Northern Tibet - Cocosily No Man's Land is undoubtedly one of the most attractive tourist areas in Tibet. The area there accounts for about a little more than 1/4 of the whole of Tibet. The northern Tibetan lake area is the most dense lake area in China, and because it is a self-flowing area, mostly saltwater lakes, lake color is different, deep and secretive. In addition, due to the sparsely populated no man's land, wildlife is very much, yellow sheep, antelope, cranes are extremely common, and if you are lucky, you can also see wild yak. The Elephant and Hsiung Kingdom was once prominent on the Tibetan Plateau, and its ruins are near Nyima in the center of the No Man's Land. At the same time, the religious practices here are quite different from the rest of Tibet due to the origin and preservation of the original Tibetan religion, Benjaminism. However, the traveling conditions here are also one of the toughest among all the tourist routes in Tibet, and there are just too many problems that you may encounter in the midst of the vast uninhabited area.
First of all, there is the problem of transportation
Undoubtedly, transportation is the first problem in no man's land. The Heihe Highway runs east to west across the southern part of northern Tibet, but there are no shuttles on this route, and although it is possible to hitchhike a bit of the Heihe Highway, it is obvious that such a skimming glance is just too little. So it's best to have your own car.
But even then, getting around in northern Tibet is still difficult, with the main problems coming from:
A. Difficulty in maintenance and refueling along the way, and zero possibility of moving around in a single vehicle
Except in the county towns and very few settlements, both of these are difficult to solve, especially in the large area north of the Heihe Highway. The few times we have gone to northern Tibet we have been accompanied by large trucks, most notably to carry fuel, in addition to our daily necessities.
Speaking of which, I still want to emphasize that, doing professional off-road activities, diesel engines in terms of safety (you can imagine a truck loaded with several gasoline barrels is almost a powder keg in motion) and performance are more than gasoline vehicles ---- Although there has been a controversy on this issue on our forums, and there is a greater difficulty in implementing it.
The roads in no man's land are all simple roads pressed out by the original wheels, the road condition is very poor, the fuel consumption is naturally high, coupled with the average altitude of the no man's land is relatively high (the average is around 4500-5000), it is about 50% to double the amount of fuel than the plains of the road surface.
B. Recognizing and choosing roads
There are no road signs in No Man's Land, of course, and with all sorts of simple roads, some even from the 1960s, it's far too easy to get lost. Even with detailed maps (and there are no detailed and effective maps for no-man's-land) and GPS, it's impossible to completely solve the problem, so be sure, be sure to have a herdsman or driver familiar with the local roads to show you the way.
Additionally, even so, one should be prepared materially and psychologically to get lost. So that there is no confusion should this happen.
C. Choice of Season
Certainly winter is not suitable for traveling to the uninhabited areas of northern Tibet, the day is too cold, and often snow, at every turn into snowstorms. In summer, it sometimes rains so much that all the easy paths become muddy, so spring and fall should be better seasons.
Special attention, in general, from mid-September, some of the higher altitudes in northern Tibet began to snow continuously, so in the fall when you go to pay close attention to the weather changes.
D. Communication
Except for long-distance phone calls to the county towns in northern Tibet, it is very difficult to communicate with the outside world, and I can't think of any more effective way to do so than using satellite phones. At the same time, in addition to daily communication and seeking rescue, using a satellite phone may also be convenient to check the relevant weather information, and at the same time on Sina.com and so on, so I think it is essential in the uninhabited areas.
Besides that, if the caravan is bigger or the number of people is more, you should prepare the car radio and walkie-talkie which can be connected to the network. And be careful not to fall too far between cars. I know that in Tibet, sometimes the cars sent out on the same day may differ by more than 200 kilometers at night.
On the preparation of supplies:
From the previous introduction, we should have been very clear, if we want to go to the uninhabited area of the preparation of supplies is undoubtedly extremely important, because generally go to the uninhabited area of the time is relatively long, we need all the living supplies, life-saving equipment should be brought together, fall out of what are unable to remedy.
The general travel equipment will not mention. Say a few more important ones.
A. Detailed maps. A sub-county map of Tibet from the China Map Publishing House is undoubtedly useful, and a more detailed map with latitude and longitude is undoubtedly a must; such a map should be available on a letter of introduction from a bureau and with a valid reason.
B. Satellite locator GPS. not only to have a detailed route preparation, the accuracy of the route during the trip is also very important. For general field activities, the GPS and laptop GIS system should be the ideal combination. Generally speaking, a generator is necessary for such activities, but the use of a laptop may still be limited.
