Tibet, here I come (24)——Coqin

2021.6.28-29

Today our route will take a turn. We will leave the Ngari-Dabei Line 317 National Highway and turn south to Cuoqin. After getting ready for Cuoqin. Walk along Zharinanmucuo and Dangrayongcuo, and then return to National Highway 317. The reason for walking like this is that in addition to the two lakes, I mainly want to walk a section of the Ali Middle Line. In Ali, we have taken the southern route and the northern route, which have good road conditions, but have not experienced the middle route yet. I heard that the middle lines are all unpaved roads, and there are even places where there is no road at all. You can only follow the ruts left by the car in front. Although our car is not an off-road vehicle, it has a fairly low chassis, four-wheel drive, and is in good condition, so it should be no problem to go for a short walk.

National Highway 216, which connects 317 Ngari North Line and 219 Ngari South Line, passes through Cuoqin from north to south, and the central line of Ngari passes through Cuoqin in the east-west direction. Regardless of whether you take the Ali Xiaobei Line or the Middle Line, Cuoqin is a must-pass, and its status is very important.

Cuoqin is an important node in the Ngari region

Today’s destination is Cuoqin County. Cuoqin County is located in the east of Ngari region. It is a bit like an enclave of Ali, except that it borders Ali Gaize County to the north. The other three sides are bordered by Shigatse Zhongba County to the west, Nagqu Nyima County and Shigatse City Angren County to the east. y13>, adjacent to Shigatse City Saga County in the south.

"Cuoqin" means "big lake" in Tibetan, and it is named because more than 10 kilometers east of the county is the third largest lake in Tibet, "Zharinanmucuo". The county seat of Cuoqin County is 4,700 meters above sea level.

At 8:15 in the morning, I left Gaizui and entered National Highway 216. I felt that this area was more populated and there were more pastures on both sides of the road.

The pasture beside National Highway 216

In addition to domestic animals on the pasture, there are still more wild animals. The cute Tibetan wild ass and the "white-butt" Tibetan gazelle accompany us all the way.

Cute Tibetan wild donkey

Tibetan gazelle with “white butt”

Wild animals accompanyaccompany us all the way

Pass by Dongcuo. Suddenly I saw the yaks grazing peacefully by the lake, reflected in the blue water of the sparkling water, beautiful! This is Ali, suddenly showing off another beautiful scene to give you a surprise.

dongcuo

There is no aesthetic fatigue. The snow-capped mountains at the end of the road and the snow at the bottom of the ravine are always fresh and beautiful in the eyes and deep in the heart.

Scenery on the road

It is still 50 kilometers away from Cuoqin and passes through Dawacuo. The lake appears in different colors and shades from different locations, and even the shapes of the waves are different. The Xiagangjiang Snow Mountains in the distance look like they are on the other side of the lake. The two small islands in the water are shaped like willow leaves, like a two-leaf boat swimming in the lake.

Dawacuo

Entering Cuoqin County, the road buildings are very new and the county government building is very impressive. Opposite the government building is the Cultural Square. It is surprisingly quiet here. There are only a few cars parked in the square in front of the county government building and no one is there. We parked here that night. In addition to us, there is also a bed truck with a Guangdong license plate. I went to the government building to fetch water at night. After fetching water twice, the person on duty closed the door. Fortunately, there is water in the public toilet in the Cultural Square opposite.

During the day the next day, we moved the car to the back of a secluded office building. This was the county government after all, and we had to cook and hang clothes, so it was better to keep a low profile.

Parking point on the evening of June 28 and 29, 2021, in front of the Coqin County Government Building

Parking spot during the day on June 29, 2021, behind Cuoqin County Government Building

The next day, we didn't leave. We rested in Cuoqin, washed clothes and other things.

Before entering Tibet, we took the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. During this period, the Chengdu epidemic prevention department sent text messages every day asking us to take the second shot. We originally wanted to talk about it after returning to Chengdu, but after calculating the time, we found that it might exceed the 56-day period after the first shot, so we decided to use the rest time in Cuoqin to get the second shot of the vaccine locally. This way you can play slowly and leisurely later.

Our first shot was a vaccine from Beijing Biotech, and the vaccines in the entire Tibet were from Beijing Sinovac. I asked the staff of Alibaba Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , and just to be sure, I also consulted experts from Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention. They all agreed that both vaccines are inactivated vaccines and are not mixed. No problem playing.

There is only one vaccination site in Tsoqin County, go there. Said it wouldn't start until 5:00 pm. Went again in the afternoon and waited in line for 20 minutes under the extremely hot sun. Except for us, they are all locals. The order was out of order from the beginning. I negotiated with the staff and was able to get in first. It’s not very regulated here, and most people don’t even wear masks. After the injection, they left directly. Only we took the initiative to observe for half an hour. When we got the first injection in Chengdu, we had to check the code and stay for observation after the injection, and we were not allowed to leave for less than half an hour. After the injection, tell us to come and get the vaccination certificate tomorrow. Of course we couldn't wait until the next day and went to the office to get a paper certificate. Tibet is still a bit far away. Vaccination information is not uploaded online, only paper certificates are available. As a result, we were still receiving text messages from Chengdu urging us to get the second shot.

Unexpectedly, we would get the second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine in Ali, Tibet.

Get the second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine in Ali Tsoqin County