Sichuan-Tibet Line Cycling Travel Notes | Rest in Batang

The epidemic blocked the road and was forced to rest in Batang for a day. Everyone has a very tight schedule, and every day is very precious. Even though there are so many scenic spots along the Sichuan-Tibet Line, we can only spare two days to visit. Unexpectedly, a sudden epidemic gave us a blow and forced us to stay for one day. We felt very sorry for this precious day.

And according to the policy at the time, nucleic acid is only valid for 48 hours, which means that we need to do nucleic acid every two days in the future. Moreover, not every city has a testing point, and we don’t know how the subsequent policy will change. We plan to do everything at once. was disrupted. Our team's time schedule was very tight, and we were all afraid that if the epidemic delayed it for a few more days, we would not be able to successfully ride to Lhasa on time. Some people were panicked at the time.

This is real travel, this is real cycling on the Sichuan-Tibet Line. The filters and copywriting on those travel videos do not fall into real life, and all kinds of unexpected accidents and trivial matters are annoying. Everything magical ensures that I live in a real world, not a holographic projection on an electronic screen.

At a loss, we can only take one step at a time. Take yesterday's number plate to do nucleic acid testing in the morning, and the results will be available that night.

Queuing up to do nucleic acid

Test Report

After doing the nucleic acid test, Qingling and I happened to come across a shop on the way back to the inn. They sold the cowboy hats we had been thinking about for a long time. We asked the price for 15 yuan. Finally, finally, I traveled throughout Batang County and found a cheap hat. Qingling and I were so happy that we each bought one.

 

Don’t underestimate this hat, I wore it almost all the way and in all the photos. This hat has accompanied me across mountains and seas. It is currently hanging on the wall above my desk. It has faded away from its red color and has turned slightly yellow. Under it, there is a person typing hard.

That's the hat

I bought this hat for fifteen yuan and wore it for more than ten days while riding to Lhasa. From this perspective, it was probably the most cost-effective thing I bought along the way.

 

 

At noon, Teacher Zhao and Tsunako Qingling bought instant noodles, peanuts and dumplings, a bunch of assorted junk food, and returned to the courtyard of the inn. They placed them on the wet wooden table, paired with the wine they had not eaten last night, and sat down It was so pleasant to drink and chat on the wooden rattan chairs under the trellis of young grape leaves.

Because tomorrow’s journey from Batang to Mangkang is the most difficult day on the roadmap, Mr. Zhao, a hitchhiking expert, started to encourage everyone to hitchhike like crazy again. As the first person to resist hitchhiking, I asked Teacher Zhao if I wanted to take a photo of one foot in Sichuan and one foot in Tibet at the sign at the junction of Sichuan and Tibet when I enter Tibet tomorrow. Teacher Zhao was finally persuaded by me not to take the bus, and the sign did not appear in the end.

A place to have lunch

While eating, we also received news that the 72nd Turn of the Nu River, the most dangerous part of the Sichuan-Tibet Line, is also the section we will pass through in the next few days. A serious mudslide occurred yesterday, and the road has been closed for emergency repairs.

 

And there is news in the past few days that a rock fell and hit a vehicle at 72 turns, killing three people in the car.

Seventy-Two Turns Debris Flow

dog in parking shed

People who hike like to take their dogs with them

In the afternoon, Tsunako and I went to repair the car. If the old car is not repaired, it will be scrapped. The boss said that my car was not a disc, but the front fork was broken, and it was best to replace it. At that time, I just wanted the car to be a little better. After all, under that kind of intensity, if I could save a little effort, I would be thankful. So I replaced it with a front fork, which cost 320 yuan. Even meeting half of my fellow Shanwei people at the car repair shop couldn't calm my heartache.

 

After replacing the front fork, I just went to the hospital to get the nucleic acid report. As soon as I sat on the car and kicked my feet, it was so awesome. I felt like I could ride to Lhasa tomorrow, if the epidemic hadn't stopped me. Sure enough, spending money can easily create the illusion of effectiveness. It turned out later that it was of no use, and the car was still as bad as before. Now it's just psychological comfort after spending money.

 

After getting the nucleic acid, I went to a noodle shop to find some girls and gave them the nucleic acid, and by the way I ate noodles there with Tsunako. As a result, several of them left without paying the bill.

After eating, we rode around the county town. After spending three days in Batang, we knew this place better than other places on the Sichuan-Tibet line. The unforgettable Zhongshan Square, pedestrian street, hospital entrance, and Tibetan-style buildings and shops...