Again, in no man's land, GPS is a must. Many of the newer GPSs allow you to put map data into the GPS, which can automatically record the path taken and work with the data on your computer.
C. Complete camping gear
In no-man's-land, a full set of camping gear is a must. One thing to say is that the temperature difference between day and night in no-man's land is relatively large. Especially in spring and fall, a normal tourist tent and sleeping bag will definitely not be enough. In addition, there are sometimes strong winds there at night, so put extra emphasis on the wind resistance of your tent.
D. Adequate Food and Drinking Water
Any attempt to replenish food supplies locally will be difficult once you are deep into the no-man's-land; after all, we can't always pin our hopes on the occasional herdsman to buy a goat to cook. It should therefore be taken into account to prepare almost all the food needed for the trip: some simple but nutritious food for breakfast and lunch, and generally speaking only for dinner the opportunity to build a fire to cook over. Backup food for possible delays, as well as fruit, must also be taken into account.
Unlike the imagination of many who have never been there, drinking water is a problem in northern Tibet, although there are many lakes. The lakes in northern Tibet are quite a lot of salt water lakes; some other lakes are not salty to drink, but the mineral content is very high, according to the local people say that drinking will be dumb or have many other problems. Of course flowing snow mountain melt water is no problem, but not all places in northern Tibet have snow mountains yet, so you should still consider a good solution for drinking water (including cooking, washing, etc.).
Routes for traveling in no man's land
Generally speaking, in the south, Bango County, Shenzha County, Selincuo (not far from the county seat of Shenzha County, the swamps are often large flocks of cranes), Nyima County, the sacred lake of the Church of Dangzhayongcuo, and the ruins of the Elephant and Hungry Kingdom are easy to get to.
From Nyima County to the north to the Jomo District and then east, about a day's drive can be to the Twin Lakes Office, this area is a very dense wildlife.
To here is basically the northernmost point of northern Tibet that can usually be reached.
From here, a few hundred kilometers to the north you can go over the junction of the Cocozily Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains into Xinjiang, and there are two such roads: one at the boundary of the Shuanghu Special Administrative Region, and one within the boundary of Nyima County. This area should be said to be completely virgin territory for tourism development. Even camel caravans seldom go there nowadays due to the difficult road. This is the core of the uninhabited area. About this road, because I have not fully traveled, I can say very little. It seems that I heard that an off-road vehicle club in Guangdong intended to go on this route this year, but in the end it didn't work out. I think the reason for this is that apart from the organization, the difficulty in supplying and rescuing is probably one of the main insurmountable factors.
In no man's land there are a few points to note, the original I may have nagged, say it again:
1. no man's land is one of the highest areas of Tibet, the average altitude of more than 4,500 meters, medical and health conditions are poor, not fully adapted to the plateau climate of the traveler is best to adapt to a few more days in Lhasa, really out of the ordinary can be a little save no;
3. Do not be too close to the wild movement, especially the wild cattle, in case you see, be sure to stay away from them.
In addition, the yellow sheep and Tibetan antelope have the habit of racing with cars. That atmosphere is very blood-curdling, but it's best to be careful and take it easy, it's easy to get into an accident.
4. There should be all kinds of competent people in the same person, especially vehicle maintenance, guide and doctor, in no man's land, want to get support from the outside can be too difficult.
5. But where no man's land, the environment itself must have been very fragile, must pay attention to environmental protection. Garbage is not decomposable dry to take away, decomposable buried on the spot.
6. Although it may be extremely expensive once it occurs, it is still necessary to contact the rescue thing. After all, the local government and the army is still more method.
About the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon:
The Grand Canyon is the last one or two years fired out of the hot spot. It's natural to say a few words about it briefly.
I personally do not support people to go to the Grand Canyon. The main reason is: the ecology of the Grand Canyon is actually very fragile. Generally speaking, the team to go in (single person to go is very difficult) must be cut down trees for food, to hunt and so on. The damage to the Grand Canyon is too severe.
And in fact, really into the Grand Canyon you will find that you can go to the place in addition to the boarding house in front of the government to take a picture on the outside of nothing. In actuality so many of the interesting places in Murdock are on that side of the McMahon line, and even if they weren't, a lot of them you wouldn't be able to go to at all due to being on the border or too hard to get to. You can't move anywhere in that place without military and labor support, and in reality even with support you wouldn't want to go anywhere, lol, it's too hard.
