Life on the Tibetan Highway, China

So we left Everest in good spirits and headed back towards Lhasa turning off onto the Tibetan highway. That's where the problems began. We have a permit for the road and we are the only tourists to be travelling on it this year. This means that there's alot of police interest. We have the People's Security Bureau following us and police check points are taking longer. We were planning to bush camp the whole route to Shangrila but it turns out that due to some rule, we have to check into hotels- a unexpected problem when there is 22 of us turning up in towns on a very small budget. Night 1 was spent on the roadside, camping, due to a lorry being stuck in the mud. We spent hours watching it but it wasn't budging. The next morning we made the decision to join the queue rather than back track 2 day's drive. The road was just churned up mud and with frustration kicking in, the boys, armed with a huge jack and sand mats climbed the pass to go and help get the lorry out. The problems start as the lorries are overloaded, have inexperienced and under equipped drivers. With the first lorry free, but many more getting stuck, it was hours and hours before we moved at all. Simon and Lesley did their best with the traffic controlling but it was a struggle to make people understand that 2 lanes of traffic couldn't move at once and it wasn't helped by the landrover drivers over taking all the time.

Our truck only got stuck once as we slipped in the mud trying to take over a stuck car. Easy to free though as our big group pushed the truck free. Eventually we got to the top of the pass covering about 10km in 8 hours but greeted by spectacular scenery.

We are currently stuck in Linzhi as the road ahead is closed due to a landslide. We expect to be on the move tomorrow but it was a mission to get us all in a hotel as the town is packed- amazing what a bit of government arm twisting can do! It's been nice to be in a hotel for 2 nights- karaoke last night- great fun!

Mount Everest, China

We travelled along the Friendship Highway, dodging the remains of some landslides (there's been a lot of rain recently) towards Mount Everest and bush camped within the park to get up at 4am the following morning to head towards the mountain which hopefully wouldn't be covered in cloud! The roads were windy and it was a little scary as we darted ditches and rocks in the dark in torrential rain. Late morning we finally got the first glimpse of Everest much to everyone's delight and it wasn't too covered in cloud! We were heading to a hotel (it was a local's tent) to stay for the night to maximise our chance of a clear mountain view. On the way, we stopped at Rongbuk Monastery and at 5100m it is the highest religious building in the world.

At altitude every bit of exercise is a slow slog so we spent the afternoon walking to 'base camp' which I think everyone was very disappointed with. It wasn't the climber's base camp that you see in the photos with all the tents put up everywhere, it was a small hill with the same view of the mountain that we could see from the hotel. It was a bit of a surreal evening as we dined in the local's house and watched the kettle being boiled in the centre of the tent on Yak dung and tried to communicate with our hosts whose English was limited to 'Hello'.

After the sun went down and the moon came out, Everest really revealed itself as the cloud cleared to reveal all 8844m of mountain. Although visibly huge we were viewing it from a valley of much smaller mountains and I can't help but think that it would just be any other mountain blending into others if we could have seen the whole mountain range. We all felt incredibly lucky though as there had been people waiting a week to see the mountain and we just popped in for the 24 hours. The morning we left it was covered in thick cloud again!

Lhasa, China

With 4 nights in the Tibetan holy city of Lhasa everyone was quite excited to explore the sights and have a few days of eating recognisable Western food.

First we all had a tour around the Jokhang temple dating to the 7th century in the older centre of the city. Although the temple was a busy tourist trap it was a brilliant insight to Buddism and great to see the prostrating pilgrims and little old ladies spinning the prayer wheels as they walked around. Inside the temple were lots of Buddha statues, all with an Indian influence and the wooden ceiling beams were beautifully painted. The highlight was definitely the views from the roof top.

In the afternoon we headed to Potala Palace which is the Dalai Lama's winter residence. The palace is cut into the rock and divided into 2 sectors; the red sector for religious purposes and the white is for living in. With 13 stories and 1000's of rooms we had a short tour around some of the rooms which featured statues of Buddhas, thrones, gold and gems covered tombs, and stacks of commandment translations. Was really worth the visit despite the fact that the climbing of the steps at the front in the heat of day nearly killed us!

