Lugu Lake Travel Notes

DAY 01

At the beginning of the year, I set a small goal of going to two new places. This time, the whole family went to Lugu Lake during the National Day.

Lugu Lake is not far away. It only takes one morning to walk 200 kilometers north from Lijiang, but it cannot be said to be close. After all, it is out of the province and from Yunnan to Sichuan.

Driving, we were still some distance away from the lake, and my mind was almost bent by the winding road. The winding mountain road to Lugu Lake has hundreds of twists and turns, so you have to be ten times more careful. If you turn at any speed, your body will be tilted left and right by the inertia. You have to use the power of the spine to straighten it, or rely on the resistance of the seat. Either way is not comfortable if you can't hold on until you fall.

It was past dinner time when we arrived at the scenic spot, and we were all starving, but we still had to walk in for another half an hour to find a place to eat. Apple selected a restaurant with high reviews online: Steam Stone Pot Fish. The car parked on the side of the road and turned into an alley to find a five-story building. The downstairs was made into hotel-style standard rooms, and a shed was built on the top floor to serve as a restaurant. It's a pity that the shed is too thick, leaving only a few small windows, and you can barely see the shadow of the lake. A semi-open balcony would be perfect.

I don’t know what kind of stone the stone pot is made of. Steam is hot air coming out of a pipe. It replaces fire, electricity or liquefied natural gas as the energy source for heating food. I think this is the same as cooking on a fire, but Flavor may vary. As we ate, we found that the soup in the pot could never be finished, and then we discovered that the steam water kept rising up, and when it reached the pot, it acted as soup water. It turns out that steam has this purpose. After the freshness wears off, the fish tastes nothing special. Probably because he was worried about the return of water vapor, the waiter said that the fire could not be turned off. No, the steam door could not be turned off. The stone pot kept cooking like this, and the unfinished fish turned into flowers.

After we were full of soup and fish, we continued our journey. My father didn't trust my driving skills, so he was at the helm for the rest of the year. We decided to explore the B&B we booked first. Because of the cheap price, the location is a bit far away, but fortunately it's also convenient to drive. When I first arrived at the inn, I felt as if I had returned to my grandpa's home. Four two-story stone and wood houses surrounded an open space in the middle. Two ropes strung up in the middle of the open space were covered with pure white sheets and quilts. It was a typical rural compound. I think of the darkness in my hometown in the countryside at night and the busy rats on the roof that disturb me from sleeping. Fortunately, when we entered the room, everything was new, even modern, just like a hotel in the city. Especially the shower head that can wash your butt, I had a great time when I returned to the hotel. Separated by a door, the inside is exquisite, clean, and comfortable, with electrical appliances and plugs everywhere, while the outside wants natural, wild, and unmodified scenery. The contradiction between people is evident.

After confirming the room, I thought that my father needed to take a nap as usual, but he and Mama both agreed that we were just out to play, so how could we waste time sleeping, so we continued to drive around the lake.

From the map, Lugu Lake is shaped like a heart, but the hole in the middle is so deep that it almost cuts the lake in half. We walked west along the lake. My father drove the car. We didn’t stop much when we reached the Wedding Walking Bridge. Firstly, it was because there were too many people and it was difficult to park. Secondly, we didn’t know that we could walk directly from the Wedding Walking Bridge to the other side of the lake. Go, it’s just that I didn’t do enough homework in the early stage.

Naturally, you cannot appreciate the wonderful scenery of Lugu Lake just by looking out of the car window. What's more, the road is not entirely built beside the lake. Most of the time, we just walk on a completely ordinary road. Only occasionally can we put aside the mountains and houses and catch a glimpse of half of the lake. We drove to the westernmost edge of the lake, then turned and headed east. Naturally, I was not satisfied with just traveling in the car, so I found a fork on the map and turned to Goddess Bay.

If Lugu Lake seems to have been split in half by a long knife, Goddess Bay is right on the tip of the long knife. The car kept going until it reached a place where there was no road and all the people were stuck together. Maybe we rarely encounter such a situation. People are accustomed to thinking that if they keep driving forward, they can always drive out. Unexpectedly, there is water on the left and right in front, and the cars can only go back the same way.

We got off the car and went to the lake to look at the scenery. There were a few empty colorful boats nearby. Apart from adding some artistic conception to the photos, they had no practical use. Farther away is the calm lake, and even farther away are the mountains and trees on the other side, as well as the bustling crowds of people watching us from across the lake, but the distance is too far and we can no longer see clearly. Some smart people placed heart-shaped props by the lake, and then asked guests to take pictures with mirrors. Above is a living lake view, below is the reflection in the mirror. They say this is the "land of the sky" and it only costs 10 yuan. I thought this "Sky Realm" was too expensive, and I thought it was too cheap, so I didn't shoot it. Going deeper, there are no sidewalks anymore. There are a few inns in the innermost part. Cars can actually drive inside, probably by wading through the water. It is said that watching the sunset from here is very beautiful, but unfortunately it is still a long time before sunset, so we can only move forward with the imagination of the sunset.

It took a lot of effort to turn around, and we continued eastward to Lover's Beach. My father stopped the car to take a rest. There were people taking pictures with mirrors on the shore, but the prop was a wooden boat stranded on the shore. Unexpectedly, my father wanted to spend 10 yuan to take a photo of the four of us, but there were too many people in line, so he decided not to wait.

