The Friendship Highway - Lhasa to Nepal

DAY 1:

Lhasa - Yamdrok-tso Lake - Gyantse

While we were in Lhasa, we spent a few days trying to find traveling partners for the trip to Nepal. We wanted 5 people as that would make the price much better - even if it meant being a little uncomfortable in the jeep. We left signs up at lots of the hotels around and just waited. Eventually, after one day of mad organizing, we had a group of 5 people - and the best part was that they were just as budget conscious as us!!

So on Mon, Oct 23rd we set out with our new friends - Chris (from Canada) and his girlfriend Emiko (from Japan), and Nils (from Germany). We had all checked out the car and the driver the night before and agreed that it was ok (who worries about bald tires anyway???). We were going in a slightly older jeep but figured it was best as it could just about accommodate 2 people in the front with the driver. Our driver's name was "Nima", which means "the sun" in Tibetan. Nils thought this was great as on his trip into Lhasa, he had a driver whose name meant "the moon"!!

Our first stop was the beautiful Yamdrok-tso Lake, which we viewed from the mountain pass of 4990m. The scenery was stunning, but the crowds of Tibetans flaunting their yaks or dogs to take photos of was a pain in the ass. Most of the dogs looked ridiculous, with fluffy collars standing out about 30cm from their heads. The yaks weren't much better, and only the crazy Chinese tourists were really making use of them.

Yamdrok-tso Lake is one of the three holiest lakes in Tibet, with pilgrims flocking here every summer to pray and receive blessings. Most Tibetan pilgrims believe that the water can make the old young again and make the children smarter.

Beautiful Yamdrok-tso...


After the lake-viewing, we snaked our way back down the mountain side and continued along the road towards Gyantse. We arrived in Gyantse at about 5pm and asked to go straight to see the Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1418 by the first Panchen Lama Reldrup. In the early 20th century, the town and monastery were attacked by British soldiers and you can still see some bullet holes today! The most famous part of the monastery is the kumbum, which is a multi-story Buddhist chapel kind of thing. There are supposedly only 3 kumbums in existence today and the biggest and best is this one we went to see.

The Kumbum with its 108 chapels on four floors


"The Eyes" at the Gyantse Kumbum in the Palcho Monastery


After a wander around the monastery for a few hours, we headed back to the town area and found some dinner and got to bed. It was getting really cold and everyone was starting to sniff! That night poor Martin couldn't sleep at all because the freezing cold air was affecting his lungs, and so I was up all night too worrying about him. Shame.


DAY 2:

Gyantse - Shigatse

After not too much sleep, everyone was just keen to get on the road and get to Shigatse... which we did. The journey only took about four hours, so when we arrived it was still quite early. Chris and Emiko decided to go and see the monastery there, which is supposed to be the main one for the Panchen Lamas. I stayed behind to nurse a poor sick Martin who huddled under the blankets in our freezing cold room! We had managed to find some flu medicine and vit c etc that morning, so we were doing the best we could.

That evening we had an interesting meal in a little Tibetan tea house. The whole area had a huge power cut so we had dinner by candlelight (so romantic!). I say interesting because Martin and I ordered stir fried veggies only to be handed a plate of deep fried onion pieces... mmmm.... The rest of the food was yummy though, and they had lots of hot tea which was great!


DAY 3:

Shigatse - Lhatse - Shegar

This morning we thought we'd be leaving around 9am (same as the day before), so went through the painful process of getting out of warm beds at about 8am - doesn't sound too early I know but believe me it was cold!! The only problem came later when we couldn't find our trusty driver Nima... apparently he hadn't slept at the hotel that night and was nowhere to be found! He sauntered in at about 11am, to find 5 grumpy looking faces waiting for him. We couldn't be angry at him for too long though because he was just always smiling and laughing at everything... plus our Tibetan and his English were about on par - not so good!

Off we set to make it to Lhatse for a late lunch break. I don't remember much about Lhatse except that it was a dirty dusty town filled with beggars. Heartbreaking but really difficult too, as some of them would just cling on to our clothes and walk half-way down the street just hanging on!


