NOTE: I've managed to upload just 2 pictures to my blog due to an uncooperative internet connection here in Mongolia, for a couple more pictures, click this link
I left Kathmandu on Saturday the 8th, at 5 in the morning. Would have loved to have slept a little on the bus, but the combination of amazing views and unpaved roads made this quite impossible. The monsoon season had just started in Nepal, and we were very lucky not to run into any serious landslides and made it to the Chinese border on time. I spent the first leg of the journey, to the border, on a little minibus together with another 10 people.
The mountain roads in Nepal
This was the first 'organized tour' I've ever been on, and it took a little getting used to... (a German and an Israeli guy thought it was a good idea to start of the 8 day tour by discussing whether Iran has the right to have nuclear arms, they argued for a good 3 hours as the subjects became more and more politically charged... sitting right in front of them did not make my bus ride any more pleasant. My iPod provided some relief until the battery died.
Crossing the border with China from Nepal is an experience in itself. The only way to make it into Tibet is to cross the Friendship Bridge. Contrary to what the name suggests, the atmosphere on the bridge is not all that friendly, with massive amounts of Chinese soldiers, as well as plain-clothed police. Once on the other side, the long process of customs and immigrations awaits. First, your visa and passport are checked (not stamped, just checked). Then all luggage goes through an x-ray machine after which you must unpack your bags and show all items to a customs agent (no books mentioning Tibet or showing pictures of monks are allowed into the autonomous region). Next you have to show your passport again, this time the officer will actually stamp the document. After this is all over, all luggage must once again go through an x-ray machine, and you're asked to unpack all your bags again for another inspection... (I was later told the first inspection was by the military, the second by the police (guess they don't trust each other to do a decent job)
After crossing the border, our group is merged with another group and we continue in a small bus towards Nyalam, where we'll spend the night. The difference in infrastructure between Nepal and China is spectacular: brand new roads on the Tibet side, landslide stricken unpaved paths on the Nepal side.
The brand new roads in Tibet
I don't sleep much the first night as a Norwegian guy who I'm sharing a room with develops symptoms of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) during the night: headache, dizziness, vomiting. (We've just gone up to 4200 meters from 1500 meters in Kathmandu, against normal climbing rules not to ascend more than 300 meters per night) As this can be a very serious condition, I spend most of the night checking up on him.
Over the next couple of days we travel through the Himalayas and over the TIbetan Plateau, and experience of a lifetime, although it's very different from what I had expected. During the whole trip to Lhasa, I've only seen 3 snow-covered, grey peaks... Tibet is mostly plains, red and dusty with what I would call 'hills'. As you're actually at 4000-5000 meters, these 'hills' are actually 6000 to 7000 meter mountains...
The first two days to Shigatze are rather uneventful, with a couple of 5000+ meter passes as the highlights (once again, these are not mountain passes as most people know them: you just drive up a hill and you're at 5300 meters) Although I'm not really affected by the altitude the first 2 days, once we make a stop at 5400 meters, I do get a massive headache, one that won't go away for the next 3 days... (the guide won't let us stay at this altitude for more than 3 minutes, as it can become dangerous without proper acclimatization)
Once in Shigatze, we get to see the largest monastery in Tibet: the seat of the Pancha Lama. It's an impressive temple complex with amazing statues and Buddhist art. Luckily, most of this survived the cultural revolution.
It'll take another 2 days to reach Lhasa, where we'll stay for another 3 days. I get to see the Potala Palace (an amazing structure with 999 rooms...) and the Sera Monastery (the most active of all monasteries in Tibet) We also get some time to just wander through town. I'm surprised how 'Chinese' this city feels.
On the 8th day, I pack my bags and head for the train station: I'll be taking the Tibet Express all the way to Xining (a 30 hour journey). I'm surprised to find I'm the only foreigner on the train... The train ride itself is a wonderful experience: amazing views as I slowly see Tibet change into China. I'm sharing the cabin with a Tibetan family: father, mother, infant daughter and grandma. Although they don't speak any english and my Tibetan is virtually non-existant, there is some pleasant interaction. (grandma must have thought I either looked malnourished or I just wasn't eating enough, as she kept giving me all kinds of delicious local foods - made a mental note to bring more supplies on subsequent train rides). This first train to Xining reminded me how much I love traveling by train in China, feel confident I'm gonna have an amazing time here!
After a 18 hour stopover, and some sleep, in Xining, I catch another 15 hour train to Xi'an, this time I have a hard-seat ticket, instead of a soft-sleeper. The views from the train are once again spectacular: the trains runs through valleys, winding along rivers as red as the hills that surrounds them. As we're descending again, this time from 2000 meters to 500 meters, I slowly see the land become more arable with more and more farms springing up along the tracks.
I arrive late in Xi'an, around 11pm and make my way to the hostel I booked. Once there, I soon figure out this is by far the best hostel I've ever stayed in, it's more like a 4 star hotel! Xi'an is has a remarkable feature: everyone in the city seems to be either buying a new cellphone, or selling one... There's at least 3 cellphone stores in sight from any place in town, although the street vendors seem to sell the most impressive phones (ones that are capable of playing not only MP3 and MP4 files but also MP5 - a standard that still has to invented in the world outside of Xi'an...)
My plan is to see the terra cotta warriors and proceed to Shanghai (via Wuhan) in 2 days. I see find out all tickets out of Xi'an are sold out for the next 3 days. I visit the terra cotta warriors (less impressive than I thought) and relax a bit in Xi'an in anticipation of my journey to Wuhan.
I get to the train station on the evening of day 4 in Xi'an and spend 6 hours in the waiting room until news reaches me that my train got cancelled due to the flooding in South/Central China... I get back at the hostel around 23.30 and find there's not a single bed available anymore, luckily I've made some friend among the staff over the last couple of days and they let me sleep on the couch in the common room for one night! As it'll take another 3 days to get a new ticket, I decide to skip Wuhan and Shanghai and go straight to Beijing (I don't want to miss my connection with the Trans-Mongolian Express!) I end up staying in the ancient capital of China for a combined 7 days. I don't mind much as I've really come to love this city!
I spend a good 6 days in Beijing, mostly wandering around the old parts of town (I've seen almost every landmark in the capital on an earlier visit). I decide to take it easy as the journey from Beijing to Moscow is going to be a long one... I'm once again staying in a wonderful hostel (it's based in a lovely courtyard in one of Beijing's many Hutongs - the print-out on the door says it was recently voted the best hostel in all of Asia on Hostelworld.com) One of the highlighst of my time in Beijing is the lowering of the flag on Tian'anmen square at sunset - an experience I would recommend you try next time you're in Beijing.
I've fallen in love with China's capital again... I would love to live and work here for a while, if it wasn't for the polluted air: at night you can see the light beams from the headlights of the cars on the streets as if they are driving through a thick fog :(
My train for Mongolia leaves at 7:45am on day six, it'll be another 30 hour train ride... more on this amazing experience in the next update. (Chinese and Mongolian border checks, as well as lifting the train by 2 meters while everyone's one it to change the wheels from Chinese standard to Russian standard)
Zaijian from China,
Steven
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