Chapter 5 3. Notes on the Qinghai-Tibet Line

On the vast plateau pastures, white sheep and black yaks are dotted on the green grassland like stars, which is a peaceful scenery of a paradise.People who have lived in the city for a long time, if they are lucky enough to be in such a wonderful oil painting of nature, what a pleasure it would be! After the bus left Golmud Station, it got on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway.The road condition of the Golmud section of the Qinghai-Tibet line is very good. The straight four-lane asphalt road is comparable to the expressways in the mainland. The road is lined with soft sandy soil.I think even a person who can't drive can just put his right foot on the accelerator at this time, and he can drive without touching the steering wheel at all.Our shuttle bus was driving fast on such a road. Outside the car window was the desolate Gobi scenery. There was no grass on the yellow-brown land, and there was not even a sign of life.Nature seems to be an outstanding sculptor, carving the land on both sides of the road into ravines.Farther away are the rolling hills, which have been weathered for a long time to form various jagged shapes, like two natural Great Walls, guarding the Qinghai-Tibet Highway.In the evening, the sun is still sufficient, illuminating the hinterland of the Kunlun Mountains golden, and against the blue sky and white clouds on the plateau, it presents a shocking desolation.Taking the opportunity of the driver to stop for a rest, I took out the camera and scanned the exciting scenery into the film in the camera.The car hurried on the road again.Maybe because it was an uphill road, the car was panting like an old cow. At this time, I already felt a little shortness of breath and a faster heartbeat.

Around dark, the car stopped in front of a restaurant and the driver went to pick up the tip.The tourists chatted or took pictures outside the restaurant.During the conversation, I found that there were several lone rangers like me in the same car; at the same time, I also met my first travel companion on this trip—Xiao Chu.Xiao Chu is from Wuxi University of Light Industry, a senior student studying decorative art.During the conversation, I found that he has a lot of research on thangka art and murals in Tibet, and they are quite close to each other, so they decided to travel together.After finishing the dinner, the driver began to greet everyone to get on the bus, and then the bus drove into the dark night in a hurry.The sky was pitch black and nothing could be seen through the car window, not even a star in the sky.Before I knew it, I felt a headache, a heartbeat, and it seemed that the altitude sickness had already possessed me like a devil...

Tanggula Mountain Pass Monument When the car stopped again, it was already twelve o'clock in the night.After waking up from a sleepy state, I found that I had a severe headache. We must have been in the high altitude area of ​​Kunlun Mountain Pass at this time, and many passengers around me were already inhaling oxygen.Although I was warned before departure, people from the plains, don't sleep when rushing into high altitudes, or you will easily sleep forever.But I was so sleepy that even a headache couldn't stop the sleep bug's bite, and I fell into a deep sleep again. I don't know when the bus left.When I regained consciousness again, it was broad daylight.My first feeling was a splitting headache, sore throat, stuffy nose, and chills all over my body.My God, this must be altitude sickness and a cold, it's over!I hurriedly asked the passengers around me, and found that my feeling was universal, and I felt a little comforted.It's just that the bus passed the famous Kunlun Mountain Pass and Tuotuo River without my knowing it, which is a bit regrettable.But from the moment I woke up, the strong altitude sickness became the first and closest travel companion of my trip to Tibet.The passenger car was still driving fast, but it was no longer on the asphalt road. The bad road made the passengers jump up from time to time.The scenery of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is full of vitality outside the car window, the gently rolling hills are glowing blue, sometimes dotted with white flocks; sometimes colorful wind horse flags can be seen.

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the bus arrived at the highest point on the Qinghai-Tibet line - Tanggula Pass.On the east side of the mountain pass is a soldier sculpture built to commemorate the completion of the Lanxila Optical Cable Project, and on the west side is a stone tablet engraved with "Tanggula Pass, 5,231 meters above sea level".After everyone excitedly took pictures here, the bus carried the people suffering from altitude sickness to the road again.This time it was all the way downhill, and the car sped along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway like flying with the help of inertia, leaving behind the scenery of snow-capped mountains and grasslands on both sides of the car window.The window quickly changed to the vast and lush plateau pastures in Anduo County. The green grasslands are dotted with white sheep and black yaks like stars. It is a peaceful scenery of a paradise.People who have lived in the city for a long time, if they are lucky enough to be in such a wonderful oil painting of nature, what a pleasure it would be!