Traditional Tibetan doorway cover


From there we drove to Shegar... getting close to Everest Base Camp now! We found a cheap hotel and spent what was left of the sunlight wandering around the town. In the late afternoon we found ourselves in a little Tibetan tea house again, with the loveliest woman serving us sweet milk tea. She spoke very little English (only things like "milk tea", "noodle soup" etc) but we entertained her by using Chris' Tibetan phrase book. After a few hours we decided to have dinner there too and Martin got very excited about the idea of teaching her a little English from the book. Nobody knows why, but for some hilarious reason he picked "Do you get along with your family?", which our new friend took to be a very important phrase and set about learning it. It was so funny - she just repeated and repeated it until we all knew that it would be going round and round in our heads all night long!!

Tibetan costume (I love the jewelry!)



DAY 4:

Shegar - EBC - Rongbuk

Everest Base Camp day arrived!! We all got up really excited and went off in the jeep to get the permits and everything else we needed for the trip. The only problem I had was that I was now starting to feel really bad... the same stomach cramps from before (in Lhasa) were me plaguing again. Not sure where they came from (unless it was the rather cold and dodgy looking momo - Tibetan dumpling - I'd eaten the night before) but it was really painful.

From Shegar we drove to Rongbuk Monastery, which is the last stop before the trek to base camp. The drive was stunning... we were so high up that we could see the Himalayas right in front of us :0)

Not a bad view 'ey?


It was soooo cold when we arrived and the wind was icy. We decided to set off straight away on the trek, as we didn't know how long it would take and we wanted to arrive before dark. The plan was to walk there with minimal stuff, find a place to stay (our guide books told us we could sleep in a tent up there) and get some food.

Martin was worried about me and my cramps so sent me off in a jeep that was going up to the base camp with some other foreigners. I felt bad leaving the four of them behind, having to walk for a few hours at that altitude, but there was no way I'd make it feeling as bad as I did. As soon as I arrived all our plans went down the drain... base camp was deserted! The jeep driver explained to me in Chinese that everyone had left for the winter - it was too cold to be sleeping up there at this time of the year. Damn it!!!

As I'd arrived about 3 hours before the others I had to wait up there for them. It started out ok as there were other foreigners around and the sun was shining... but it soon got worse... the others took the jeep back down to Rongbuk Monastery and I was left all alone surrounded by the tallest mountains in the world... weirdly amazing but TOO cold! I sat beside the toilet block to try and get out of the wind and just prayed that they'd arrive sooner!! I lost all feeling in my feet and just sat huddled up with myself watching the crows trying to find food.

8848m high - Mt. Qomolangma (the Tibetan name for Mt. Everest)


After what felt like a decade, I saw two small shapes in the distance - Martin and Nils were the first to arrive. I had to give them the bad news that we wouldn't be staying there for the night and soon after that Martin and I left to trek down the mountain again. We didn't want to be caught out in the dark! We found Emiko and Chris further down the path and relayed the news. After about 2 hours of walking I could feel my feet again, but we were still far from the monastery... I was just dreaming of hot water and warm blankets! Suddenly we heard a jeep in the distance - it was Nima coming to rescue us!! Horray :) He drove back to pick up the others and then fetched us on the way through again. Hot instant noodles awaited us at the "hotel".

That night was terrible... we all slept in our clothes huddled up for warmth but still barely managed to sleep. I was in agony with my stomach cramps, but still refusing to take anti-biotics as I don't like just popping pills.


DAY 5:

Rongbuk - Old Tingri - Zhangmu (Nyalam)

Possibly the worst 'getting out of bed' moment ever! We all struggled to get ourselves into the jeep, but we're excited at the thought of going down in altitude. My tummy was just getting ridiculously painful and even after relenting to Martin and agreeing to take the antibiotics, I spent most of the trip down to Old Tingri in tears. What made matters way worse was the road... never before have I seen a bumpier, more-pot-hole-filled "road" - Africa has competition!! Even with a 4x4 it was agony in the car, it felt like being inside a washing machine!

In Old Tingri we stopped only for lunch, of which I managed about 2 mouthfulls of rice. I spent most of the time outside in the sunshine with Martin trying to make me feel better. I'm sure the altitude wasn't helping either!

