Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

”In ’Three Body,’ Luo Ji once described a dreamland to the United Nations.”

”There are several snow-capped mountains, very steep, like divine swords or the fangs of the earth.”

”These mountains, set against a blue sky, shimmer with a dazzling, silvery brightness...”

”The area below the snow mountains should not be cold... In front of the snow mountains lies a vast lake, its water a deeper blue than the sky, much like the eyes of someone you love...”

”Around the lake must be a forest and a prairie, ensure both forest and prairie are there, not just one... All of this must be in pristine, untouched ecology, so untouched that anyone who sees this place would imagine it never inhabited by humans.”

Li Younan was casually describing the plot of ’Three Body’ to Liu Li. Then Liu Li used her phone to find the original text and read it out to Li Younan. Liu Li set down her phone and said with a slight smile, ”Places like this probably only exist in Northern Europe in real life.”

Li Younan glanced at Liu Li. As the car turned the next bend, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

They saw what Li Younan had been longing for—Ranwu Lake.

Liu Li froze for a moment, gasping in disbelief, then looked at Li Younan—as soon as she had pointed out such a place was hard to find domestically, reality magically reflected the novel’s scene.

Ranwu Lake finally arrived.

Through the car window, they could already see the magnificent lake surface and the distant snow mountains.

Grassland and forest, white waterfowl, lakeshore, pebbled shoal, reflections of snow mountains, shadows of swaying trees.

Ranwu Lake is the largest lake in Tibet and the first lake encountered along route 318 after entering Tibet.

Arriving here also meant they had completed the crossing of the Great Hengduan Mountains.

The following route would navigate through the canyon formed by Nianqing Tanggula Mountain and the Himalayas, truly delving into the heart of Tibet.

Li Younan’s current thought was to find a suitable spot by the lake to start camping, no immediate plan for duration, staying until food runs out or they simply wish to leave.

Ranwu Lake spans 22 square kilometers, stretches twenty to thirty kilometers, offering vast areas to explore.

Li Younan drove on for a while, snow accumulating everywhere.

It’s worth noting that during this month, Ranwu Lake is quite prone to snowfall.

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

This check-in task was relatively challenging compared to his current assignments: [Take a photograph of Golden Mountain at sunrise by Ranwu Lake].

This task, again related to photography skills, was troublesome to quantify.

Li Younan pondered while driving, pondering the meaning of Golden Mountain at sunrise?

As the name implies, sunrise refers to sunlight shining, but what about Golden Mountain?

Li Younan looked through the car window, seeing eternal glaciers and snow-capped mountains on the opposite lakeshore.

Moments later, a thought emerged—perhaps Golden Mountain referred to ice mountains, but the task surely wouldn’t be that simple.

When the sunset melts into gold, or when morning or evening glow illuminates the ice mountains, perhaps that’s when one truly feels Golden Mountain.

If that’s the case, this task is indeed difficult to accomplish, requiring specific weather conditions.

Nevertheless, it coincided with Li Younan’s wish, as he planned to stay here for a while anyway.

His thoughts drifted back to Canada, where he also stayed by an icy lake, but compared to then, now conditions were much better—a fully-equipped RV, and a girl to chat with anytime.

However, deciding to stay meant following basic procedures, first being finding a suitable camping site.

The most fundamental condition: the RV needs to be accessible.

Ranwu Lake is over 20 kilometers long, and the shoreline distance is longer, with the entire lake’s surroundings spanning dozens of kilometers, all of which could be explored for a camping site.

Secondly, the scenery must be good enough, at least with a view of glaciers to capture Golden Mountain at sunrise promptly.

This shouldn’t be too much of a concern; such spots were generally found around Ranwu Lake.

Furthermore, it must be sufficiently safe.

Though a national road 318 runs nearby, it is entirely different from inland, hosting numerous wild animals.

Domestic wildlife is at minimum level 2 protection, while in Tibet it is likely to encounter level 1 protected animals.

Therefore, the hunting and self-protection mentality found in Canada is inappropriate, harming any wildlife is a serious matter.

Additionally, sudden snowstorms occur in this season, combining these factors is necessary to find an appropriate camping site.

Liuli naturally wouldn’t dispute any decision by Li Younan, not even needing consultation.

Li Younan drove along, searching continuously.

Truth be told, there are places near the roadside evidently used for camping.

But Li Younan wasn’t satisfied with those roadside spots; one reason was being too close to the road, disrupting the tranquil environment with traffic noise; furthermore, the landscape in those areas was relatively poor.

Numerous viewing platforms appeared along the way, but Li Younan didn’t stop, his car driving along the lake until they passed Lower Ranwu, reaching the heart of Middle Ranwu.

Patiently searching, after over two hours, relying on drone scouting, they located a small path.