Beautiful Anduo County Plateau Ranch Entering Damxung County when it was dark, the bus bumped in the dark and drove towards the destination with difficulty.Although nothing can be seen from the window, it is conceivable that the road conditions here must be terrible.Except for the driver who was still driving, the exhausted passengers all fell into a coma.Suddenly, the car body stopped after violent bumps and shakes. The awakened people asked each other what had happened, but the driver said loudly, "The car is stuck in the river, everyone, go down and push the car." At 1:30 in the middle of the night, the weather outside was extremely cold. All the passengers and I took off our shoes and entered the knee-deep and icy river barefoot. We all worked together to push the bus out of the mud.After experiencing this catastrophe, the bus finally sailed safely on the last journey of the Qinghai-Tibet line.

At 7:40 in the morning, after 44 hours of arduous travel, when Lhasa had not fully woke up from the dark night and was ready to welcome new guests, our bus had already arrived at the Lhasa Bus Station on Beijing Road. As someone who has been here, I would like to share some of my views with those friends who are interested in traveling to Tibet. There are currently four roads from the interior to Tibet: the Qinghai-Tibet line, the Sichuan-Tibet line, the Yunnan-Tibet line, and the Xinjiang-Tibet line.The total length of the Qinghai-Tibet line is about 1,200 kilometers, and it is relatively the best among the four roads; this is also the reason why most tourists choose this road.Many people think that people who enter Tibet for the first time can adapt to the high-altitude environment and enjoy the scenery of the plateau along the way, but this is not the case at all.First of all, the Qinghai-Tibet line is a difficult and long line. The road conditions of most sections are poor, and the food and accommodation conditions along the way are extremely limited, and the shuttle bus often runs day and night.From my experience, think about it, if you don’t eat very well, and you are suffering from altitude sickness in the bumpy day and night, how can you be in the mood to see any scenery.The highest point of the Qinghai-Tibet line is the Tanggula Pass, which is 5,231 meters above sea level, and there is a long section of it above 4,500 meters above sea level.Although the altitude drops rapidly after passing through the Tanggula Pass, after reaching Nagqu, the altitude rises to more than 4,000 meters.In such a high-altitude area, people who enter Tibet for the first time almost have altitude sickness, and many people have relatively strong symptoms.Interestingly, women have much less altitude sickness than men, possibly due to men's greater oxygen consumption.What's more troublesome is that there are basically no medical conditions on the Qinghai-Tibet line. If the altitude sickness is very severe and you catch a cold, it is easy to cause high-altitude pulmonary edema.Generally speaking, it will lead to death in about 24 hours.It usually takes 40-50 hours for a bus to go from Golmud to Lhasa on the Qinghai-Tibet line.Once the above situation occurs, the danger is self-evident.

Therefore, my suggestion is, if economic conditions permit, go to Tibet by plane as much as possible.Although the one-time cost is relatively large, after arriving in Lhasa, it can reduce the time for recovering physical strength and adapting to the plateau, and can save you a considerable amount of board and lodging expenses, and sometimes even medical expenses.Moreover, the scenery along the Qinghai-Tibet line is nothing special, and you can see similar scenery in future travels in Tibet.If you spend two days bouncing on the bus, I think you will have to spend several days recuperating after arriving in Lhasa, and you will feel powerless in the future journey.Of course, if you want to save money, it only costs 170 yuan to take the state-run sleeper bus from Golmud.There may be cheaper minibuses in the train station square, but I advise you not to take them, it is not safe.

In addition, if you want to take the bus to Lhasa, you must start taking cold medicine two days before the bus ride.At the same time, when taking the bus, you should bring enough warm clothes. The weather on the plateau is hot during the day and cold at night. This frequent temperature change can easily cause a cold.Also, in my experience, I often take a Golden Throat Lozenge or Watermelon Cream Lozenge in my mouth when I take the bus.Because the air on the plateau is extremely dry, it often causes throat inflammation, which is also an important cause of colds.Finally, when you encounter altitude sickness, you should keep calm and don't inhale oxygen lightly, otherwise it will slow down the body's process of adapting to the altitude.Those who are new to the plateau should prepare a bottle of "Xintongding". Take one tablet under the tongue at the critical moment, which can effectively slow down your symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure and asthma caused by hypoxia. This medicine has no side effects. You can take it with confidence.