From Old Tingri we drove to Zhangmu, the border town. This drive was wonderful... the scenery changed before our eyes from stark snowy landscape to green trees, waterfalls and valleys. Stunning. It felt so good to see trees again and to be able to breathe easily.

The border town nestled in the green mountains


We opted for a hotel right by the border, and said goodbye to our driver Nima. We thanked him for taking us all that way without a single burst tire :) That night we treated ourselves to a Western meal at a nice restaurant... but sadly, my stomach decided to reject the nice spaghetti bolognaise and I had to rush outside to throw up in the street. Nice.


DAY 6:

Zhangmu - Nepal

Border crossing day arrived and we got up early. Nils was so excited as he was heading straight to a river rafting spot in northern Nepal, but the rest of us were just happy to get over the border.

Goodbye Tibet!


After crossing out of Tibet, there's a 9km walk down the mountain to the Nepali border crossing. Martin and I decided to walk down and enjoy the sunshine, with Chris, Emiko and Nils taking our heavy backpacks with them in a taxi. It took us a few hours, and when we arrived we couldn't find the others!!! Had they crossed the border with our stuff? Were they eating lunch somewhere? Help! After a few arguments Martin and I decided to cross the border ourselves and try to find them on the other side. We finally found them eating curry in a little restaurant right by the visa office! Handy.

Hello Nepal!


Once we'd paid for and got our 2-month Nepali visas, we were off to find the bus. The four of us had decided to follow Nils in his white water rafting adventure at Borderlands Resort, a good introduction to Nepal we thought. We found a bus and first thing we're told is to get on the roof as it was full inside. Nice. The journey was scary though, Emiko and I just held on for dear life as the bus lurched down the mountainside on a single lane road. We had to duck often as the bus passed under electricity cables and I kept my eyes closed a lot of time when we had to screetch to a halt when another bus came in the other direction!!!

That night we lived in luxury, sleeping in fancy tents right by the river, eating delicious Nepali food and having our first hot shower in over a week!!! We'd decided not to go rafting as it was too expensive but stayed the next day to watch our friend Nils do it.

And that was our trip from Tibet to Nepal!

The Roof of the World - Tibet

LHASA:


We arrived in Lhasa on Thursday, Oct 12, after a wonderful journey on the new train. Lhasa lies at an altitude of 3650m, which means most people get altitude sickness when they arrive. We were lucky, because parts of the southern silk road are quite high too, so we managed to feel just about ok. We did nothing much for the first two days of being there anyway, just in case :)

Lhasa is a beautiful city, with an impressive heritage of thousands of years of mysterious and spiritual history. In the Tibetan language, Lhasa means "The Land of the Gods", and is the center of Tibet's politics, economy and culture. We stayed in Lhasa about 10 days, doing a few day trips here and there, but mostly just enjoying the Tibetan culture and the vibrancy of the city.

I managed to get really sick a few days after we arrived - not altitude sickness, but stomach cramps. It was awful, I could barely move from the pain. Martin had to take me to the local hospital, which was a treat in itself! The whole place looked deserted when we arrived, and it was only after about 20 minutes walking that we discovered other forms of life!! The halls of the part of the hospital that was being used were full of screaming patients, some hopping around with broken legs/ankles just waiting to be attended to. I don't remember that much of the hospital visit as I was in so much pain, but basically they did blood tests and checked my oxygen levels, blood pressure etc... and then after all that they weren't sure what was wrong. Eventually after about 4 different doctors checked my results, they came back and said that I have some form of gastroenteritis (like Martin and I had before in Taiwan) only this time I wasn't vomiting or having diarrhea. They put me on a course of antibiotics and painkillers and that was that (after giving me a painkiller injection in my ass!!).

In Lhasa there are many temples and monasteries to see, and we by no means saw them all. We spent some time enjoying the views of the Potala Palace, chief residence of the Dalai Lamas in the past. It's really impressive, but we didn't pay to go in as we were told it is rather over-run by Chinese police.

The Potala Palace.


