Today’s Journey
This morning, we set off from Zuogong. Originally, we planned to stay in Baxoi, but the town didn’t have much to offer and we couldn’t find a suitable hotel.
We discovered Ranwu Lake, a beautiful scenic area with decent accommodations, except for the altitude of around 3,800 meters. After discussing amongst ourselves, and with most of us having acclimatized to high altitudes and without severe altitude sickness, we decided to drive 300 kilometers to Ranwu Lake.
Although the navigation estimated the journey to be six hours, it took us seven and a half hours in reality, including various stops shown in the picture, making it a full journey of nine hours.
Beautiful Landscape
Yesterday, we were told that we did not share any pictures. Today, we present you with an unwatermarked Windows desktop picture.
Taken with my Xiaomi 12S U at an abandoned bridge in Tiantuo Town on the National Highway 318, the original picture was untouched. We believe professional photographers can take even better landscape pictures with professional equipment.
Journey on Yela Mountain
This morning, our journey mainly consisted of ascending and then descending Yela Mountain. As someone who has been immune to various high-altitude views of grasslands, I took some pictures spontaneously to leave an impression on everyone.
We finally arrived at the legendary 72 turns of the Nujiang River. The view from high above was indeed magnificent, but as we drove, we reminded everyone not to overtake blindly, maintain a safe distance and speed, and to make safety our top priority.
On the way down the mountain, we found a restaurant for lunch. Sichuan cuisine restaurants line the entire 318 National Road, and when ordering, our out-of-town friends always remember to say “less oil, less salt, slightly spicy.” Remember, remember!
Although the flow of the Nu River is not large, in many places, the valley is deep and the water roars at the bottom of the valley. Perhaps this is where the Nu River gets its name. Next to the new Nu River Bridge stands an old bridge pier. When passing vehicles pass by, they spontaneously honk in tribute. The locals say that when the young soldier Liu Jichun was repairing the bridge, he accidentally fell into the bridge pier that was being poured, and the concrete quickly hardened. His comrades tried their best to save his life but failed. Let’s pay tribute to the hero Liu Jichun!
We then continued to the 72 bends on the way down the mountain, and once again entered the area of high mountains, forests, and grasslands. Snow-capped mountains in the distance are reflected in small lakes, hiding behind the forests and even on road signs pointing to Lhasa.
Finally, we arrived at Ranwu Lake around 5 pm, where the elevation is 3,800 meters. At this point, most of us no longer suffer from altitude sickness, but continuous physical labor still causes increased heart rate and shortness of breath. At times like these, we would take a rest, take a breath of oxygen, and mostly feel all right.
The hotel we stayed in has a good environment, and the lobby manager was very polite. The room even came with two bottles of oxygen and some snacks. The name of the hotel is Zi Chen Bo Yue, which we can recommend.
Unload our luggage and with some time to spare, we drove upstream of Ranwu Lake along National Road 219. The lake was so beautiful on the way, but the locals told me that it was nothing compared to the true beauty of Ranwu Lake from March to May.
With such splendid scenery, both Ideal ONEs must be featured. The theme of this trip is #ONEONE Can’t Let Go#, two Ideal ONEs, #Cannot Let Go#, #Reluctant to Part# Espeically my 2020 Ideal ONE, which I’ve had for more than 900 days and driven for more than 80,000 kilometers since I took delivery on December 10, 2019. I really can’t bear to part with it.
Finally, in this 13-second short video, let’s take another look at the beautiful Ranwu Lake and hope that more car enthusiasts will experience the beauty of the road with their families.
Today’s energy consumption: I forgot to take a photo of refilling gas, have to report tomorrow with the travelogue. Please forgive me, viewers.
By the way, tomorrow there will be a sneak peek of the Glacier Highway and snow mountain in the movie.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.