There are streets like this everywhere

I have walked through Zhongshan Square several times

Familiar Yangke Road

The above photos were taken by Ming and Lu

The sun sets later as you go west, and it's still bright when it's almost 9 o'clock. A cycling team pushed a bicycle into the yard. At first we thought it was the 318 team riding from the previous stop. After asking, we found out that they were returning from Mangkang.

We were all curious about what happened, so the big brother who took the lead began to vividly describe their experiences. A group of people gathered under the grape leaf trellis to listen to their tragic experiences on the road.

The eldest brother is from Hengyang, Hunan. He rode all the way from Hunan to 318. He arrived in Mangkang County two days earlier than us. However, due to the epidemic at that time, Mangkang needed a nucleic acid report to enter. They happened to be on the road and rode to Mangkang County. They had no way to get in and had no place to live in Kangkang. They had no choice but to call the police station and slept one night at the police station. Since there was no nucleic acid testing site in Mangkang, they had to either quarantine for 14 days or ride back. So I finally rode back.

Now, because the subsequent nucleic acid test will be very troublesome for them, and the mudslide at Qishiyiguai is very dangerous, they plan to send the bicycle home and stop riding it.

Narration under the grape trellis

As night falls, the yard seems to be filled with the dangerous atmosphere of the road ahead, making cyclists who are going to hit the road tomorrow anxious. I just watched indifferently, picking a few sour grapes above my head to eat.

I am almost immune to the power and inflammatory power of language. And I know that many people who play outdoors have this subconscious characteristic, and they like to describe their experiences as dangerous and fantastic, to show off their awesomeness.

At that time, I felt that subjective emotions accounted for most of their narration, and I was involved in it. Giving up now is too arbitrary and subjective. It’s a pity for them to give up before the last minute after riding for so long.

To me, most of what they say is personal conjecture and has little reference value. So I didn't panic at all and just treated it as a story. Of course, I have no worries at all, but as for giving up, I have never thought about it.

We have all ridden here. Who is willing to give up because of a few words from others? This is probably the only time in this life. We are all adults and have experienced the power of time. We have promised to come back next time, but basically we will never come again.

The power of other people's words is limited, and we will not give up until we see our hopes dashed. You can only know what the real road looks like by setting foot on it yourself.

There are still gains. I just learned that there will be no supply points throughout the entire journey tomorrow, so you need to bring your own dry food. So we immediately set off to the supermarket.

The dry food along the 318 route is packaged food such as ham sausage, biscuits, and bread. It is enough to provide the calories for riding, and no energy bars or the like are needed. Occasionally, I also prepare a few compressed biscuits. But I generally don’t eat it because the taste is really hard to compliment. In fact, there are some canned meal replacements and sausages for lunch, but they only cost more than ten yuan. I can't afford them, and I never bought them all the way.

Can't afford it

There are many places to eat and sleep along the way on 318, so you don’t have to worry about supplies. The main reason is that the journey is boring, and happiness always needs to be provided by eating.

 

I still remember that the supermarket in Batang was really expensive. A bottle of boxed milk cost 4 yuan and mineral water cost 6 yuan. I bought a bunch of bread and biscuits at that time.

Batang night

After staying in Batang for three nights in a row, we became extremely familiar with the colors and smells of this county. Looking back now, it feels like yesterday.

In the evening, go back to the inn to get ready and prepare for the most difficult day on the road. For some reason, Sister Lu always wants to quarrel with me in the group and put me in an awkward position. Fortunately, I have always been gentle, elegant, honest and honest. Instead of using vicious words to respond to this kind of malice, I complained with virtue and sent a few blessings. I can be called the best in the world and a moral model.

Practical Blessings

I will finally go to Tibet tomorrow, and I am not as excited as I imagined.

 

No matter how much I yearned for that land, once it becomes an endless slope, the constant fatigue and fatigue, the itinerary restricted by the epidemic, and the trivial chores every day, the beautiful and sacred other shore will collapse. Tibet is just a place. That’s all. Although beauty exists, people will still encounter difficulties and troubles, or even more.

What's more, tomorrow's trip to Tibet is only a geographical division. I have already entered the Tibetan area and saw mountains extending infinitely upward and meadows divided by rivers.

Random thoughts: Some people say that my travelogue is a realistic description of idealistic behavior. I like this description very much. This is how I understand this sentence: Individuals can process reality emotionally, but real seeing and feeling should not be beautified.