The temple we enjoyed the most was the Jokhang Temple, spiritual heart of Lhasa and Tibet. It's located in the middle of Lhasa, at the Barkhor Square. The temple was constructed by King Songtsen Gampo starting in the year 639, and has remained a center of Buddhist pilgrimage for centuries.

We were determined to follow the pilgrims when we went there, so queued with them for over an hour to get into the main temple (other tourists push past and wave their entrance tickets to get in first!!). It was so interesting to see all the pilgrims walking the 'kora' (circumambulatory walk around the temple) and watch them in their daily devotions.

Pilgrims prostating themselves before the Jokhang


Barkhor Square facing the Jokhang Temple


On other days in Lhasa, we spent lots of time wandering the streets and bargaining for things at the Barkhor Market. I bought some lovely Tibetan jewelry and otherwise gazed wistfully at all the other divine things I wanted!! Being budget travellers we have to watch the pockets :)

Market stalls



NAMTSO LAKE:


Namtso Lake is the highest salt-water lake in the world, at 4718m. It's known as one of the most beautiful lakes in Tibet, and has been a popular pilgrimage destination for centuries.

We had to wait for 3 days before we were given the OK to go because at this time of year there's a lot of snow around and often the mountain passes are covered and cars can't cross. There's also the danger that we could get trapped at the lake for days, so a lot of tour operators won't do the trip. Luckly we were eventually told that we could go and our group of 11 people all squashed into the minivan excitedly! It's about 260km to the lake from Lhasa, and it gets colder all the way out. We all got out at the snowy pass (5190m) and were immediately struck by the cold. The wind was really strong too, so we only managed about 10 minutes up there, which was lucky as I was dizzy from the altitude as soon as I stepped out of the bus!

Our gang at the mountain pass before the lake - 5190m.


The lake was stunning, rimmed by snowy mountains and hills, and we spent a lovely 2 hours there enjoying the views. Martin even managed a toe-dipping session, but I was too chicken.

Beautiful Namtso ("Holy Lake" in Tibetan)



GANDEN MONASTERY:


Ganden is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, and lies on Wangbur mountain, about 50km from Lhasa. The monastery was almost completely destroyed during the Chinese 'liberation' of Tibet, but since the 1980s, a small part has been re-built and is in use today.

To get there via public transport, we had to queue up for the bus with the pilgrims at 6:30am. After about an hours drive, we arrived at the bottom of the mountain and were told that we had to walk the rest of the way up because there was construction work on the road. Yikes, at an elevation of about 4500m, its pretty hard to hike up mountains!! I had quite a bit of trouble getting up to the monastery, even falling over from dizziness at one point, but it was all worth it in the end. The monastery, although very dilapidated, is beautiful and the views are gorgeous.

Ganden Monastery


Yak-butter candles


Martin and I enjoyed walking around the monastery and the hills around it, even though I have now decided to never follow Martin down a mountain path... it doesn't lead to good things!!!

Pictures from around China Part II

Horray for an internet cafe that allows us to access our memory card. Enjoy!

Luxury in the Hyatt Hotel, Xi'an. Happy Birthday to us!!


Resting amid the flowers after a walk in high altitude at Mati Si, Zhangye.


Martin sleeping with the local migrants during a bus journey somewhere along the northern silk road.


Kate showing how huge the fort walls are in Jiayuguan. (In the desert somewhere)


Showing off our new, sexy "thermal" underwear for winter in Jingtieshan.


The Magao Grottoes in Dunhuang.


Martin enjoying his yoghurt at the Ya Dan Landforms, just outside Dunhuang.


Sandy fun!


The "cresent moon" part of Kanas Lake.


Beautiful Kanas Lake from above.


The scary sanitary conditions we put up with while travelling...


Playing with colours on the camera...


Me showing off stunning Karakul Lake!


Us with our new friend Ally, scaring the locals by lying on the road in Ruoqiang.


Standing at 5190m high in Tibet, Namtso Lake in the background!!

Traversing the Southern Silk Road.

