As a lot of people, we were dreaming for long of traveling to Tibet, the land of the Dalai Lamas...
We can not sufficiently emphasize that the journey TO Tibet is as magnificent as Tibet itself and that one should not, we repeat should NOT fly to Lhasa! So much that it should be forbidden.
The incredible journey that we tried to capture on photos is required for one to be able to truly appreciate just how remote, how high and how much "off the beaten track" this Land is. 48h from Beijing might seem a long journey, we were expecting to see the same scenery for hours and get bored at seeing nothing but deserted areas.
However, the journey was one of the most incredible experiences we ever had. The change of scenery is just stunning and the journey feels like a journey in time...
- The journey started from Beijing West Railway station:
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| From ASIA - CHINA - Beijing |
- While still in mainland China, the route passes through multiple provinces dominated by hills all worked by hand to try to feed the 1 1/2 billion people:
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- In-between we spent our time by "socializing" with Tibetan locals:
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- Then, as the train started climbing, we had our first glance on the snow-topped mountains in the far horizon of the plateau:
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- Then we reached an area of land shaped by the waters from melted snow from the Himalayas and crossed by the only single road leading to Tibet from mainland China:
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- Once we had the snowy areas behind us, we arrived on what was the begining of the Tibetan plateau, with its endless nuances of brown, yellow and deep blue skies:
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- After a long time of deserted landscape we were happy to see some form of life, even if just some Yaks eating...eating we have no idea what...:
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- Climbing above 5000m and passing the world's highest railway station a the Tanggula pass, we were surprised not to have snow at the altitude:
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- As we got closer to the Himalayas (actually as the air got thinner), the sky got bluer and bluer...
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- for a change of scenery, a 4000m+ high laying lake offered some more spectacular views:
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- Seeing the tracks ahead of us, we are repeatedly reminded of what an extraordinary feat of engineering it was to build this railway, most of its section starting from Golmud being laid on permafrost:
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- After a very long time we glanced the first sign of human life in Tibet, a small town nearby:
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- Just to get a feel of the thin air outside (oxygen is being pumped into the compartments of the train), we had a short "pit stop" at 4500m, were Krisztina decided to give signals to the train driver (or to aliens? I still don't know)
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
- The sun then set before arriving to Lhasa (where our story continues...):
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| From ASIA - TIBET - The journey to Tibet |
All our pictures on The Train Journey.
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