Excerpt from the October 2021 issue of Auto Self-Driving Tour magazine
Written and photographed by Tai Mingshu
This route is a branch line of "one mistake and one mistake", the first half of the road along the north shore of the "Heavenly Lake" Namcuo lake, all the way can enjoy the blue lake water and Nianqing Tanggula snow mountain hugging each other on the plateau scenery; the second half is the naqu typical alpine grassland route, in addition to dirt roads, ruts also need to cross part of the swamp mushroom land, the rainy season is extremely risky, but you can feel the fun of The open-air hot springs in Tibet, you will also pass through a number of beautiful plateau lakes.
QiusenYe Hot Spring: Located in Nagqu Bangor County, Tibet, the wild hot spring is not found in written records, but is only circulated among local herders and a small number of self-driving off-road enthusiasts.
Autumn on the plateau is bright and clear, and under the blue sky, although the grass and trees are withered, it does not make people feel desolate. Greeted by golden sunshine, we set off from Lhasa on a road to explore wild hot springs.
The first stop of "one mistake and one mistake" is Namcuo, one of the three sacred lakes in Tibet. Driving around Namtso, most people will choose to enter the scenic spot from Dangxiong County, take the scenic road close to the east bank of Namcuo to enter Namcuo Township, but in order to meet with friends from the direction of Naqu, we went around a big circle, met at the exit of Tuanjie Township on National Highway 109, and then drove to the north bank of Namcuo together. Compared with the crowds of people in the Namtso Scenic Area, the Tashi Peninsula is shoulder to shoulder, and there are many fewer tourists walking on the north shore of Namcuo, and along the way, we have enjoyed countless landscapes and rivers.
In the early morning, a flock of rock pigeons flapping their wings flew overhead, waking us up from our dreams, and today's route is not simple, we must leave early. We left Namtsok and drove about 40 kilometers along the paved road to Bangor before leaving the lower road and heading straight for the wilderness hinterland. The surrounding landscape became magical, with huge stones like millstones stacked on the side of the road; grassless hills, exposed with blue-black sand and gravel, from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain, there were several deep ravines, as if Godzilla's claws had crossed. In fact, this is a water gully caused by heavy rain, because there is no vegetation cover, and every time it rains, it is very prone to geological disasters such as mudslides.
The grassland hinterland is where The Churchon Hot Springs are located, and the scale of the hot springs is as large as I was, the hot springs are located on a high ground, and the entire area of the spring beach is about the size of a football field, and it is completely impossible to put it all into the camera with a camera, and it looks like a broken wall of the ancient castle group, standing on a wide grassland. At the height of Quanhua Beach, there are scattered Quanhua pillars and Quanhua piles, and between each pillar, there are colorful prayer flags fluttering, which can't help but make people feel respectful, feeling that there is a bit of sacredness here.
Line trip
D1: Lhasa - Dangxiong - Tuanjie Township - Namtso North Shore Camp (450 km)
D2: Namco - Sacred Elephant Heavenly Gate - Baoji Township - Bangor Direction - Qiusen Hot Springs - Jiurucuo - Rencuo - Mugui - Shenza County (307 km)
Off-road considerations
1. Vehicle equipment: most of them are flat paved roads, but there are a large number of swamp meadows, water gutters and other roads within tens of kilometers close to the hot spring, which are extremely dangerous in the rainy season, try to choose the dry season to travel, it is best to drive an off-road vehicle with AT tires, carrying snow chains. Regardless of whether it is a bicycle or multiple vehicles, try to assemble more than two winchs, carry anti-skid plates, monkey climbing rods, shovels, water pants and other equipment.
2. There are mobile phone signals on 80% of the roads along the way, but some non-paved roads have no signals, and it is necessary to use trajectory navigation, it is best to carry satellite communication equipment such as satellite phones and Big Dipper boxes.
3. Along the way, you may encounter wild animals such as snow chickens, foxes, marmots, etc., please do not chase, touch or feed them.
4. If you choose to bathe in the hot spring, please do not use chemical products such as shampoo and do not pollute the water source.
If there are any omissions or mistakes, please do not hesitate to teach.
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