KASHGAR

Martin and I left Kashgar on Friday morning, heading for Hotan. We had a fairly nice day bumping around in the bus and reading our books. The only problem came after about 4 hours of driving when the driver suddenly switched on the tv, and played the most awful movie ever. The volume was so loud I suspected all the passengers would forevermore have hearing problems, and the acting and filming was atrocious. I mean seriously bad. At one stage, the heroine of the movie gets angry with an old man and bites his neck, the camera slowly moves onto her face afterwards and she is covered with tomato-sauce-looking-blood which is drawn in a perfect circle around her mouth. Bad.

HOTAN

Once in Hotan, we found a decent-ish hotel, with 2 beds lining one side of the wall. The room had a kettle (a first for us), a tv that didn't work, and a strange odour. There was no bathroom for women on our floor, so I just used what was available and scared a fair few men.

We spent the afternoon trying to get a bus ticket to Qiemo, which, according to our guide, is a 48 hour drive of hell. The ladies in the ticket office of the bus station when we arrived were SO unhelpful that we almost gave up. But eventually some kind man took pity on us and explained that we needed to go to the East Bus Station (You'd think that would have been pretty easy for one of the ladies to say to us wouldn't you???). Once at the east bus station, getting a ticket was easy peasy. The kind lady there even explained to us how to take the local bus in town to a nice hotel. Sweet.

The next morning we took a taxi to the bus station (we didn't get out of bed early enough for the bus! oops) and got on the sleeper bus ready for the long trip. We met a new friend that day, Ally from Scotland. He is travelling for a month from Kazakhstan to Beijing, and is just great. We're going all the way to Lhasa together.

The road from Hotan to Qiemo looks like this pretty much all the way


QIEMO

The drive to Qiemo was quite bizarre. We, of course, were ready for a 48 hour marathon, but after only 10 hours we arrived!!! What was going on?? We were totally confused, thinking we'd only stopped for a pee break, and I had to ask about 6 different people before we believed them.

So while we tried to get past the wierd feeling of arriving at our destination about 38 hours before we thought we'd arrive, we ate some supper. It was rather strange: a huge bowl of fried-ish cabbage with some transparent noodles thrown in, and rice. After supper we had to take a taxi into the town area, about a 10 minute ride, and there we found a great 3-bed room with a bathroom (a luxury Martin and I haven't experienced for months!!). By this time it was about 1:30am, and all I could do was have a shower and crawl into bed.

The next morning pretty much followed the same routine as the days before and the days to come... wake up, force body out of bed, scramble to throw everything into bag, make way to bus station, get on bus.

RUOQIANG

The bus to Ruoqiang was uneventful, it took only about 6 hours, and I spent the entire time reading my new book that I borrowed from Ally ("The Time-Traveller's Wife"), a good one.

We arrived pretty early in the afternoon, so had a nice day to wander around and enjoy the little village. We first found a place to sleep: we managed to wheedle with a dodgy hotel man and arrange to sleep in a 2-bed room even though we are 3 people, thus getting a bathroom in our room for the same price as a dorm. The bathroom was ok, but stank of musty towels and other indescribable odours! Oh well.

That afternoon we wandered through cotton and corn fields enjoying the sunshine. We met a lovely Uighur family picking apples, so stopped to chat with them. They gave us handfuls of apples to take with us, and we spoke with them as best we could in broken Chinese, Uighur and hand movements! Later we bought a watermelon and the boys shared many of their pieces with a local donkey.

Road lined with trees in Ruoqiang.


That night was a terrible one... I don't know what I'd eaten that was so bad but I was as sick as a dog. I won't go into detail but it basically included lots of diarrhea and throwing up! Lovely. So when 6am came around and it was time for the guys to get up I was grateful to at least have someone to talk to. By this time I was feeling marginally better, but not really looking forward to the day of driving again.

We got to the bus station just before 8am, which was when we were told the bus would leave, only to discover that there was no bus, it was a 4x4, and that it only left after 10am. Great. Martin and Ally then went to find us some breakfast, only dry bread for me, and we waited around for this 4x4. At 10am we were duly seated inside with our new friend who was travelling the same way - a lovely lady from Taiwan!! Great to have that connection again, and Martin and I positively piled her with questions about the country that we miss so much.