The car passed through a patch of coniferous forest and arrived at the lakeside.

Li Younan got out of the car. Although several branches had scraped the car windows along the way, since the windows were sturdy and the entire vehicle was coated with explosion-proof paint, no scratches were left.

He carefully inspected the campsite once again—earlier it wasn’t very clear from the drone, but on actually arriving, it was even better than he imagined.

This spot is far from the main road, and requires passing through a small patch of dense forest, making it extremely tranquil.

The edge of the forest is a meadow, and beyond the meadow is a lake, with snow-covered mountains just across.

Standing here gives one the feeling of a secluded paradise, like the one Luo Ji temporarily lived in from the novel ”Three-Body Problem” come to life.

On the other side of the campsite is a hillside that can be climbed. It extends upwards into the forest, and faintly, the prayer flags of the Tibetan locals can be seen at the end of the slope, most likely a village of local residents.

Along the way, Li Younan saw several RV campsites and some places by the lake suitable for camping, but none were as good as this place.

Li Younan decided to stay here.

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

In such a place with an altitude close to 4,000 meters, where blizzards occasionally occur, the warmth inside the car becomes particularly important.

Although throughout the journey the diesel heater never failed, to be on the safe side, Li Younan still gave it a thorough check.

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

Before reaching Ranwu Lake, Li Younan had refueled, so fuel was sufficient, and considering just the heating, this diesel was enough for one to two months.

Li Younan inspected the heater’s ventilation ducts and combustion chamber to ensure there were no potential faults.

He also inventoried the food in the fridge again, which had its 40-liter cooler compartment fully stocked.

The ingredients bought when they left Chengdu had long been consumed. Currently, the fridge was stocked with yak meat and a small amount of pork bought at the last supply point, while the preservation compartment held broccoli, potatoes, and peppers—vegetables that store well.

These supplies were enough for about a week of meals, but not longer.

Besides, there was plenty of cooking oil and rice.

While Li Younan was busy with these tasks, Liu Li stood by curiously watching, though she couldn’t really help.

After checking everything, Li Younan then opened the solar panels on the car roof.

Since entering Tibet, the sunlight in these high-altitude regions was exceptionally strong, increasing the photovoltaic efficiency by at least 20% compared to lowland areas.

Li Younan checked the power center, which showed a charging power of nearly 3 kilowatts. Although not at full capacity, he was quite satisfied.

As long as it wasn’t cloudy, the power self-sufficiency could be achieved without even needing a gasoline generator.

During his previous short stay in a mountain valley near a hot spring, where the proximity to the county made resupply convenient, during the trip he mostly recharged in the county or at charging stations and hadn’t truly tested the solar panels and gasoline generator.

If he couldn’t catch the sight of Mount Golden immediately, staying here might take longer than expected, making power reserves particularly important.

After confirming all was well, Li Younan checked the network communication status.

Ranwu Lake isn’t an uninhabited area; the communication infrastructure here is well-developed. Though the signal isn’t as strong as in the eastern coastal areas, with Huawei’s 5G CPE, playing a game of League of Legends online is still easily manageable.

After completing all necessary checks, Li Younan began further setting up the camping site.

The RV had an awning above the living area door that could be pulled out.

He repositioned the vehicle with the door facing Ranwu Lake and then installed the robust awning, setting up protective wind curtains around it.

This way, once the living area door was opened, it connected directly to a tent-like enclosed space.

This space was about 6 square meters, visually extending the RV’s living area significantly.

However, right now this was just a tent. If they planned to stay more comfortably later, further improvements might be necessary...though today was definitely not feasible.

By now, it was well past mealtime.

Li Younan pulled out the external kitchen workbench next to the cabin door. With the cover of the awning, this originally outdoor kitchen instantly transformed into an indoor one.

Let’s temporarily name this setup the outer kitchen.

Compared to the cabin kitchen, the outer kitchen had a larger workspace.

The only downside was, there wasn’t an exhaust hood inside the tent.

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

With the day already advancing into evening, Li Younan planned to cook a good dinner in the outer kitchen, stay one night, and then explore the area on his little motorcycle the following day.

Li Younan opened the door and entered the RV where Liu Li had just finished her shower.

Since she couldn’t really help with anything, he hadn’t asked her to stay nearby.

At this point, Liu Li was toweling her hair: ”Are you all set over there?”

Li Younan nodded, went straight to the fridge, opened the cooler, selected a piece of yak meat along with some potatoes and peppers, and said with a smile, ”Let’s have a good dinner tonight, we’ll have spicy yak meat.”

By this time, dusk was approaching, the sun was setting, and the temperature had dropped suddenly.

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

Li Younan looked out the window; the clouds were gathering, showing signs of snow.