I allocated an entire day to shopping around Lhasa with the aim to buy some more outdoor clothes. Unfortunately, despite the abundance of shops and international hikers, all the clothes were made for the Chinese and I got a lot of laughs as I went into all the shops and asked for a size 45 shoe- the biggest was 44! The area around the Jokhang temple is called the Barkhor and is a selection of stalls selling bits and bobs. It was really interesting to see the pilgrims and the tourists mixed together, all following the clockwise walking system around the temple.

Another highlight for most was a trip to the nearby Sera Monastery, the 2nd biggest in Tibet where you can view debating monks. The monks gathered in small groups and debated topics, reinforcing the points with a quick step and clap motion. Fascinating to watch, it was just a shame about some of the other tourists there.

We all left Lhasa thinking that we could have spent another few days there but we headed on towards Everest, stopping off in Shigaste for a night before the tough and uncertain roads began.

Dunhuang to Lhasa, China- The long way!

We headed towards Golmud as we climbed in altitude and away from the desert heat. The first of many long days, we set up a bush camp way off the road and after a 13 hour drive were thankful to be off the truck. Unfortunately some locals, which are usually very happy to see us turned nasty as they said that we were camping on their land (we weren't) and we should pay them 1000 yuan (£100). This was crazy money as it's the cost of the whole group to stay in a 3 star hotel for the night, so Pete flat out refused to pay. They weren't happy and starting shouting abuse at us and kicking our camp stuff. Our poor guide, Lily was in the middle of the dispute as translator so Pete decided that we would quickly pack up with our dinner half cooked, in torrential rain, and go, in case they caused more problems such as slashing tyres overnight.

All packed up and with Mike and Neill in the front cab in case they caused us problems on our way out, we drove down the road in the pitch black to find another camp. This camp ended up being a construction site for a railway line. One dismantled fence later and we were camped and enjoyed the rest of our dinner. What a night!

The next day we were headed further towards Golmud and into the mountain passes where we hit 3800m, our highest yet. Not much happened as we drove for the entire day and found a camp site by crossing a low river. After a night of heavy rain the river was considerably higher and we couldn't cross back to the main road. After scouting the river bank we eventually made it across by finding a bridge further down.

As we are gaining altitude the way to beat AMS is to drink lots of water, at least 3 litres a day which is hard when the weather's cool. It means many toilet breaks but everyone seems to be coping fine as we climbed steadily. We arrived in Golmud in time for dinner and everyone was pretty thankful to be in a hotel for a night to dry out after all the rain. There wasn't much in Golmud which is very much a stop over city but some of us were adventurous in our meal choice in the evening, going to a restaurant with gas burners in the centre of the table. The menu all in Chinese, we did some pointing and dodgy translation and ended up to my horror a seafood stew and the beef and chicken never turned up. I was pretty hungry and ended up very proud of myself as i ate some noodles picked from the stew, something I would never do at home. Luckily the amount of chilli in the meal meant that no fish was tasted! The seafood was then taken out and the broth used to boil/deep fry potato and spinach which I hate to say was quite nice. A meal experience I'll never forget!

The hotel in Golmud gave me my first experience of Chinese breakfast which was noodles and veg- I'm not sure they really understand cereal and toast! It was also my birthday so it was nice to wake up in a warm bed. We started to climb into serious altitude today hitting 4000m over some of the passes so I started taking Diamox along with the rest of the truck to try and beat the symptoms. It worked a treat and all I was left with was a side effect of tingly limbs! We saw lots of prayer flags on the side of the road. The flags are pre printed and are hung everywhere so that when the wind blows them, the prayers are released. We arrived in camp a little earlier which was nice and I had a birthday tea of curry noodles. The group got me a little gift of a stuffed panda and chop sticks which I was delighted with and some vac packed chicken feet (not so delighted with, but I will make everyone try!).

