Day 10: we had a major change in our itinerary: after the physically exhausting trek through Yading Nature Reserve yesterday where the wife and son really struggled along the trail at 4,000m altitude, we dropped the second day visit to the reserve and proceeded to Litang county, known as the “City in the Sky” because of its average elevation of 4,000 meters. Along the 4 hour drive – and our driver had to drive slower because he was stopped and given a fine for speeding by going at 80km/h on a 60km/h road – we stopped by the Daocheng Yading Geological Park, and later Rabbit Mountain. The former is at elevation 4,100m and tundra-like in winter, with all of its lakes completely frozen and the land looking almost like an alien landscape. That is, until you see this video below with Peter waving and hopping at the drone, and then playing ice-ball with our guide on the frozen lake.
The stunning expanse aside from the general area, flying at 4,100m altitude and 2 degreeC with strong winds was really tough: I was completely hooded up triple layers, winter gloves, shivering in the cold, and the DJI Mini 4 Pro really protested at such extreme conditions!
Rabbit Mountain is so named because there is an unusual rock formation that resembles, well, rabbit ears. The altitude of this observation platform is past 4,600m. I tried taking the drone in a straight line path from the observation platform to get a close-up of the rock formation, but didn’t succeed: the distance from platform to the formation is a lot further and it looks – perhaps 4km? – and well exceeded the permitted flight height of 120m as well. The DJI Mini 4 Pro covered half the distance before I turned it around to abide by regulations, and also the battery consumption was at 50% already just to get there!
We reached Litang county at just past 5PM, checked-in, and headed out for a dinner involving Yak Butter Milk and Yak meat. Kids didn’t really take to it, and I found the taste of Yak meat not really that different from beef. So no, I don’t think we’re gonna want to try it again. LOL.
That’s a wrap for Day 10, though I might do a short post on our dinner-time visit to Letong Ancient Town. But first, to catch up on sleep as we’re checking out tomorrow morning and heading to Xinduqiao!