Kunming Highway, a popular self-driving tour route that has become popular in recent years. According to the explanation of Baidu Encyclopedia - " Kunming International Highway (Kunming - Bangkok Road) is 1,880 kilometers long and starts from the Kunming toll station at the entrance of the Kun (Ming) Yu (Xi) Expressway in the east and ends in Bangkok, Thailand. The entire line consists of the internal section of China, the Lao section and the Thai section. It was officially opened to traffic in December 2008. The Huishai Bridge connecting Laos Huishai and Thailand's Qingkong Bridge was officially opened on December 11, 2013. At this point, we set off from Kunming, Yunnan and finally arrived in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. The Kunman Grand Channel, which spans three countries and has a total length of more than 1,800 kilometers, is officially seamlessly connected to the entire line. "
No, on the map, the starting point of our trip, Jinghong and Chiang Mai, happened to be connected by this highway. Crossing the three countries of China, Laos and Thailand and traveling through the beautiful scenery of Southeast Asia will definitely be a journey that will remember for the rest of your life. Chery Tiggo 7, the first day of the tiger traveling in Southeast Asia, starts from the Kunman Highway.
The luck is unexpectedly good. Banna in late June is not so hot. Sleeping in Banna at 25℃ until it wakes up naturally will make people sigh at the beauty of life. Locals tell us that there is a lot of rain this year, and the heavy rain in recent days has also weakened the power of Banna's scorching sun, and the humidity is as high as ever. For friends from the Sichuan Basin, they adapt quickly. Students from the north always have to complain a few times.
After the brief departure ceremony, at less than 9 o'clock, our group and 7 cars set off in the morning sun. The convoy quickly drove onto the G8511 expressway, which is the Chinese section of the Mankun Highway. Like most self-driving tours, the itinerary on the first day is relatively compact. According to the plan, we need to start from Jinghong today, transit through Laos, and check in Thailand , Chiang Rai at night. I will roughly take a visual inspection on the map. The whole journey is about 600 kilometers. Considering that only China has highways, it takes about 7 hours to drive the convoy. With the passing and rest and meal time, 10 hours are completely enough. And after entering Thailand, the clock will automatically dial forward for an hour. If nothing unexpected happens, we can check into a Thai hotel at 18 o'clock. The night market food and beer barbecue are of course perfect.
However, writing often has its own writings, but the heavens are not as good as humans.
Although the Mankun Highway has been opened to traffic throughout the journey and is called a "beautiful highway" by many self-driving enthusiasts, we have underestimated another important evaluation of it online, "it is not smooth".
In this section from Jinghong to Mohan , almost half of the sections of the road are still under construction. Although basic highway traffic can be guaranteed, something will happen suddenly - the highway originally had a good isolation belt and closed, the road was suddenly closed in front. The one-way lane was added to a reverse lane and turned into two-way driving; the tunnel would occasionally encounter one-side construction, and it could only be released on one side. Fortunately, it is not the peak tourist season, otherwise it would be blocked until the end of the day. In addition, there are many large trucks on this road, and the lane is not wide, so veteran drivers also need to be very energetic. From the new high-level expressways that have been completed on both sides and have not yet been opened, it can be seen that governments at all levels attach importance to the Kunman Highway. As the main road for China to Southeast Asia, it has great potential in the future. This is the personal change brought to us by the "Belt and Road". It was noon to the
convoy arrived at the Mohan Port . Due to the effective logistics support, the relevant procedures and contact personnel were arranged in advance. After taking various photos at the port, the convoy successfully passed the test and entered Laos.
Lunch was eaten on the roadside less than 1km after the first border inspection in Laos. This Chinese restaurant specializing in Sichuan cuisine, I didn’t expect to eat the authentic pickled fish and braised pork trotters. After lunch, I was about to leave, and the sky got angry and a heavy rain suddenly came. Since the next section of Mankun Highway was not a highway, the entire dirt road was all the way, the leader decided to wait until the rain stopped before leaving.
Entering Laos requires two passes. The first is to check the passport and vehicle of the personnel. The driver must also apply for a temporary driver's license in Laos. The second is to pass the customs and the anti-malaria medicine will be issued. Although there are local Lao tour guides, it has been delayed to pass these two passes.
Tropical rain lasted only half an hour, and the sun came out and scorched the earth again.
At about 3 pm, we finally drove onto the Lao section of Kunman Highway. At this time, we were about 250KM away from the Thai-Laos border, and there was no highway throughout the journey. A rough calculation will take at least 5 hours. The team leader also realized the time issue and increased the speed. This also laid the groundwork for the subsequent episodes. According to local tour guide, the Lao section of Mankun Highway was built by China, Laos and Thailand, and each is responsible for about 80KM sections. The overall road conditions are similar to those of the domestic third-level highway. The
fleet maintained a speed of about 80 yards and was traveling through the mountainous areas of Laos. At this moment, I finally understood the meaning of "beautiful highway". The blue sky is dotted with clouds of different shapes, the rolling hills are full of vigorous plants, cattle and sheep are leisurely graze in the fields, scattered in thatched huts on the roadside, children are playing and women are working. There are almost no private cars here, and in fact even cars are rare. Motorcycles are the only modern object in this scroll. If a group of thatched huts are erected with traffic signs for students, this is the school; if the Red Cross sign is erected, it is the hospital. In short, driving on this road is like traveling to rural China in the 1990s. You can laugh at him for falling behind, but the smiles and peace on people's faces can easily touch the depths of your heart.