Another day on the diversion to Lhasa and we were set back even further by landing ourselves in a 3 hour queue of traffic (we were in the middle of nowhere) as we headed over the 5000m pass and into the autonomous region of Tibet. The Tibetean people look completely different to the general Chinese- long hair in plaits, dark skin, men wearing cowboy hats and the woman in very multi layered traditional dress and some spinning prayer wheels as they walk. The roads in Tibet are also crazy as you are timed, and then fined if you go too quickly, but there are no standardised speed limits. At one point we had a really good road and had 2 hours to drive 96km, and then an equally good road 30 mins for 46km. If you go too quick you get fined. Thank God for toilet stops!

We finally rolled into Lhasa mid afternoon the following day. We have 4 nights here and the city really isn't what I expected. Potala Palace doesn't dominate the skyline like I thought (It probably would have 100's of years ago) and the city is much busier and there are far less westerners as well. Anyways there's lots to do here so I'm sure I'll be kept occupied!

Dunhuang, China

Lots more driving to be covered to get to Dunhuang but the road is so unpredictable that at one point we covered 7km in and hour! We finally made it to Dunhuang an 'oasis in a desert' after another bushcamp and day of driving and we were celebrating Ben's 19th birthday. Unfortunately we couldn't have the planned McDonalds party due to a lack of McDonalds but we did all enjoy mingling with the locals and Chinese tourists in the night market.


This morning we visited the Magao (thousand budda) caves which were spectacular. There were 735 caves cut into the sand dunes dating from 366 AD and varying in size. We has a tour around some of the biggest which contain statues of Budda including the 5th largest in the world and one of the 'sleeping' budda in which the cave is coffin shaped and the murals feature mourners. The tour was really interesting and a great insight to Buddist art.


Next stop is the Tibeten city of Lhasa and it's going to be a mission to get to after a section of road is closed to foreigners, so we have a 1000km plus diversion to get there. It's going to be interesting!

Turpan, China

We had about 1500km of driving from Kashgar to get to Turpan and 2 days to do it in following just a single motorway which is undergoing a lot of roadworks. We were skirting the Taklamakan desert so we expected the desert to be like Turkmenistan- hot and not a lot to look at. Turns out we were following the Tian Shan mountains which were pretty cool and it wasn't too hot either which was a pleasant relief. As for what was out the window, there wasn't much except crazy truck drivers and their overloaded vehicles carrying melons, pigs, wind turbine blades and other vehicles.



We headed to our bush camp after 12 hours of driving. We had planned to camp in a valley but as we drove up the road it had been completely blocked off as a hydroelectric dam was being built. Just one of the region's many new builds! In the end we resorted to a car park for camp which wasn't anyone's first choice.



We had another night bush camp enroute to Turpan and at that point we had covered 14187km so far which is about half way kilometer wise.



Turpan, also known as 'city of fire' was hot but much bearable than Uzbekistan. We visited the Jiahoe ruin which was cut from a mountain and is bordered by 2 rivers. Over 2000 years old and abandoned in 900 AD, it really was a pile of ruins turned into an expensive tourist attraction. However it was something to do other than shopping.

Kashgar, China

We got up at the crack of dawn in a bid to cross the dreaded Chinese border in less than 12 hours. The border is 80km from 1st to last check point so we got prepared with our snacks and our patience as we got on and off the truck with passports and bags. In the end it wasn't as bad as anyone thought as they didn't rip the truck apart and we were stamped into China about 11 hours after being stamped out of Kyrgystan. The only loss being the truck's supply of cooked meats and Lesley's bar of chocolate for no reason at all!

Kashgar (where I am now) is a pretty big city with not a lot but shops in it. Everyone's quite thankful of the hotel and the warmer weather and we are here for 4 nights as the truck goes through the Chinese MOT. Food is amazing but there's not much in English so its been a lot of pointing at the local's food and picking blind off the menu and a lot of stares as I struggled with the chop sticks. I'm not quite sure what I ate the other night but we think it was either liver or brain of a mystery animal! It was tasty though! The big problem here is clothing sizes. The clothes are plentiful and cheap but they are tiny so nothing bought. At least I'm saving money though! Kashgar isn't the China I expected as locals are very Mongolian looking. It should be interesting to see the change as we head to the East and South.