Typical Uighur bread that we ate that morning


Waiting seemed to be the name of the game however, and we had to wait for another 2 or more hours before the car left. By this time the taxi man had managed to fill the car with 2 more people (squashed in the back with the luggage). We were getting angry from having to wait so long, and even more so because we weren't sure if the price we were paying for the ticket was the same as what the local people were paying. When we finally drove out of the bus station, we only got 100m down the road when the driver stopped again to squash even more people in! So sneaky, because this way the bus station sees none of it, and the driver gets cash straight into his own pocket! Grrrr....

Luckily, what made up for the annoying driver and his money-making schemes was the drive to Shimianquan... it was gorgeous, absolutely breath-taking mountains all around us and in the distance.

SHIMIANQUAN

As we drove into Shimianquan, all we saw was dust. Dust in the air, dust on the groud... we'd driven into dust-ville. We figured it was some kind of mine, and it was only a few days later when we looked it up on the internet that we realised it was an asbestos mine. Scary stuff, I can't bear to imagine what those people's lungs look like!

Asbestos mining


Our Taiwanese friend helped us find the cheapest bed in town - only Y10. For this price we got a lumpy bed (Martin's was damp!), a tap in the corridor outside where we could brush our teeth, and NO toilet. I shall repeat that, no toilet. We simply were told to find a spot outside and avoid the crazy dog chained up near the back door. Pleasant.

That evening we went on a mission to help Ally buy a jacket (he was wandering around in only a t-shirt while Martin and I were dressed in about 4 layers!) and after that had some supper. We ate a scrummy meal of aubergines and mutton, and played with the restaurant owner's little puppy.

The next morning was sooo cold! We had no time for breakfast, but had to rush to clamber into a local bus with loads of other people making the 1 hour journey to Huatugou.

The road our bus took to Huatugou


HUATUGOU

We arrived in this little town merely to buy a sleeper bus ticket to Golmud, and a few more journey snacks. We managed to find an internet cafe there and some food (lovely dumplings) and that was about it. Our sleeper bus left at 3pm, and we were told we'd arrive in Golmud at about 6am the next day.

The bus was ok, slightly different to other sleeper buses we've been on as it had a 5 bed area at the back where everyone gets to squash together like sardines. And it was just our lucky day... we were in the back there, along with our Taiwanese friend, and Smelly Man. Poor Martin was in the middle, sandwiched between Smelly Man and me, while Ally and the Taiwanese lady were lucky enough to be on either edge beside the windows. Windows are a miracle in these buses as the men usually chain smoke the entire time and its the only way to get any breathable air.

Sleeper bus beds


This journey was, in a nutshell, a nightmare. The men really did chain smoke almost the entire way - filling the whole bus with their cancerous air. The crazy bus driver obviously had strange ideas about how often humans need to pee... he even refused to stop when Ally begged him!! Only when Ally asked a second time and wouldn't give up did he pull the bus over... and then every single passenger got out with sighs of relief!!!

That night I don't think any of us slept very much, the road was extreemly bumpy and there were many unpleasant smells wafting around. I kept needing the toilet and of course, had to wait hours before I could relieve myself. When we finally arrived in Golmud at about 4:30am, we were all just ready for a bed and sleep. Our Taiwanese friend (what a star!) helped us find a cheap hotel and we all crashed.

GOLMUD

City street


We only stayed in Golmud for one day, but managed to pack so much into that day!! It was our mission to get a train ticket on the new Qinghai-Tibet railway line, with or without a permit. Martin and I were looking for the cheapest possible way in to Tibet basically. The "legal" route is to pay a ridiculous price for a tour (about Y1700) and go from Golmud to Lhasa by bus. You can also bribe the bus drivers to take you illegally, and that would cost about Y800. We'd read on an official website that the actual permit for the train from Golmud was only Y400, so decided to try and find that if we could, because if we added the price of the permit to the price of the train ticket (Y143) it would still work out cheaper - plus we'd get to go and the super new cool train over elevations of 5000m!!! We spent the day taking a bus here, a taxi there, all around town to various travel agencies and permit issuing offices. It was tedious.

