By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 255 This lake and this mountain are all mine!
In "The Three-Body Problem," Luo Ji once described a dreamland to the United Nations.

"These are several snow-capped mountains, very steep, like the long swords of gods or the fangs of the earth."

"These mountains, set against the blue sky, shimmered silver and were dazzling..."

"The area below the snow-capped mountains must not be cold... In front of the snow-capped mountains lies a vast lake, its water a deeper blue than the sky, just like the eyes of your beloved..."

"There must be a forest and a grassland around the lake. Note that there must be both forest and grassland, not just one... All of this must be in a pure and pristine state, so pristine that anyone who sees this place will imagine that no one has ever existed on Earth."

Li Younan was giving Liu Li a brief description of the plot of "The Three-Body Problem." Liu Li then found the original passage on her phone and read it aloud to Li Younan. Putting down her phone, Liu Li said with amusement, "This kind of place probably only exists in Northern Europe in reality."

Li Younan glanced at Liu Li, and as the car rounded the next bend, the view suddenly opened up.

The two of them then saw Ranwu Lake, which Li Younan had been longing to see.

Liu Li's expression froze for a moment, and she exclaimed in disbelief. Then she looked at Li Younan. She had just said that such a place was hard to find in China, but she never expected that she would have such a magical experience of reality coming into the plot of a novel.

We've finally arrived at Ranwu Lake.

Through the car window, you can already see the breathtaking lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Grasslands and forests, white waterfowl, lake shores, pebbles on shallow beaches, reflections of snow-capped mountains, and swaying tree shadows.

Ranwu Lake is the largest lake in central Tibet and the first lake encountered on the 318 National Highway after entering Tibet.

Arriving here also means that they have completed their crossing of the Great Transverse Section.

The route then winds through the grand canyon formed by the Nyainqêntanglha Mountains and the Himalayas, truly venturing deep into the heart of Tibet.

Li Younan's current idea is to find a suitable spot by the lake to start camping. He doesn't care how long he stays for now; he can stay until he runs out of food or decides he doesn't want to stay any longer.

Ranwu Lake covers an area of ​​22 square kilometers and is 20 to 30 kilometers long, offering a vast area for exploration.

Li Younan continued driving for a while, where there was snow everywhere.

It's worth mentioning that Ranwu Lake is very prone to snowfall this month.

After arriving near Ranwu Lake, Li Younan also received a check-in task.

This check-in task is one of the more difficult tasks Li Younan has received so far: [Please take a photo of the golden mountains bathed in sunlight on the shore of Ranwu Lake].

This task is another one related to photography skills, but quantifying it is quite troublesome.

As Li Younan drove, he pondered, "What does 'golden mountain under the sun' mean?"
As the name suggests, Rizhao means sunshine, so what about this Jinshan?
Li Younan looked out the car window and saw glaciers and snow-capped mountains that never melt on the opposite side of the lake.

A moment later, an idea came to him: perhaps the "golden mountain" here refers to an iceberg, but the mission certainly wouldn't be that simple.

Perhaps only when the setting sun melts into gold, and the evening or morning glow shines on that ice mountain, can one truly feel the presence of a golden mountain.

If that's the case, this task is really difficult to complete; it can only be done under specific weather conditions.

However, this suited Li Younan's wishes, since he planned to stay here for a while anyway.

His thoughts drifted back to his time in Canada, where he also lived by a frozen lake. However, compared to then, the conditions were much better now—a campervan fully equipped with all the amenities, and a girl he could chat with anytime.

However, once you've decided to stay, you still need to go through the basic procedures, the first of which is to find a suitable campsite.

The most basic requirement is that the RV must be able to get there.

Ranwu Lake is over 20 kilometers long, and the distance along the shore is even longer. The entire lake is several tens of kilometers in circumference, and you can try to find a campsite there.

Secondly, the scenery must be good enough, at least enough to see the glacier, so that you can take photos of the golden mountains bathed in sunlight.

There's not much to worry about in that regard; you can find such places almost everywhere around Ranwu Lake.

Besides these two points, sufficient security is also required.

Although National Highway 318 passes by Ranwu Lake, it is completely different from the inland areas and is home to a large number of wild animals.

Unlike abroad, in China, any wild animal must be at least a Class II protected animal. In Tibet, you could encounter a Class I protected animal at any time.

Therefore, the mindset of hunting for self-preservation in Canada is definitely not applicable; harming any wild animal is a very serious matter.

In addition, blizzards occur frequently during this season, so it's important to take both factors into account when finding a suitable campsite.

Liu Li naturally wouldn't have any objections to any of Li Younan's decisions; there was no need to even consult him about this matter.

Li Younan drove along the way, searching.

To be fair, there are some places along the roadside that are clearly used for camping.

However, Li Younan was not very satisfied with those roadside campsites. On the one hand, they were too close to the highway, and the passing cars would disrupt the tranquil environment; on the other hand, the scenery in those places was much worse in comparison.

There were many viewpoints along the way, but Li Younan did not stop. The car continued to drive along the lake until it passed Lower Ranwu and arrived in the heart of Middle Ranwu.

Li Younan searched patiently, and after more than two hours, he finally found a small path with the help of a drone.

After passing through a coniferous forest, the car arrived at the lakeside.

