Sep 19th
Today was all about mountain climbing – we drover over three big mountains and the roads were probably one of the worst on the Sichuan – Tibet Highway: It was so bumpy that I felt that my head was going to drop from my neck because of the bumps. And we reached the highest altitude weve been so far on this trip: over 5100 meter – this is the first time that I felt a little discomfort – the oxygen is at least 50% thinner than normal. The heartbeat was at around 90 which is not too bad at all – I am honestly quite proud of how my body reacts. Most of the day we were at over 4000 meter and I was totally ok.
After lunch and type repair in Zuogong, we left for Basu, on the way is the most difficult part of Sichuan-Tibet highway: The Nu River 72 turns. The road was not paved and extremely steep going down 2000 meter with 72 180-degree turns – this part is extremely famous and extremely dangerous, and extremely uncomfortable for people sitting in the car. Dongdala is extremely big so you dont really feel like on a mountain road since the road extends so far on the same direction. Before we reached the summit, the grassland was really lush, however, once we started descending, it became very dusty and dry. Most mountains were naked rocks and the entire valley looked like that for miles and miles.
The most beautiful view is right after the summit of Dongdala: the mountain peak looked absolutely phenomenal under the golden sunlight! I can only imagine how breathtaking it would be when its covered by snow in one month!!!
Finally arrived in Basu town after over 12-hour drive. We stayed at the government hotel which is the best in town (about 16 Euro per night) – well, at least its clean enough for me to be able to take a shower…