The Third Qinghai-Tibet Loop Touring the Good Rivers and Mountains of the Motherland Day 26 Mangkang-Deqin Feilai Temple

Day 26

August 16, 2020
Departure place: Mangkang
Destination: Feilai Temple Alpine Villa Deqin Boutique Hotel, Deqin County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan
Main attractions: Mangkang Salt Well, National Highway 214 wild scenery, Lancang River wild scenery, Meili Snow Mountain
Height: The accommodation site is 3447 meters above sea level, and the highest point is 4448 meters above the Hongla Mountain pass.
Weather: Overcast to cloudy

Yesterday, we braved the heavy rain and arrived at Mangkang without any risk. It was exactly 8 o'clock in the evening. If it was a sunny day, the sun would not have set yet, but yesterday it was completely dark.

After we checked in, we went to a beef soup pot next to the hotel and had a delicious meal to comfort everyone's frightened hearts.

The hotel we stayed in last night is called Kangyuan Holiday Hotel. Although it looks a bit like a Holiday Inn, the decoration of this hotel is very unique, the facilities used are not cheap, and the rooms are spacious and clean.

Suddenly I remembered that I stayed at the Jintai Hotel diagonally opposite the hotel in July last year. The next morning, I stood at the door of the hotel and looked across the river across the river. Kangyuan Holiday Hotel was being renovated. At that time, I thought that this must be a knockoff, but I never thought that I actually stayed here last night.

Whether it is a copycat or not, as a consumer, we have no control over, but this hotel is indeed very good, and it is very reassuring and comfortable to stay in. It is worth recommending.

In the morning, we took the breakfast coupons given by the hotel and had breakfast at Longbaozi next door, and then set off for Feilai Temple.

Thinking about finally embarking on a road that I have never walked before, I feel a little excited.

This is our trajectory for the day

Jintaihe Holiday faces each other across the river

In the morning, I stood across the river from the hotel and looked across the river, but it was not the Jintai Hotel diagonally across the river.

Not long after leaving the hotel, we got on National Highway 214 and refueled at the first gas station we saw. This is a private gas station. Halfway through filling up, I suddenly realized that this gas station was more expensive than the most expensive gas station we had encountered in this industry. 92# oil was 7.39 yuan/liter and 95# oil was 7.99 yuan/liter. We decisively stopped filling up and paid. The money goes away quickly. After walking for an hour, we came to the blue circle. We decided to take a break and shoot some fun with the camera.

The most important reason for parking is this sign

We stood on the edge of the cliff and looked around in the woods, hoping to see Brother Monkey again. Unfortunately, after waiting for a long time, there was no sign of the monkey, so we had to take pictures of the nearby road.

By the way, I also took pictures of the valley in the distance.

After discovering that there was really nothing to do, we left in frustration. On the way, we saw many uniformly dressed men, women and children picking up garbage on the roadside. The garbage they picked up was sealed and placed on the roadside, waiting to be taken away. I really have to give them a thumbs up! At the same time, we must also condemn all those who litter! After walking for half an hour, we turned a corner and the Lancang River, which we had not seen overnight, appeared in front of us again.

It turns out that this is the famous Horseshoe Bay of Lancang River. This, this, this must be taken a look at!

We ran up and down the mountains here just to find the best viewing angle, but found that they were all the same, and we couldn't capture the feeling of Horseshoe Bay. I wanted to take out the plane, but it was too troublesome, so I decided not to do it.

The photographers were running around, having already forgotten the danger.

The scenery on the other side of the mountain is actually not bad either.

Everyone was so happy when they found a shrub bearing bright fruits.

I picked one myself and tasted it. Well, don’t tell me, it’s not very tasty. But I can’t say it’s not delicious. I pretended to enjoy it, but none of them tasted it.

There are also wild apricots here. I picked one and tasted it. Well, don’t tell me, it’s not very tasty. But I can’t say it’s not delicious. I pretended to enjoy it, but none of them tasted it.

We stayed for half an hour before leaving. After I got in the car and walked a few hundred meters, I found that I could get a better view of Horseshoe Bay from the roadside here, so I stopped the car again.

Everyone, hurry up and get busy

It's like this... only a little better than before

The second uncle is not satisfied with taking pictures with the camera, so he still has to take pictures with his mobile phone; taking pictures with his mobile phone vertically is not enough, so he has to take pictures horizontally; taking pictures horizontally is not enough, so he still has to take panoramic pictures

After taking the photo, continue to get in the car. But just after walking 2 or 3 kilometers, we found a viewing platform and we couldn't walk anymore. Anyway, today’s journey is not long. If you want to stop, we can stop.

