocheng. Sangdui Town is 17 kilometers away from the famous scenic spot "Red Grassland", 28 kilometers away from the urban area of Daocheng County, and 138 kilometers away from Yading Scenic Area. 16:52 Arrive at "Red Grassland", also known as "Red Grass Wetland Park", located in Jiyier Village, Sangdui Town, not far from Daocheng County. The "Red Grassland" scenic spot is on the side of the road, and you can come in and out at will, but the parking lot is charged, and each car is 10 yuan, which should be regarded as the welfare of the local village.
"Red Grassland" is a seasonal wetland. After the rainy season accumulates water, a plateau-specific plant called "Polygonum" will grow. In autumn, the plants of "Polygonum" will turn red, and the whole wetland will appear fiery red. Rows of golden autumn poplars, the scenery is not ordinary beauty.
After staying in the "Red Grassland" for about 25 minutes, we continued to move forward. Soon after, the sky suddenly became dark, with dark clouds over our heads, and a heavy rain came unexpectedly. However, this violent precipitation only concentrated on a small hill not far from us. There was almost no rain in the surrounding area. From a distance, it seemed that a huge waterfall fell from the sky. The scene was extremely spectacular. This is the real "Nine Heavens of the Milky Way" . The heavy rain on the plateau came and went in a hurry. After a while, the rain passed and the sky cleared up, and a beautiful rainbow appeared.
At 17:28, we saw a large group of white and golden-roofed towers on the right side of the road. We still did not stop. This place is already in the suburbs of "Daocheng" county, so we walked around the city. "Shangri-La Town" is still 78 kilometers away. In order to ensure that we can arrive before dark, we agreed not to stop along the way when we set off from "Red Grassland". However, at 17:33, we saw a large area of golden yellow on the roadside A lot of people were taking pictures, and we couldn't resist the temptation to stop again.
After staying for about 5 minutes, I hurried on the road and passed the "Sala Huahai" viewing platform at 17:43. This time I will never stop. Continue driving and see a big mountain in front of you. At 17:52, you start to climb the mountain in circles. Circling to the top of the mountain and looking back, the road we walked on when we came was like a long snake winding in the valley. The road on the mountain goes straight along a valley. There is a temple on the opposite mountain ridge. The surrounding vegetation is full of autumn. The red, orange, yellow, and green set off the golden-roofed temple, which looks very beautiful. Later I learned that this temple is called "Rewu Temple".
Not long after driving, there was another steep slope ahead, and there was another winding curve. We snaked up the slope and arrived at the pass at the top of the mountain at 18:04. Here, the "Bowa Mountain Service Area" was set up, and the sign showed an altitude of 4513 meters. It was raining lightly on the top of the mountain, more precisely, "sleet". We didn't stop and went straight down the mountain. However, there was no rain down the mountain. At 18:44, I saw the magnificent "Gongga Langjiling Temple". In today's Tibetan areas, both large and small temples have golden roofs.
Driving into "Shangri-La Town" is already "before the lights come on", and we finally arrived here before dark. Stayed in the "Altitude Reflection" theme hotel, the room is quite large, but the facilities are average. For dinner, choose the "Lao Zhuang La Pork Ribs Hot Pot" shop. The large pieces of cured pork leg meat here are very delicious, and I am very satisfied. This time when I came to Western Sichuan, I had the best impression of the hot pot here and the barbecue in Bipenggou. X.J. likes light food, such as fish, but I still like meat.
After dinner, I went back to the hotel and listened to the introduction of a donkey friend who had just passed the Aden long-distance line. He said that there was no need to ride a horse at all. The 300 yuan was only for a one-way trip, and only the flat road in front of it was really strenuous. You had to rely on yourself for the rest of the road after climbing the mountain. Walk. However, after returning to the room, X.J. stated that he would try his best to ride a horse tomorrow, and then go to the Milky Sea if he can, and go down the mountain and go back if he can’t bear it halfway. There is a hand-painted map of the Aden scenic spot in the hotel lobby, which was taken by hand.
We are going to stay in Yading Village tomorrow night. The owner of the "Highland Reflection" hotel suggested that we only take what we need for one day, and put everything else in the car. The boss also said that there is a large parking lot next to the bus station in the scenic area. There are not many tourists on this day, so parking early tomorrow will not be a problem. Tomorrow we plan to get off at Yading Village first, check in at the hotel, and then enter the scenic spot for sightseeing. I am worried that if the bus from Shangri-La Town passes by Yading Village, there will always be no vacant seats? The boss said that there is no need to worry about this, because there is also a special shuttle bus from Yading Village to the scenic spot.