Just as we were immersed in this beautiful road, we suddenly remembered the tour guide's urgent reminder on the walkie-talkie, "big pits, big pits, slow down, slow down." The asphalt road that could already trot suddenly became a gravel road with dark pits without any signs. The car behind us who had no time to react could only brake, slow down, raise dust and dust, and bumpy and numb. I thought it was only a few hundred meters in this section, but I didn’t expect that in the following dozens of kilometers, such a sand pit road always suddenly appeared after a good road, so that some people in the convoy joked that "This is reminding the driver not to doze off"
If the first section of the road built in China, the sudden sand pit road is the biggest danger. The biggest danger in the subsequent roads built by Laos and Thailand comes from dark pits and many twists and turns.
Lao section of Mankun Highway has no viaduct or tunnel throughout the entire journey. It is built on the mountain. The continuous ups and downs and curves have a very high test for drivers and vehicles. There are very few roads that are more than 100 meters straight, almost all are continuous bends, and the angle and direction of the bends are very casual, and there is no pattern to follow, so they can only be judged by accumulation of experience. With the ups and downs of the mountains, our sight can often only judge the bend in front of us. There is almost no trace of the situation of the next bend. We can only make a judgment after turning it over. What’s even more hateful is that various large pits often appear on the road. Local tour guides say that this is called "fish pond" in the mouth of everyone. If you don’t pay attention, a fish pond can scrap your tires.
On a long downhill and bend section, one of the cars in the convoy was unfortunately caught. According to the driver's response, in order to avoid the big pit in the middle of the road, the right front tire unfortunately crushed a large stone on the side of the road. After two violent shaking, the tire pressure alarm is quickly displayed on the instrument panel.
In order to find a flat ground to change the tire, the convoy continued to drive forward for hundreds of meters, and there happened to be an observation deck. Everyone got off the car and changed their tires together. The boys gathered next to the car, holding the jack and busy getting the spare tires. The girls happily took selfies.
Although everyone doesn’t want to encounter this situation, this is the meaning of a self-driving tour. On the road, experience it, feel every moment with your heart, and share the joys and sorrows with everyone. Perhaps no one wanted to encounter this little episode at that time, but imagine that ten years later, our group of people gathered together to chat, and they would definitely remember the story of us changing tires under the beautiful sunset of Laos on Mankun Highway. Just like the principles of life, everyone hopes that everything will go smoothly, but in case of it, why not face it with a smile from another perspective.
It has passed 7 pm after changing the tires and getting back on the road. It is still 50 kilometers away from the Laotai border. In order to take care of vehicles using spare tires, the convoy can only slow down appropriately. After walking the 200-kilometer Mankun Highway, everyone was like a monk who had obtained the true scriptures and completed the last section with ease.
arrived in Thailand for border inspection, and the stars had already poked their heads out. When they looked at their phone, it was already past 9 o'clock! Don't worry, please turn the clock into Thai time, and an extra hour will be added to everyone's panic and relax a little. After passing the test, after having a simple dinner, we drove for more than an hour and finally arrived at the hotel before 11 o'clock in Thailand time.
Summary of the itinerary on the first day, Mankun Highway has beautiful scenery and is more risky, so you need to deal with it in advance, don’t speed too fast, and keep the distance between the fleet. Bring a walkie-talkie well, and the car in front must report the road conditions at any time so that the car behind can reflect it. Personal experience, it is best to drive with manual transmission on Mankun Highway. The high and low terrain is likely to be too fast for long downhill speeds. At this time, if there are opposite vehicles or hidden pits on the road, it is difficult to reflect. It is better to use manual transmission to limit the gear and speed.
Finally, I have to thank you for accompanying us through the Tiggo 7 . On this undulating and winding Mankun Highway, the dynamic performance of Tiggo 7 is fully demonstrated. The vehicle is very good in tracking, the steering wheel is very suitable, and the pointing is straightforward, which helps us avoid many fish pond traps. The vehicle chassis is very resiliently tuned, and the body is very compact when cornering, without the feeling of tail swing or dragging, which is also difficult to do in a sedan. The 1.5T engine is very powerful, with full loads of people's luggage and air conditioning on the entire journey. There is no problem with overtaking on the mountain roads.
The fleet will continue to drive in Thailand in the next few days. What interesting stories will happen in this foreign country with the most frequent appearance in the circle of friends?
If you love driving and claim to be an experienced driver, you must come to Mankun Highway once in your life. Whether it is the beautiful scenery or the mountain road, it is absolutely enjoyable!