Prayer flags flutter here, and prayers for human safety spread throughout the universe.

Looking at the Lancang River Gorge from here has a unique flavor.

I have long heard that the salt well in Mangkang is worth a visit, and we plan to visit it today. At 12 noon, we arrived at the blue circle and saw the mirror-like salt fields from a distance.

did you see it?

What, didn’t see it? Do you see it now?

Not far ahead, leave the 214 National Highway at the blue circle and enter the scenic spot ticket office. The ticket here is 90 yuan/person. After buying the tickets, continue along the special road until you reach the red circle, which is the scenic spot. The roads in the scenic area here are very dilapidated, so be careful when traveling by car

Let’s first scan these layers of salt fields.

Take a closer look at this unprecedented scene. At first I thought they used water from the Lancang River to dry the salt. Later, after asking the locals, I found out that they dug wells on the riverside and then pumped the well water to dry the salt. Even so, I think the Lancang River cannot escape the relationship. Who made them have the same skin color?

The old woman collecting salt grabbed a handful of salt and showed it to me. Salt is also the color of the Lancang River. I guess it must taste good

Some of the best photos I think I took

In the blink of an eye, several people ran into other people's salt fields.

How can I fall behind?

Ouch, there is a unique scenery under this salt field

My second uncle tasted the water droplets at the end of the crystal, and immediately his nose, eyes, beard and eyebrows all knitted together. I guess there's about a pound of salt hidden in that drop of water.

After leaving Yanjing, we did not return along the original road, but continued along the road along the Lancang River. The road condition on this road is far better than the way we came, it is all asphalt. Not long after walking, this road merged into the embrace of National Highway 214. Along the way, we didn’t see any ticket sales points. Well, if you read any information from it, it’s because you are too smart, and I didn’t mean to tell you anything.

Walking on this road, I was talking to the young photographer and said that we had not seen a half-fall or anything along the way. As soon as he finished speaking, he saw one hanging on the mountain in front of him on the right. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a power station facility. Who cares, this is half a waterfall, so we quickly got out of the car and took pictures

The car behind me must have found it difficult to understand why we even wanted to take this photo. This can be regarded as my wish coming true, thank God

The temperament of the Lancang River under the waterfall remains the same

Not long after leaving the salt well, we arrived at the Yunnan-Tibet border (blue circle)

tibet gate

We were hungry, so I told everyone that if we couldn’t find a restaurant within 15 minutes, we would eat self-heating meals. As a result, I had just walked for 15 minutes when I saw a small restaurant on the roadside.

The location of the small restaurant is very good. The house is built on the riverside. We sat down in the yard and enjoyed the scenery while waiting for the Naxi proprietress to cook for us.

After eating, we continued onward. Not long after walking, we stopped to take pictures again.

There are many such bridges on the Lancang River. Without these bridges, the living standards of the people on both sides of the strait would be greatly reduced.

There is a submarine hidden in the river

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we came to the turnoff to Yubeng Village. It is only 20 minutes away from our hotel at Feilai Temple. With enough time, we decided to go to Yubeng Village. Although I know that Yubeng Village is a holy place for hiking, I don’t know what kind of hiking method it is. You can always drive there by car, right?

There are abundant information instructions at the fork in the road.

Standing here, you can also see the spectacular scenery of Lancang River Canyon

Follow the fork road to Yubeng Village. The road condition is good. Although the road is not wide, it is basically asphalt.

Walking on this road, the Mingyong Glacier on the Prince Snow Mountain is dangling in front of you. Unfortunately, the clouds are so thick that there is no hope for Meili Snow Mountain (Kawagbo Peak).

When the car drove to the end of the road, there was a parking lot, but it was still quite far away from Yubeng Village. It turns out that the so-called hiking holy land really needs to be walked up. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time, so we had to stop here for a while and then return. It’s just that there’s not much scenery here, so I had to take pictures wildly towards the stream.

On the way back, we planned to stop whenever we encountered a scene

When we arrived, we saw a huge Horseshoe Bay on the Lancang River, but in order to leave enough time for Yubeng Village, we didn’t stop. Now on the way back, we naturally stopped to enjoy it without any worries.

Look, it looks like a perfect head of garlic

On the way back to the hotel, there was an observation deck of Mingyong Glacier. We stopped and took a look, but unfortunately we still couldn’t see anything.

The location of the hotel is very good, facing the Meili Snow Mountain. It is said that you can see the snow mountain from the bed in the room. But where are the snow mountains?