I have never been willing to take pictures, but with the guidance of Apple, I have become more active recently and take the initiative to pose funny. Probably because I wasn't confident enough about my appearance, so I showed up in weird poses to prove that I was at least an interesting person. Even so, I rarely look at my appearance after the photo is taken, as if not looking at it means the photo was not taken. I unconsciously blamed my dislike of taking pictures on my parents, but I was totally wrong. After thinking about it carefully, it turns out that my parents have always been willing to take photos. The dozen or so photo albums accumulated at home since childhood are the best proof. In their eyes, photos are more about memories and commemorations than sharing and showing off. This is the same as Apple, but I am the outsider. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I gradually realize what a wonderful experience it is to look through old photos from the past. Just like this time when I went home and opened my diary from the first grade of junior high school, I looked at the past through the eyes of the present. Sometimes I feel like I am reading a stranger's story, and sometimes I exclaim "Yes, this is me." When you think about it, you will think, why not take a few more photos? Isn’t writing a few more words now the best gift to your future self? Why didn’t I stick to keeping a diary in the first place?

We didn't take a group photo, but luckily we took a lot of photos of each other with our mobile phones. We continue west to Rigg Bay. The villages and towns are indeed much more prosperous, with all kinds of facilities for eating, drinking and entertainment, and the scenery is not to mention. Of course, people have to choose the place they think is the most beautiful, then surround it and build facilities, charge fees, create comfort and stimulate the economy, but there are always people who want to go to uninhabited places in the hope of discovering different beautiful scenery. I am willing to walk to places with fewer people, but I often give up after a short walk.

When we were walking on the Rigg Peninsula, it was getting dark, and the photos we took were not very good. The sun was behind the lake and had been blocked by the mountains. I thought it would be better to come here to watch the sunrise rather than the sunset. Goddess Bay is just on the opposite side of the lake. People on the opposite side should have just finished admiring the sunset and started the next stage of the journey with satisfaction. My father had a bad stomach, so Mama and I went to eat noodles first. Pingguo and I walked for a while longer, and then we met up with them. When we returned to the inn after dinner, it was completely dark. There were no street lights on the roadside. It was difficult to see the road in the distance clearly with the high beam and low beam. I simply closed my eyes while sitting in the passenger seat. There were cars coming from the opposite side, and my eyes were also hazy. The ground flickered.

DAY 02

Afraid that I would stay in bed as usual, my father specifically asked me to get up at 8 o'clock and gather together. But early the next morning, we woke up first. We ate steamed buns and porridge at the inn, which was similar to what we ate at home. After eating, we were ready to go to the pier to take a boat.

We first explored a nearby pier, but it was surrounded by a sea of ​​grass, not a good view. My parents didn’t plan to take a boat here, so we just asked someone to take a group photo of us at the pier, which made up for it. The regret of Lover's Beach. My parents said that they had been here once twenty years ago. They took a boat to an island in the center of the lake, took a circle and came back again. With the help of the map and strategy, I directed the car to go straight to Daluoshui Pier, planning to take them back to the old place.

Daluoshui is similar to Lige Bay, except that there are many busy boats going back and forth at the pier, which is full of smoke and smoke, and it lacks a bit of calm natural beauty. But it’s okay, one is for watching the lake, and this one is for taking the boat. Everyone performs their duties and fully meets our needs.

The boat is a pig trough boat, also known as a canoe, which is propelled by human power. It is named after it looks like a pig trough used by farmers to feed pigs. In this way, if my kitten's food bowl is placed on the water, it is also a cat trough. For the sake of environmental protection, the government stipulates that all ships with engines cannot enter the lake, which is a good thing. But it was a bit unbearable to watch the boatman carry twelve tourists in our boat to the center of the lake. I stretched out my hand to paddle the water, and was told by the boatman. Fortunately, the high shipping fee alleviated my embarrassment. The canoe was full of people, and everyone was wearing thick life jackets. The space on the boat became even more crowded. Without the artistic conception of rafting around, I had to turn my eyes to the color of the lake in the distance.

I happened to be reading "Walden". Thoreau almost used up two pages just to write about the color of the lake. Naturally, I don’t have his talent and knowledge. I only know that the lake water reflects the blue of the sky, and the waves are shimmering with white light. When we walk to the shallow water, we can see the green and gray colors of the lake bottom again. The green ones are the plants at the bottom of the lake, and the gray ones are An underground water outlet. When different colors staggered and merged, we arrived at the edge of the island.

We paid an extra 30 yuan, and the boatman took us around the island. The back of the island is the tip of the "Lake-cutting Knife". It is said that when the lake was shallow, Mosuo men and women would flow through the water, and Yunnan and Sichuan were married. There is probably a beautiful legend around every lake, especially in Yunnan, where different ethnic groups tell different but roughly the same legends. As a native of Yunnan, I am not interested in these things. I don’t mind listening to the stories told by the boatmen, but I am not willing to take the initiative to learn more. It dawned on me when I heard that the Mosuo people, like the Tibetans in my hometown of Shangri-La, believe in Tibetan Buddhism. It turned out that this was the reason for the prayer flags surrounding the island, and the inexplicable feeling of familiarity along the way was also explained.

Once on the island, I found more similarities. There is a temple on the island, complete with prayer wheels, Buddha statues, pagodas, and Buddhist incense. Of course, there is also a wishing forest for people to hang wishing cards. I don’t know if the forest is working, but the money has to be paid anyway. The boatman only gave us 20 minutes to play, but the island is small and 20 minutes is enough.

It was almost noon when we got on the boat and headed back. After landing, we ate ice noodles, Dandan noodles, shaved noodles, Chongqing noodles and Mosuo fried rice at a Chengdu snack bar, and then headed home. Halfway through, I switched to driving, and the rolling mountains and clouds kept intertwining. At first glance, the road in the distance seemed to have come to an end, but when you get closer and turn the corner, there will always be a new road. I was scolded by my father for driving too fast. I said a few words back, but there was no other words in the car after that.