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05 Jun 2009
A quick breakfast at the hotel and we were off on the coach to our 24 hour train ride on the highest railway in the world, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (Qingzhang railway, 青藏铁路). While most tourists take the train up from Qinghai, we were heading downwards from Lhasa to Xining, the capital of Qinghai province. A journey that will take us across the fabled Kunlun Mountains where the Taoist paradise is believed to be, and to the fringes of the Gobi Desert. I haven't sat in a first-class train before. The prospect of a long train ride was rather exciting. However, immediately we were faced with some quirks in the name of security. The railway authorities do not allow an entire cabin of four to be purchased at once. This means that there will be a stranger in each cabin from some other tour group.
The Lhasa railway station. Strictly no photos outside!
The waiting lounge, somehow our guide managed to obtain the best waiting lounge
The train with oxygenated carriages to ensure we do not suffer altitude sickness on board
The carriage corridor
Our cabin with four beds costing some 790-820 RMB per bed. The other tour group was from Croatia. Thankfully most of us managed to swap the fourth person from the other travel group with ours
At the end of the carrige is a common area with basins and toilets. Dispenser with hot and cold water is available too.
The part of the map showing our 24 hour journey from Lhasa (bottom left) to Xining (top right), and the rough railway line.
Along the way, we will pass the Tanggula Mountain Pass -- the highest railway station in the world, and the Kunlun Mountains.
Departing Lhasa
They are building highways everywhere!
Mining industry. Tibet is rich in minerals, especially gold, precious stones, and ancient corals.
Cattle grazing on green moss. Mostly yaks.
12.46pm, exploring the train, this is the cafeteria carriage
A small bar at the end of the carriages
A Tibetan village
Sheep gazing. What is green is all moss here
Snowy peaks. The sun melts most of the snow, hence even at more than 3000m, there isn't snow everywhere
Large flat plains surrounded by mountains is a common feature
Lunch!
Passing Dang Xiong station at 4293m. Our train ride takes us up and down between 2500 to 5000+ metres.
Exploring the other carriages, we found rooms with 6 beds -- apparently the train only has 2 carriages with bunk beds that cater for around 60+ persons. So, the train tickets can be snapped rather quickly during the peak season
3.21pm, up up and away!
More moss and cattle at a distance.
Most of the railway except at the stations is single track. Trains have to synchronise on tight schedules at the stations so that the single track can be used for bidirectional travel.
Yellow River beer, hopefully not made from yellow river water. Most of the major rivers have their origin somewhere in the Tibetan plateau including the Yellow, Yangtze and Ganges rivers.
4.34pm, Na Qu station at 4513m. As the train was picking up passengers, we took a quick step outside for pictures.
A Sky burial site
Grazing yaks
Yak in the water, I wonder what is it doing there, considering the cold
5.32pm - don't think I've ever seen this type of clouds back home. Looks surreal
Mountainous clouds
The train tracks took us beside a large body of water. I am uncertain if it is a river or a lake. Tibet is rich in water
Looks like a nice place to camp, assuming you can breathe here
Large body of sand, one wonders where it came from?
For a time, the train has been ascending
Dark clouds over the mountain looks like relief rainfall
An Duo station at 4702m, we shouldn't be far from Tanggula Pass from here. Unfortunately, the train did not stop by the pass as it was behind schedule and we completely passed it over dinner!
The frozen river gave us an idea of the temperature outside. In fact, we have not seen much yaks for some time.
6.50pm -- probably mountain sheep grazing
A lone white tent in the middle of practically nowhere
Lonely rock outcrops dot the flat landscape we were passing the Tanggula/Kunlun Mountains
Dinner time! The chef asks you where you are from and whips up dishes he thinks you will find palatable. It's amazing what he can cook in the little kitchen of his
Even up here there's a highway
The railway crosses the middle of this vast plain
The colour of the ground was changing and we were nearer to the snow. These must be the Tanggula/Kunlun Mountains
Underpasses beneath the highway and the railway allow the Tibetan antelopes to traverse both sides of the plain unimpeded
Another lone blue shack. I wonder if there's anybody actually inside
These remind me of vanilla ice-cream, a large section of the railway is built on permafrost. Possibly around here
8.06pm -- Surprise surprise there were still some cattle up here
The moon is pretty high in a distance, but so was the sun
Moving away from the Tanggula Mountains we should be passing the Kunlun Mountains. It is rather difficult to tell as they do not seem to end or begin
There's a kind of Tibetan antelope here that is rare and difficult to spot. One wonders if these are them
The last group of snowy mountains, next we entered an area with reddish peaks
Patchy moss
A river by a slope exposing different layers of material
The sun was setting from some angles
More reddish landscape
Maybe mars looks like this without the snow?
Traffic seems heavy on the adjacent highway
Simple looking mechanisms are setup at various stretches of railway. They serve to maintain the railway by keeping stones, animals, and sand away from the tracks
Traffic build-up near a particularly narrow section of the highway
What looks like a red gas station
Could this be the world's highest traffic jam?
A cloud formation that looks like an aeroplane
9.13pm -it's still bright
Ge'ermu Station, after this I went to bed with a high pitched noise in my ears. I realised later it was due to the change in pressure as the train was ascending and descending along the tracks
Golmud station in the wee hours of the morning
06 Jun 2009
Daybreak, we seem to be traveling along the outskirts of the Gobi Desert
White was replaced by brown everywhere
7.03am - These were set up to prevent the advancement of the sand which can damage the railway tracks
Brown hills, we were still more than 2000 metres above sea level
The engine of the train
The temple where Er Lang's sword is supposedly kept.
8.26am, Large plains filled with grass
Sheep, grazing is controlled to prevent desertification
We passed the Qinghai lake, the highest salt lake in the world, famously known as the Western Sea in various Chinese myths. Due to sandstorms blowing in from Siberia, it has shrunk to 2/3 it's original size. Here three large sand dunes are visible in a distance.
Loads of sandy landscape hints at possible desertification going on
A huge sand dune
A large rock, we were leaving the sandy areas as we approach Xining
Large-scale construction of some new highway/railway
Agriculture, a change compared to the mainly cattle farming along our entire journey
Arrival at Xining approximately 24 hours since we left Lhasa
With that our main highlight came to a close. This was the longest railway ride I ever took and the most interesting. Next, we will be having lunch in Xining and visiting Ta'er Monastery, one of the six important Yellow Hat Sect monasteries.
Check back for the next post soon. Return to the trip index here.
Check back for the next post soon. Return to the trip index here.