I always felt that travelers to the Grand Canyon were extreme curiosity hunters, not to mention.
In order to protect the environment of the Grand Canyon, I hope you will support my view that it is better not to travel to the Grand Canyon in the near future.
There are two more issues that I would like to talk about, which are actually rather trivial:
The first one is the issue of carrying a knife. Seems like there have been a lot of brothers concerned about knives. Definitely, controlled knives are not allowed on airplanes, even if the actual check-in is often problematic. A lot of sharp tools (including my ice axe, hand axe, etc.) I recommend that we take the mail method, in Tibet to buy a small Tibetan knife is also the case, Lhasa's post office comrades are generally more helpful, as long as you tell the truth and not too much, they will be more accommodating.
The other is the border certificate problem: in Tibet some border areas travel is required to apply for a border certificate, these areas include: Mutuo, Zhangmu, Everest (counting Tingri County), Pulan and so on. To say that recently in Lhasa to do the border permit has become very cumbersome. If you don't have a particularly convenient relationship, I recommend that you still do the border license in your own place.
At the end of this post, I have two more things to say.
Unlike what many of my brothers who don't know much about Tibet imagine, the legalized management of the Tibetan tourism system is actually quite sound. If you are traveling in Tibet during the travel and travel agencies have any disputes ---- this is really easier, after all, the quality of travel agencies in Tibet and the mainland can not compare ---- must come to the Tibet Autonomous Region Tourism Bureau to complain. I believe this is the best way for you to defend your legal rights.
The address of the Tibet Autonomous Region Tourism Bureau is: Lhasa, Garden Road. That's about 300 meters south of the bronze yak statue.
The specific department for resolving complaints is the Quality Inspection Institute of the Tourism Bureau: the phone number is 0891- 6834193.
Of course, I think the prerequisite for resolving the problem is a more complete contract between you and the travel agency. Indeed, traveling in Tibet should be careful to make a travel contract with the travel agency. If you can't, you have to trust the tourism bureau. As far as I know, the Quality Inspection Institute of the Tourism Bureau of the Autonomous Region is still quite fair in dealing with complaints and has a good reputation.
Attachments:
Attachment 1: Equipment list
Our equipment list
Clothing Gore-tex and ordinary tops, pants, hiking boots, hiking shoes, socks & back-up shirt, T-shirts, hats, gloves, thermal underwear, sweat underwear, T-shirts, T-shirts, field shirts, underwear, underwear, paper underpants, down jackets, sweaters, sweat pants
Daily large backpack and backpack cover (waterproof and anti-theft), small backpack, large and small army knife, watch, lighter, map, address book, one-inch and two-inch photos, information packet money, documents: ID card, passport (from Lhasa to sign Nepal is relatively easy), driver's license, photographic association's membership card or reporter's card (the local publicity of Tibet is still more cooperative, although now the fake reporter is full of flying), the border card 5 # flashlight, the flashlight, the flashlight, the flashlight, the flashlight, the flashlight, the flashlight, the flashlight. Border certificate 5 # flashlight, spare flashlight beads, flashlight, headlamp with needle and thread bag, small rope, towel soap toothpaste toothbrush comb hand towel, skin cream, shampoo, razor recorders, cassette tapes, recording line, wet wipes, shoe wax, pen and paper batteries & spare, sunglasses, rope cover, (drying shirt) rope (is Shan Shan with the rope, I found that indeed it is very useful) knife sharpening stone, laser pointer, set of head air pillow spare Food: chocolate, bagged coffee, compressed dry food, water bottle, binoculars, small locks (also brought by Shan and Cuizhu. We used them a lot! We used it a lot. I find it really convenient to travel with department stores and movers like the two of them!!!) Cell phone and charger, rechargeable batteries, (now many places in Tibet can only use analog network cell phone, and from next year, including the capital of Ali Shiquanhe, many places in Tibet will be able to use the digital network GSM cell phone) small gifts for the locals: pens, sugar, bears
Wilderness Emergency Kit, waterproof lighters, compasses, life-saving knives, ropes + safety locks, sharpening stone, multi-purpose hand axe, walkie-talkie
Wilderness emergency kit, spade, flashlight, fishhooks and fishing line (Oh, I really doubt the need to bring fishhooks and fishing line to Tibet, it seems that in most places in Tibet, using a basin and a stick to catch fish is already enough), hunting rifle, bullets, reflectors, whistles, nooses, candles, water purification, windscreen, insect repellent, car phone walkie-talkie, GPS
Wilderness emergency kit, camping aluminum foil, tents, ropes, pegs, sleeping bags, moisture-proof mattresses, air pillows safety pins, camping lamps, headlamps, camping bags, garbage bags, duct tape medicines: cooking supplies: generally in Tibet, pressure cookers and gasoline blowtorches are the most common cooking supplies, of course, mountaineering GASS stove is better
Photographic equipment
Information kits: Route schedules, information, photographs, address books, automobile atlas, photocopied maps/travel guides, airline schedules/banks/hotels directory, proof of affiliation (e.g., airlines, banks).
