Hiking 318 | Walking to Tibet DAY44: Ancient Township-Tongmai Town

2021.05.09

At around six o'clock in the morning, Redan came to the room and took away his power bank, saying that their family had to go first.

Today's destination is Tongmai Town, a total distance of 53 kilometers. There was originally a Tibetan family hotel where we could stay on the way, but it was booked by the engineering staff of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway.

In fact, since yesterday, I have decided not to walk a single step today, but to take the car directly 😆 Because I have not updated my tweets for 5 days, and if I continue to owe them any more, I am afraid I will forget everything about the previous things. . It happened that Brother Han's foot was injured yesterday, so I took him along to stop the car on the side of the road.

The car that drove us today was a Volkswagen Tiguan with a Nanchong license plate. The buddy in the passenger seat said that he had walked the Sichuan-Tibet line 13 times in various ways, including on foot.

He said that the road conditions at that time were much worse than now. The route from Guxiang to Tongmai and then to Pailong was not the current route. The roads at that time were known as Tongmai Natural Danger and Pailong Natural Danger.

I saw three books on the back seat of the car, one of which was "The Soul Can Only Walk Alone" by Zhou Guoping, and then I thought of another book "Either Reading or Traveling, Either Body or Soul is Always on the Road".

Once again, I lament that I have read too few books. I really envy this guy, who can be on the road both physically and mentally.

The ride was so fast, we arrived at Tongmai in an hour.

On the way, I saw the Redan family, the spy boss, Silly Gou and Brother Zhu. Because the road was narrow and bad, with many sharp turns, I was really embarrassed to ask the driver to stop, so I didn't stop to say hello to them. Especially Redan and Brother Zhu, I wonder if there will be fate to meet them again in the future.

The place we stayed at today was called Tianyu Farm. The conditions were pretty good, but the price was a little expensive. Accommodation nearby is also tight, with many people from China Railway No. 5 Bureau staying here for a long time.

In the afternoon, when I was recalling the events of the past few days at the inn, I talked with Brother Han about the Yunnan brother I met. We also talked about the question that still has no answer: Is our hike 318 just a tourist?

So I started to read all the memories about this problem along the way, trying to find the answer.

The first time: The uncle before departure asked me, what are your goals or expectations for this hike? I said no.

The second time: At Yajiang County Hospital, Brother Tashi asked us, are you going to Tibet for tourism? Captain Xiao Huang said that he felt that hiking to Tibet was an experience. I said I just like it.

The third time: In Xiangke Zong, the father of the three sisters said that every step of walking to Tibet is atonement.

The fourth time: On the way to Litang, Team Zhou said that she had never encountered any difficulties since she was a child. This time she wanted to challenge the pure disciples, just to find some difficulties for herself.

The fifth time: When I was living in Class 229, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway worker said, are you hiking for fun? I don’t think it’s very fun, right? I'm afraid I'm a little tired.

The sixth time: On the first day of walking with Silly Dog, he said that someone asked him why he walked 318 on foot? He doesn't know either.

The seventh time: At Zuogong Inn, a fellow Lanzhou man riding a motorcycle said he couldn’t understand us hikers, saying that we were mentally ill and couldn’t understand.

The eighth time: While staying in Bangda Town, the driver of a large truck said that he would not do it even if he was given 10,000 yuan to walk from Bangda to Qamdo. You said you gained something from walking, but what did you gain? let me see? Why didn't I see anything?

The ninth time: By the Nujiang Bridge, the man who drove here with a Beijing license plate did not say hello, but directly said in a slightly disgusting and questioning tone, "Are you tired?" I ignored him.

The 10th time: Brother Han said that he had passed by on a bicycle and on a motorcycle, but he could only walk. He just wanted to experience walking.

The eleventh time: In Mimei Village, I asked Brother Zhu, is walking to Lhasa a way of spiritual practice? He said so be it.

The twelfth time: On the way to Bomi, I asked the Yunnan elder brother who was worshiping me, what is the meaning of our kind of hiking? He just said that for those who believe in Buddhism, it is a kind of practice.

Thirteenth time: Tashi Redan said that walking to Lhasa was his parents’ lifelong wish. They would go to Lhasa to visit many temples and make wishes to the Bodhisattva.

Brother Han said that there is no standard answer to this question. Different people understand the world differently, just like what the elder brother who came from Yunnan said: There is a river here. People see water flowing in the river, and devils see water flowing in the river. Blood, what Buddha saw flowing in the river was nectar.

I said that I would try to figure this out on the day I get to Lhasa.

Brother Han said, you might not be able to figure this out even if you try it again.