Coming up in the next week we have a long slog through the desert and it's going to be hot hot hot! Mike and Alice have headed on their own road trip to Beijing and Xian for 10 days to avoid desert monotony. They assure us they will be back and I'm taking over as Ned's guardian so I hope I wont lose him!

Songkol Lake.

Thankfully, the road had been snow ploughed so we could get to Songkol lake in the middle of a grassy plain surrounded by mountains at about 3300m high. It was really pretty but there wasn't an opportunity for much walking in the mountains as they were deceptively far away, so there was a lot of lounging around camp and avoiding the evening storms. All good fun though!

Playing goat polo is a treat for the locals here so Pete organised a match. The aim is to get a goat carcass with no head from one end of the 'pitch' to the side and place on a mat scoring points each time. There are 2 teams of 2. We sponsored the game by buying the goat ( I didn't expect it to turn up at our camp still alive!) and the prizes of cash and vodka. Despite the distressing slaughter at the start, the game was really enjoyable to watch and the locals had a great time as the horses raced around camp and we darted out the way.

I decided that due to the huge expanse of the plains, hiring a horse was a good idea. I went out on a lovely grey horse which loved to gallop and was so easy to handle. It was great to have the freedom, but it was a shame that it wasn’t for a couple of days around the lake. In the evening we had our fancy dress party. There were some brilliant looks as people revealed what had been chosen for them. I made a bumble bee outfit for Kylie and Nick dressed me in the worst taste clothes ever, with a very nice traditional man's hat. Rain didn't spoil our fun as we partied in the truck but no one could brave the cold to stay up past 10pm!

One more night with a bush camp on the Touragat pass enroute to the Chinese border.

Djety Oguz gorge

We had a short drive around Issyk Kol to Djety Oguz where we stopped at some huge red sandstone cliffs (called the 5 bulls, I think), bordering the road. We were due to camp on the river side but getting there wasn't simple and the sand mats were needed to get the truck out the mud a couple of times. The route to camp was our first insight to real Kyrgy. Families living in yurts and herding livestock. We camped amongst forest with the mountains in the background which was really beautiful, even with the torrential rain.

6 of us went on a long trek to an alpine lake with our local guide Erkin. Starting at 7am, the walk was tough from the beginning as we gained height, walking in a hot sun. It didn't get easier as we scrambled for hours on scree slopes and boulders. So much strain on the ankles, and, by the time we got to the top I had cut knees and bruised toes thanks to a boulder landing on my foot. It was worth it though as we had lunch looking out on to the frozen lake at 3500m. Then we had to go down, the same way as we came up, cutting some corners by sliding down snow on our bums and wading across some pretty swollen rivers. The final day was spent nursing the legs with a gentle stroll to the village for coffee, a bucket shower and watching a red squirrel with a white tail. Exciting stuff!

From Djety Oguz we headed to a much needed homestay in Karakol. It was the market here where we were to find a fancy dress outfit for our "picked out of a bag" person. Much harder than it sounds, as all was to be kept secret unless you wanted to pay for the truck punch for the eve. A few drinks in the evening and a 2 hour walking tour of the village (Pete couldn't find the restaurant) and a good night was had by all.

________________________________________

Issyk Kol Lake

We headed into the mountains from Bishkek and everyone was pretty excited to see what Pete had been raving on about. The mountain pass to Song kol lake was still under snow so we went to the larger lake of Issyk Kol first. We camped on the beach, looking out on this huge lake with the only indication of the other shore being the snowy caps of the mountains peeking above the clouds.

The lake is the 4th deepest in the world at about 700m. It's 170km long and 70km wide and apparently the salinity is too high for it to freeze. The water wasn't as cold as expected which I found out as a paddle turned into a full submergance when Mike pushed me in. I need not have bothered with the morning shower!