(Note, to discuss with your companions those belonging to the everyone and bring a copy of the can, do not bring heavy)
There are also some things that are needed on the road, but we are in Lhasa procurement: small packets of laundry detergent, shampoo, military kettle (can be separated as a pot to use the kind of), chopsticks (we have been all the way from the Cuizhu from our Cuizhu borrowed them from the restaurant where we ate. We borrowed them.)
Food: Salt, tea, chocolate, halogenated cooked food, liver, honey, chewing gum (for refreshment and brushing teeth when there is no water)
Attachment 2: Rental contract, this is the contract that we booked at that time, it may be a little useful to you. You may find it useful.
Party A: Cuizhu
Party B: Owner
1. Owner will provide an off-road vehicle in good condition and a driver
2. The cost will be XXXX yuan, including the use of the vehicle, gasoline, maintenance of the vehicle and the driver's remuneration
3. -Yamchoyong Lake -Jiangzi -Rikaze -Saga -Lazhi -Dingri -Everest Base Camp -Saga -Zhongba-Pulan-Zada-Shiquanhe-Ritu-Bangong Lake-Geji-Salt Lake -Changze-Tsoqin-Sangsang-Lhazê-Rhikaze-Lhasa, time*** 20 days;
5. Due to Party A's reasons for exceeding the contract time, the daily increase of 400 Yuan per day for exceeding the contract time due to Party B's reasons
6. 400 Yuan per day will be deducted from the total cost
7. Time delays due to vehicle damages and repairs can not be considered as Party A's reasons;
8. Delays due to force majeure can not be considered as the responsibility of the two parties
9. Matters that are not stipulated in the contract will be handled in accordance with Matters not stipulated in the contract shall be resolved through negotiation in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Tibet Autonomous Region Tourism Bureau on the management of tourist vehicles
10. Payment: RMB XXXX in advance, and the balance shall be paid upon returning to Lhasa to fulfill the contract.
Signature: Date:
There are a few points to note:
1. The payment in advance is usually about 25-30% of the total cost
2. To be honest, sometimes when you go to a place like Ali, it's hard to avoid damage and maintenance of the vehicle. It is better to be prepared for that.
3. The more detailed the contract, the better, the best even the attractions and what to do in case you do not get to the attractions are written in.
4. Generally speaking, if your car is damaged on the road for a long time, which is difficult to be repaired, the owner of the car (travel agency) is responsible for arranging another car to arrange for you to complete the trip. Of course, this is best written into the contract.
Annex 3: Food Preparation for Ali:
Generally speaking, it is not good to prepare food for Ali. There are some counties and districts along the way that have restaurants, but more places, such as the guest houses by the holy lakes of the sacred mountains, can only provide you with fires and stoves, and you need to cook by yourself, and there are also some places that can give you only hot water, and, of course, oh, there are also places that can't give you anything.
The following is basically in reference to is the list we prepared at that time, according to the amount of 20 days, I now re-do the number of adjustments: 10 pounds of carrots, cucumbers 20 pounds, 2 boxes of apples, watermelon, 3 bottles of curd, 10 bags of squash, a small number of compressed cookies, 20 bags of sakima, 10 cans of fish, 10 cans of canned meat, canned snow peppers 10 cans of canned vegetables, batteries, 2 boxes of mineral water, 120 (the return of the bought in Ali), instant noodles 2 boxes (the return trip to buy in Ali), 2 bags of milk powder, Dabai rabbit milk candy 6 bags, a number of chocolates (Shan Shan and Cuizhu itself have brought a lot of), a large Coke 1 box, 60 eggs, peaches, cigarettes, soybean milk powder 2 bags, ham and sausage 30, 2 bottles of condensed milk, salted duck eggs 2 0, big cake,
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