[PICTURES] China National Highway G219: Lhasa–Ngari–Kashgar overland
Oct 24, 2012, 6:07 pm
#18
Join Date: Jun 2011
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This is a rare trip report to see on Flyertalk. This is one of my dream trips to do, but very difficult for a foreigner to do in Tibet -- I hope one day to make it to Mt. Kailash. Hopefully the politics in the region will be able to settle down/I am able to one day get a Chinese driver's license one day to make the trip myself.
Excellent pictures!
Excellent pictures!
Oct 24, 2012, 7:22 pm
#20
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Great stuff. Can you comment about the vehicle(s) driven?
Nov 1, 2012, 11:30 am
#23
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Looks like an awesome adventure!
Do you know roughly how many miles/kms you drove?
Did you rent the car and drive yourself or did you have a driver/guide?
Do you know roughly how many miles/kms you drove?
Did you rent the car and drive yourself or did you have a driver/guide?
Nov 7, 2012, 9:24 am
#25
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 160
Sorry for the delay, more pics should come soon.
I met three others travellers at the youth hostel and we hired a Tibetan driver and his Toyota 4500 from a tourist agency in Lhasa, CN¥19000 Lhasa to Kashgar. But after a few days I felt it might not be a good idea to travel with these three, so I decided to go alone. We separated in Ngari (Shiquanhe town) and I paid ¥3000 to them for the Lhasa–Ngari section.
From Ngari, I found a (non-tourist) driver who is a native of Sichuan. The driver also has a Toyota 4500. He seems to be very familiar with the Nagri–Yecheng route, as he takes passengers between Nagri and Yecheng almost every week. It was ¥1200 for a "normal seat" or ¥1500 for a "sightseeing seat" (that is the front row co-driver's seat). I paid ¥1500 and shared the vehicle with a few migrated workers and businessmen. The driver also told me when the pavement work get finished next summer, there would be a scheduled bus running between Xinjiang and Tibet.
Mostly Chinese and Tibetan food along the way. It was a bit difficult beyond Shigatse City (Day 2). For me, the biggest challenge was the three nights at Darchen town (Mt. Kailash). The town itself is over 4600 meters above sea level and electricity supply only 8pm to 10pm, no heating, temperature below freezing in rooms. It was damn cold at night. I managed to find three hot-water bags, each for ¥35. Every night before going to bed, I had to prepare four vacuum flasks with boiled water, every two hours I had to wake up to refill these bags with fresh hot water.
This has been my seventh time to Tibet so I didn't feel very sick (like headache) even at this altitude, but I did have breath difficulty walking uphill I could only walk at like 1 or 2 km/h. Plus I didn't have enough clothes/shoes so at the last moment I decided not to walk the kora, the 52 km trekking around Mt. Kailash. Our Tibetan driver and one of my colleague did go. Our Tibetan driver had walked the kora 50+ times before, and he carried everything they had. They also rescued two local Tibetan girls on the way, with the bottled oxygen they had. The two girls were suffering bad nose-bleeding at a pass that 5700 meters above sea leavel. If any of you plan to go there, you should do it in the summer. Also according to the Tibet tradition, circumambulation around Mt. Kailash in the Year of Horse brings far greater merit than any other time, thus I may go back and complete the trekking in year 2014.
Later I also heard a bad news that a backpacker from Shanghai who died from altitude sickness on G219 Xinjiang–Tibet Highway just 8 days after my travel. Here is the news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkT1Au912qY
From Ngari, I found a (non-tourist) driver who is a native of Sichuan. The driver also has a Toyota 4500. He seems to be very familiar with the Nagri–Yecheng route, as he takes passengers between Nagri and Yecheng almost every week. It was ¥1200 for a "normal seat" or ¥1500 for a "sightseeing seat" (that is the front row co-driver's seat). I paid ¥1500 and shared the vehicle with a few migrated workers and businessmen. The driver also told me when the pavement work get finished next summer, there would be a scheduled bus running between Xinjiang and Tibet.
Mostly Chinese and Tibetan food along the way. It was a bit difficult beyond Shigatse City (Day 2). For me, the biggest challenge was the three nights at Darchen town (Mt. Kailash). The town itself is over 4600 meters above sea level and electricity supply only 8pm to 10pm, no heating, temperature below freezing in rooms. It was damn cold at night. I managed to find three hot-water bags, each for ¥35. Every night before going to bed, I had to prepare four vacuum flasks with boiled water, every two hours I had to wake up to refill these bags with fresh hot water.
This has been my seventh time to Tibet so I didn't feel very sick (like headache) even at this altitude, but I did have breath difficulty walking uphill I could only walk at like 1 or 2 km/h. Plus I didn't have enough clothes/shoes so at the last moment I decided not to walk the kora, the 52 km trekking around Mt. Kailash. Our Tibetan driver and one of my colleague did go. Our Tibetan driver had walked the kora 50+ times before, and he carried everything they had. They also rescued two local Tibetan girls on the way, with the bottled oxygen they had. The two girls were suffering bad nose-bleeding at a pass that 5700 meters above sea leavel. If any of you plan to go there, you should do it in the summer. Also according to the Tibet tradition, circumambulation around Mt. Kailash in the Year of Horse brings far greater merit than any other time, thus I may go back and complete the trekking in year 2014.
Later I also heard a bad news that a backpacker from Shanghai who died from altitude sickness on G219 Xinjiang–Tibet Highway just 8 days after my travel. Here is the news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkT1Au912qY
Last edited by yaohua2000; Dec 6, 2012 at 6:45 am
Nov 18, 2012, 5:12 pm
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 160
Day 2 (2012-10-10): Gyangze to Saga
Gyangze departure on 2012-10-10 at 07:27 before sunrise
Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet
Breakfast in Shigatse, and heading to Lhatse, 145 km away
Gyangze departure on 2012-10-10 at 07:27 before sunrise
Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet
Breakfast in Shigatse, and heading to Lhatse, 145 km away
Last edited by yaohua2000; Nov 18, 2012 at 5:17 pm