Li Younan got out of the car. Although many tree branches had scratched the car window along the way, the window was sturdy and the car was painted with explosion-proof paint, so no scratches were left.

He carefully inspected the campsite again—it wasn't very clear from the drone, but upon arrival, he found it to be even better than he had imagined.

This place is far from the main road and requires passing through a small patch of dense forest, making it extremely tranquil. At the edge of the forest lies a meadow, beyond which lies a lake, and across the lake, snow-capped mountains rise on the opposite shore.

Just standing here, you get the feeling that the idyllic paradise where Luo Ji stayed in "The Three-Body Problem" has come to life.

On the other side of the campsite is a hillside that can be climbed, which extends upwards into the forest. At the end of the hillside, you can vaguely see Tibetan prayer flags, which are probably the village of the local residents.

Along the way, Li Younan saw many RV campsites and some places to camp by the lake, but none of them were as good as this place.

Li Younan then decided to stay here.

Next, Li Younan carefully inspected the condition of the car.

In a place at an altitude of nearly 4 meters, where blizzards occur frequently, keeping the car warm becomes especially important.

Although the vehicle had never broken down along the way, Li Younan still carefully checked it over just in case.

The diesel fuel for the diesel heater can be supplied directly from the large fuel tank, so there is no need to worry about running out of diesel fuel.

Before arriving at Ranwu Lake, Li Younan had already refueled. Currently, there is enough fuel, and if only heating is considered, this amount of diesel is enough to last for one or two months.

Li Younan inspected the ventilation ducts and combustion chamber of the diesel heater and confirmed that there were no potential malfunctions.

I checked the food in the refrigerator again, and the 40-liter space in the refrigerator compartment is now completely full.

The ingredients I bought when I left Chengdu have long been used up. Now the refrigerator is filled with yak meat and a small amount of pork that I bought at the last supply point, while the crisper drawer contains vegetables that can be stored for a long time, such as broccoli, potatoes, and green peppers.

This food is enough to last for a week or two, but it won't be enough for longer.

Besides that, we have enough cooking oil and rice.

While Li Younan was busy with these things, Liu Li watched curiously from the side, unable to offer any help.

After checking all the areas that needed to be inspected, Li Younan turned on the solar photovoltaic panels on the roof of the car.

After entering Tibet, in this high-altitude region, the intensity of sunlight is extremely high, and the efficiency of photovoltaic power generation is at least 20% higher than in the plains.

Li Younan turned on the power control center, which displayed a charging power of nearly 3 kilowatts. Although it wasn't running at full power, he was still somewhat satisfied.

As long as it's not a cloudy day, it can achieve self-sufficiency in electricity without even needing a gasoline generator.

Previously, when I stayed at the entrance of a mountain valley near the hot spring, it was convenient to resupply since it was close to the county town. When traveling, I would usually fill up the battery in the county town or at a charging station. I had not yet really tested the solar photovoltaic panels and the gasoline generator.

If we don't get to see the sunrise over the mountains in the morning light, we might have to stay longer than we expect, making power reserves especially important.

After confirming that everything was in order, Li Younan checked the network communication status.

Ranwu Lake is not an isolated area; its communication infrastructure is very well-developed. Although the signal is not as strong as that of the eastern coastal areas, it is still more than enough to play League of Legends online thanks to Huawei's 5G CPE.

After checking everything that needed to be inspected, Li Younan began to further set up the campsite.

The RV has a canopy located above the living area door that can be pulled out.

Li Younan turned the car around so that the cabin door faced Ranwu Lake, then pulled out and installed the very sturdy sky canopy, and then put on the matching windproof curtain.

In this way, once the hatch of the living area is opened, it directly connects to a space similar to an enclosed tent.

This space is about 6 square meters, which visually extends the space of the RV.

However, it's just a tent for now. If we want to make it more comfortable, we might need to make some further improvements... But that's definitely not possible today.

We were so busy that it was well past lunchtime.

Li Younan pulled out the external kitchen worktable next to the cabin door, and with the cover of the canopy tent, the original outdoor kitchen was instantly transformed into an indoor kitchen.

Let's just call this kitchen inside the tent the "outer kitchen".

Compared to the kitchen inside the vehicle cabin, the external kitchen offers a larger operating space.

The only drawback is that there is no range hood inside the tent.

Fortunately, Li Younan had considered this when installing the canopy tent, so the kitchen was located on the side of the canopy tent with a small window that could be opened.

It was getting late, so Li Younan planned to cook a good dinner in the kitchen and stay overnight. He would then ride his little motorcycle around the neighborhood tomorrow.

Li Younan opened the cabin door and entered the RV. Liu Li had just finished taking a shower.

Since she couldn't be of much help, Li Younan didn't let her stay by his side.

Liu Li, while drying her hair, asked, "Is everything done over there?"

Li Younan nodded, walked straight to the refrigerator, opened the freezer compartment, selected a piece of yak meat, and took out some potatoes, green peppers and other ingredients. He smiled and said, "Let's make a good meal tonight. We'll have dry pot yak meat."

It was already close to evening, the sun had set, and the temperature had dropped considerably.

The AI ​​detected a drop in temperature and automatically activated the diesel heater.

Li Younan glanced out the window; dark clouds were gathering, and it looked like it was going to snow.

(End of this chapter)