We were eventually told that there was no possible way we could get this permit without paying for a tour - which we were adamant not to do. Instead, we decided to ask our Taiwanese friend to buy the train ticket for us (she could buy it safely because she looks Chinese and its only foreigners who need a permit before buying a ticket). That evening she came back with a massive grin on her face - we all had tickets to Lhasa for the next day!!! A miracle!

That night we didn't sleep much, mostly out of excitement and anticipation I think (we were nervous we'd get asked for our permit once on the train), but it was still difficult to get out of bed in the morning... we've had over a week of just sleeping and taking buses - exhausting!!

When we arrived at the train station, we kept our heads down and didn't talk much - trying to attract as little attention as possible. We got through the first ticket check... then the second... then the third. Nobody even blinked an eye! So we officially got into Tibet for Y143 each (about Y1557 less than we thought we'd have to pay!)

The new Qinghai-Tibet Train


The train was awesome, I think the one we were on was coming from Xi'an, but its the Golmud-to-Lhasa section that offers the most breath-taking scenery apparently. We had some serious record-breakers along the way: the world's highest passenger railroad (at Tanggula Pass - elevation: 5072m) and the world's highest railroad tunnel (Fenghuoshan - elevation: 4905m). Over 80% of the journey is at altitudes above 3900m, and half the track was laid atop permafrost.

Inside the train was cool, we only paid for hard seats as the 14hour journey is during the day, but we had a sneaky peak at the sleeper carriages and they were stunning. Every seat and bed has oxygen available to use... we asked for it in the middle of the day because we stopped for over an hour at about 4500m high to let other trains pass, and they brought us a clear plastic tube (like those you see in hospitals) which you put in your nose and they connect to an oxygen port underneath the seat. Nice.

So now we're in Lhasa, trying to acclimatise to the altitude here (3700m) by drinking loads of water and just resting. I need to catch up so much sleep after our marathon journey getting here!!

Kashgar to Tashkurgan and back again.

Today we arrived back in Kashgar after a wonderful 3 days of no showers, no clean clothes but the most beautiful scenery I think I've ever seen.

We'd arrived in Kashgar last Saturday, perfect timing to go and see the famous Sunday Market (where about 50,000 people come to buy and sell their goods) the next day. This we did, and were amazed!! It's a huge market stretching though various buildings and streets and full of local Uighurs selling everything from animals to car parts to silk scarves. We spent about 5 hours there just wandering around and taking photos.

Nuts and spices...


Colourful material is sold all over the market.


After our people-watching-filled day we headed to the 'Pakistani Restaurant', which is near our hotel, for a delicious dinner of curry, yoghurt, chapaties and sweet tea. Yum.

On Monday morning we were off to the bus station to take the bus along the Karakorum Highway to Tashkurgan. Tashkurgan is the last town on the Chinese side of the border with Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan. We didn't make it all the way to the border but the drive to Tashkurgan was gorgeous. It took about 6 hours, driving through stunning mountains that varied from sandy hills, to red/orangy rocks to snow-capped peaks. The road is at an elevation of about 3600m, but we managed to avoid getting altitude sickness along the way. The tallest mountain we passed is called Mount Muztagata ("Father of Ice Mountains") at about 7500m.

The village of Tashkurgan is full of mainly Kygyz and Tajik people. They look quite different from the Uighurs we've been seeing lately, and the women all walk around with caps on their heads covered with bright red/pink veils. We spent a few agonising hours trying to find a place to sleep... we managed to come here just as China is having a public holiday so all the hotel were filled, or just not letting us stay there. Eventually, after some haggling and rudeness, we found a bed to sleep in. Yes, just the one single bed. Our tiny room had no door (just a piece of wood that you could barely pull across the entrance), no light and no mattress on the bed (just a sheet underneath and a duvet to cover us). Horray for budget hotels!!

Tajik woman


That afternoon we spent wandering the village and chatting to our new friend, Mariavittoria (I think that's how you'd spell it). She is an Italian woman in her fifties who is now retired and spends about 4 months every year travelling various parts of the world. She's great, has lots of stories to tell and lots of advice as she's travelled all around Asia many times. We also visited the 'Stone City', which is a large, mud-brick fort first built around AD520ish, and from which you can see the yurt-dotted grasslands and mountains beyond. We ate dinner that evening at a local Uighur restaurant. Well, we think it was Uighur as they sold mainly 'laghman' - hand-made pulled noodles with onions, peppers, and meat etc. We ate laghman, some muttom kebabs and the most delicious lamb dumplings in a vinegary sauce!! Mmmmm...

