Self-driving trip from Chengdu to Qinghai Lake

Damn it! While crossing the Zoige grasslands, the speed limit was enforced the whole way, making me feel sleepy while driving. At this moment, the car was moving at less than 60 kilometers per hour, and the wind blew in through the open windows, bringing a chill with it. The sun in the rearview mirror was setting behind the mountains, casting a dazzling golden edge over the distant clouds.

"No, I need to take a break!" I signaled and slowed down, pulling over in front of a row of cars on the side of the road. Several people were standing by the roadside taking photos of the sunset, and a few tourists were riding horses on the nearby pasture. After getting out of the car, Zhang Erwa lit up a cigarette as usual, while I stared at two lazy Tibetan mastiffs by the roadside.

Tomorrow, we will arrive in Chengdu, and this journey will come to an end. Since leaving Xining, we have ignored all the tourist attractions, except for refueling and eating, and haven't made too many stops. After all, we have seen too many mountains, waters, clouds, grasslands, flocks of sheep, and yaks in the past few days. Almost the same scenery is hard to arouse our interest.

Departure

On the evening of October 1st, I started this journey with anticipation. Zhang Erwa said he caught a cold and couldn't go to the high altitude, but he could accompany me to Lanzhou, and then take the train back to Chengdu, while I went to Qinghai alone.

It was originally a lonely journey. I prepared 5500 yuan and stored it on three different bank cards in one in my wallet, one in my backpack, and one in the car toolbox, in case it was robbed or lost and fallen into an uncivilized situation. Due to the uncertainty during the National Day holiday, we might sleep in the car, so I placed a quilt in the car, and Zhang Erwa also brought one. Besides toiletries, I also brought a folding bicycle and a few pieces of clothing, without any extra belongings.

The planned route is to take the expressway on the outbound trip and the small road on the return trip. I dare not drive on small roads at night, but I like driving on the expressway at night: first, there are fewer cars, and second, it is easy to drive. You just need to choose a car that is traveling at a similar speed, maintain a safe distance, and follow its taillights and lane, then you can drive safely and comfortably. We departed from Chengdu at 10:30 pm, got stuck in traffic for an hour on the Jingkun Expressway, and only switched to the Lanhai Expressway at 1 am. We stopped at a service area on the expressway, added 100 yuan worth of fuel, and rested for a while. Many small cars were parked overnight at the service area. Through the misty glass, a driver who had not fallen asleep was playing with his phone. I washed my face, smoked a cigarette, and continued on the road. We planned to stay in Lanzhou on the night of the 2nd, so we must arrive in the territory of Longnan tonight.

Night in Longnan

After smoking my second cigarette, we arrived at the territory of Longnan at 4 am, and I didn't want to drive anymore, so I parked the car at the service area to spend the night. Perhaps because this service area is the midpoint between Lanzhou and Chongqing, there were many cars staying overnight, and it was overcrowded. Only the area next to the driving lane had some space left. I parked my car in front of a large truck, just in case any cars driving at night accidentally rushed into the service area, the truck could help me block them.

We only rested for four hours. Zhang Erwa made full use of these four hours and snored loudly. I probably slept for two hours. Firstly, it was noisy, secondly, there was light, and thirdly, I smoked two cigarettes while driving at night, so I couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

All along, I only considered cigarettes as a good medicine to refresh my mind, for example, when I had to work late at night and felt drowsy, smoking a cigarette would make me refreshed. So when driving long distances at night, I had to smoke one. Zhang Erwa had a habit of smoking. As soon as we stopped the car, he habitually lit up a cigarette.

I asked him if he was addicted. He replied:

"I smoke one when I'm bored, but I can also not smoke."

"Why smoke if there's nothing to do? Don't wait until you're addicted and find it hard to quit."