On Monday night, David took the plunge and departed from Shanghai to Lhasa. He has always wanted to see Tibet and thinking there might not be a better time than now, he managed to arrange an internal travel permit and tickets in less than 10 days. His plan is to take the train  (close to 50 hours) to Lhasa, spend a couple of days exploring and fly back on Sunday to Shanghai. 

Below are some snippets of text messages that I’ve received as the journey progresses.

 

Sept. 7^th, 8pm

Train departs. Tibet here we come.

 

Sept. 8^th, 7am (11 hours in the train)

Good morning. Green and hilly - - and lots of tunnels. Reminds me of the Beijing to Guangzhou train route.

 

Sept. 8^th 11am (15 hours)

Hey guess where I am? Xian. I was expecting a course more southwest than west, I’m a day away from Urumqi. Should have really interesting scenery from this point forward.

 

Sept. 8^th 2pm (18 hrs)

Now it’s becoming really gorgeous. We must be heading into Gansu; fast, muddy rivers, deep ravines, tiny villages…oh wow. You should see out the window right now!

 

Sept. 8^th, 7pm (23 hrs)

We are almost to Lanzhou, which is where we deviate from the Urumqi route and head through the mountain passes to Lhasa. It’s almost dark in here but tomorrow’s passes are close to 5,000 meter range. Lhasa is “only” at 3,490 meters (11,450 feet).

 

Sept. 9^th, 2.50am (31 hrs)

Just woke up for a bit and I am looking out the window. A very “lunar” surface out there (at least in the light I have), rainy and high. I have a bit of a headache so that could be some early altitude adjustment. Back to sleep.

 

Sept. 9^th, 8am  (36 hours in train)

Wow, wow, wow. This scenery is like Xinjiang on steroids. The mountains are twice as rugged, the gorges are twice as deep. You definitely have the feeling you are approaching the top of the world. We are at 3,000 meters and climbing!

 

Sept. 9^th, 10am  (38 hours in train)

 ....before disembarking in Lhasa I have to sign off on reading the "plateau travel instructions"  which, among other interesting comments, lists out passengers "not suitably travel to the plateau". On that list are "those with body temperature above 38c or the body temperature is below 38c".....so I guess you have to be 'just right.'

 

The other notable "not suitably" traveler is, alarmingly, (and this is an honest quotation) "highly dangerous pregnant women"! I completely agree--can't have any of them running loose on the plateau! (Of course you could very reasonably argue that all pregnant women are "highly dangerous", what with the chocolate cravings and all.) With those restrictions firmly enforced I am looking forward to a very safe and pleasant experience in Lhasa. 

 

Ps- everyone is popping altitude sickness tablets and pulling out their cameras as we are now seeing snow caps--we are running 3 hrs late which puts us in Lhsa around 11pm. This place looks like home.

 

...to be continued