A street in Tashkurgan


That night will not be remembered as one where we slept well... neither of us could move, and the bed was so hard and uncomfortable that we just lay there all night pretending to sleep. Luckily this meant that getting up in the morning to catch the early bus to Karakul Lake was not such a problem. We met Mariavittoria there, and all three of us squabbled with the locals for the best seats on the bus! The drive to Karakul Lake took about 2.5 hours, and I spent most of that time with my face pressed against the window enjoying the views.



Once at the lake, we avoided the 50Y entrance fee, fake concrete yurts and the hotel, and instead walked an extra 1km to a place where the fence stopped. We walked into the lake area and found a lovely Kyrgyz woman who offered us her yurt for the night. Perfect! We stayed the night for Y20 each, and paid an extra Y10 for dinner. Her yurt was lovely, inside was neat and everything had its own place. The floor was covered in lots of colourful carpets that the women make (I wish I could buy one to bring home!) and other than that it housed a small woodstove and the space to sleep.

Typical Kyrgyz yurt


As we'd arrived quite early in the day (about 11am Beijing time, which means about 9am Xinjiang province time) we had the whole day to spend taking in the gorgeous scenery. Martin went for a walk around the lake, while I spent most of the day just gazing and enjoying God's amazing creation. I think this place has to be one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It was so quiet too... all you could hear were the sounds of the grazing animals and the occasional bird.

Mount Muztagata


When the sun started to set, the cold really started to creep into every part of our bodies. I just sat inside the yurt trying to stop the feelings of nausea that kept washing over me... I guess it was the altitude but I was cross because both Martin and Mariavittoria were fine. I thought that some good warm food inside me would help so I just clung on till supper was made. It was so interesting to watch the woman make supper, she first steamed a huge pot of rice, and then set about getting the veggies ready. She chopped everything up, using a small wooden board on the floor, and then brought out a big wok which she put over the fire. This she filled with a shockingly large amount of oil (our Italian friend was disturbed and kept saying "oh no is too much"), a little water, and some spices. When it was hot enough she dumped the meat and vegetables inside and stirred them vigorously. It was quite delicious and I felt much better afterwards!

After dinner, she and her husband announced (her husband spoke a little English) that they were off to the village and would be back around 8:30pm. Once they'd left however, we three felt we just couldn't stay awake any longer, so we hauled out some blankets and made our bed. I was determined not to get cold in the night so made Martin get 3 thick blankets to cover us... this, it turned out, was a mistake on my part because the blankets were so thick and heavy that it was difficult to move under them and I woke many times in the night feeling too hot!! Crazy. It did get very cold in the night however, and when I woke up needing the loo in the morning it was painful getting out from under the blankets and having to face the outdoors!!

The next morning, we declined their offer of breakfast as we felt we didn't have enough time... we were going to wait on the side of the road for the bus to Kashgar, hoping that there would be space for us. After waiting a few minutes, a car pulled up and offered us a lift for Y50, which Martin and I thought was too much, but our Italian friend happily got in. I think she was desperate to get back to her hotel and shower :)

We waited another minute or two, and then suddenly the bus was upon us!! We didn't manage to get on it however as it was full of people... grrrr. Martin was delighted as this now gave us an opportunity to hitch-hike. I think he was hoping for a ride in a cool big truck. We started walking down the road, and I wasn't complaining because the air was so fresh and the scenery awe-inspiring! After about an hour of walking, we were picked up by an Uighur man in a twincab bakkie thing, who took us all the way back to Kashgar for only Y30 each (cheaper than the bus!).

Now we've had a shower in our hotel, The Seman Hotel, and are looking forward to supper having eaten nothing all day because we were stuck on the road.

The lobby area (which makes it look far more beautiful than it really is!)


Our hotel from the outside