Saturday, July 17, 2010

Journey to the West - Train from 西宁 Xining to 拉萨 Lhasa

I love the sky - it's such a nice blue color that you'll only find the same shade in scrapbooks.

As you can see, i was pretty busy throughout the journey - afterall there was nothing else to do other than eat, snap pictures, eat.. you get the picture.

22 hours of train journey is the longest i've ever experienced - but it is nevertheless the most unforgetable.

It's really beautiful.









This was one of the stopovers along the way (there were several) but this was the first and we were all excited to just get down and breathe in the highlands air. I jumped down the train, ran towards this sign (as i was excited to find that it records the height as well), only to be screamed at my very nice fellow travel mate 'Don't ruuunnnnnn'.
Rule number 1 - Do not attempt to run or even brisk walk at highlands. It will cause you breathlessness or headaches.
And i happily forgot.



The train journey brought us a few hills (or mountains rather) and it's pretty cool that they have a sensor to reflect the ouside altitude, temperature and humidity. The highest altitude i observed was 5000+m when we went across one mountain (or hill). I was so excited cos i didnt experience any headaches or breathlessness and was so confident that high altitude sickness is chicken feet. I was obviously wrong needless to say hurhur. I was fine on the train i guess as i was not doing much - just hanging around and clicking my camera. How tedious is that? Although there were some travellers complaining about splitting headaches. Poor souls.



The train journey was packed with action. People are always equipped with their cameras snapping the scenary outside. And with the narrow corridor (the width only fits one person comfortably), you can imagine the slight squeeze. It was fun though.

And power plugs were a priviledge as people scramble to search for a working one to charge their handphones and camera. We didn't need this additional work though - afterall we charged everything we could to survive the 22 hours train ride.




My train ticket and bed (below). It's interesting how many information they managed to put on a small piece of paper, especially my carriage and bed - I belong to the 12th carriage, row 12, lowest bed. (There are 3 bed per row). It was not until i was on the train that i realised the price differ for all 3 beds - the highest being the cheapest due to the inconvenience. You have to literally climb up to your bed (there was no ladder provided) and being the highest bed, it's impossible to sit upright on it. You can only lie down. The lowest bed (mine) can however, serve as a sofa and bed.
This has unfortunately some disadvantages since you have to share the carriage with fellow travellers (mostly made up of locals from other provinces) - they will occupy your bed since its at the most accessible position =p








Journey to the West - 西宁 Xining

I never thought that my next adventure will bring me back to 西宁 - a place which i once visited more than 3 years ago while going through the Silk Route.

In a bid to climatize to the higher altitude, i went to the following 2 places which i once been to.

Things still looked the same, the 塔尔寺 as well as the 青海湖. There is a certain serenity about this place, you just feel as if things will never change. Lamas still go through their daily routine, oblivious to tourists like me, even the buildings still look every much the same (when i dig out photos took 3 years ago)















Friday, July 16, 2010

Journey to the West - 西藏 Tibet and Mt Everest Base Camp

I've finally saved enough for my next adventure to the West YAY. I can't wait to enter the journey here - it was a tough journey, battling with altitude sickness and the rapid change of weather. Still, when i scan through the pictures i took, it was worth it.

To start with, i was never a fit person i guess, but i did what i can to prevent the onset of altitude sickness. I goggled and found that 红景天 Hong Jing Tian helps and started drinking it 2 weeks prior to the trip. Even though i still suffered occasional headaches throughout the journey, i believed it still help somehow or another.

Route taken: 成都 Chengdu -> 西宁 Xining -> 拉萨 Lhasa
(Altitude = 3800km) -> 日喀则
Shigatse (Altitude = 3800km) -> 定日Tingri (Altitude = 4500km) -> Mt Everest Base Camp (Altitude = 5200km) -> 日喀则 Shigatse (Altitude = 3800km) -> 拉萨 Lhasa (Altitude = 3800km) -> 成都 Chengdu