Overland from Lhasa to Kathmandu

Our Car
This 4.5L Toyota Land Cruiser came in very handy for the type of terrain it was subjected to.

We had organised our overland trip from Lhasa to Kathmandu in the very early days of our tour. When in Kunming we had seen Mr Chen, whose name appeared in the Lonely Planet to set things up for us. We had the belief it was really difficult to acquire permits for such travel & that few were in the position to acquire such things. So, Mr Chen set up our 5 day overland trip at the all inclusive price of 8000Y=$1230 (about $410 each), typically the price for a group of four, but we wanted the car to ourselves, so went this option. We paid a 3000Y deposit to Mr Chen at the time with the residue to be paid to his office in Lhasa. We made contact with the Lhasa office a couple of times & finally set up a meeting with Gavan the night before our planned departure. Not an ideal arrangement, but they didn't seem worried so why the heck should we.

Gavan was a nice enough bloke (quite a hot number judging by the gasps & look exchanges between Marg & Sue) & our guide for the 5 days. He took the remaining fee (5000Y, no receipt), briefly told us our overnight stops but provided no written itinerary, which we westerners so appreciate, & arranged meet us up at 9am the next morning.

So, Thur 25/Oct was day 1 of our overland trip. We were well & truly acclimatised, having spent 6 days in Lhasa at 3650m. Gavan was at the Yak promptly at 9.00 & the car & driver, Tashi, only moments behind him. Both these guys were Tibetan, Tashi ~43 years, had little or no English & Gavan, ~28 years, was pretty good with our lingo though you had to listen closely to filter out some weird pronunciations here & there. We were quite relieved to see the car, a Toyota 4.5L Land Cruiser in pretty good nick, with quite a generous back seat & spacious luggage area. We had each packed stuff for these 5 days in our smaller backpacks so we could just leave the bulk of our gear in the back of the car for the duration.

Gavan - our guide
The girl's were quite excited when they first clapped eyes on Gavan, but the gloss soon wore off!

We spent 6hrs travelling the 250km to Shigatse. The first 4hrs were on very good roads & the remainder on lesser, patched & 'in need of patching' type surfaces. The drive was really good - the first 3hrs following a river along the gorge it had cut on its way through the mountains - spectacular views, equal to any we'd seen on our China tour.

The car had to stop 4 times to be 'logged in' at police checkpoints. Apparently, they list a time for your arrival at the next check & you'd better not be earlier - we, & other cars, would travel very slowly as we approached the next checkpoint or would just stop for whatever time was needed to set you back on time & keep the authorities happy.

We had a couple of photo stops, here & there, & at one of these, was an incense making factory. When I say factory, I mean maybe 'facility', as it was a set of water-wheels set alongside the road bridge, driven by the passing stream, & operating crude mortar & pestles. The pestles were crushing the appropriate wood (eg. sandalwood) into a paste with a little water for the subsequent wrapping around a stick to create your incense stick.

Reporting to the headmaster
Marg was not always on her best behaviour & on this occassion I had to give her a good dressing down.

I find it pretty difficult to describe the terrain & do it justice. A lot of it was just like that surrounding Lhasa - great big bare, brown mountains, no growth on them at all. But it changed quite a bit as the day, & days wore on, at times there were plateaus between the high mountains, where there were livestock like sheep, cattle & goats being grazed. There were many haystacks to be seen - so recent crop harvests must have brought these into being. Looked to be lots of cropland not currently under crop, but being used for the livestock to forage from. There were no trees up here just small prostrate plants & shrubs that had the colour of the land - greys, purples, etc.

Most of the traffic on these roads seemed to be like ours, 4WD vehicles doing the overland thing. Our lunch stop ended up having about 6 or 7 such vehicles parked outside of it! We were to see many of these same vehicles over the next few days as we all did much the same sort of trip.

Himalayan Panorama
The girls stop for the view of the tremendous Himalaya, including the pointy one in the middle(Everest).

Arrived at Shigatse (elevation 3900m) around 3pm & spent the night here at the Tenzing Guesthouse. Shigatse is Tibet's 2nd largest city & it has been the seat of the Panchen Lamas since Mongol times with the Tashilhunpo Monastery being their base. This monastery is the big highlight of Shiagtse &, indeed, Tibet itself. The Panchen Lamas have have had a substantial lineage as both spiritual & temporal leaders - second only to the Dalai Lamas. There has even been times, throughout the ages, where they have been rivals for leadership.

Entry into Tashilhunpo was 55Y=$8.50 each & is really a monastery with a small village of related buildings, houses & shops attached - all within the one set of walls. It was undergoing a 'spring' clean with lots of whitewash splashed all over the place & teams of young workers weeding paths and cleaning up areas. We visited the monastery areas with its chapels & tombs, very much reminiscent of our Potala visit, though it lacked the throngs of visiting pilgrims. A one point the monks, mostly young looking boys, were called to assembly/prayers & they emerged from all over the place wearing an additional gold cape & cap over their usual burgundy robes. They removed their shoes & sung for a few minutes before charging into the assembly hall - it was a great reminder that this was an active, living, monastery.

Stayed at the Tenzing in a triple room for 200Y=$31, $10 each & dined at their restaurant that night as well. The bedding was so heavy, though needed in this very cold room, that I was wondering if my laboured breathing was to do with the altitude or the sheer weight of the bedding on my chest. The toilet was a gurgler, as if threatening to commit some sort of unsavory act during the night!

Left Shigatse at 9am & were travelling on better roads - sealed roads as of only 3 or 4 years. One very noticeable thing was the need for protecting the road from large, fast forceful waterflows - there were many big channels diverting water away. The mountains had lots of scars from the troughs created by draining water. Sometimes entire walls had been constructed with small apertures to hold back & then reduce flow rates. Some steep hills, which would have had runoff directly to the road, had had concrete channels placed to catch most & divert it to other areas. It was very evident that the rains here are very substantial for the short time they do fall & could wreak a lot of havoc if such measures were not taken. I'm sure, despite these measures, much annual repair must have to take place to ensure these roads are useable.

An Aussie Bike Squad
Met this lot of Aussies, from Melbourne, travelling overland from Kathmandu to Lhasa & return.

Our drive on day 2 (Fri 27/Oct) took us through two high passes Tropu-la at 4950m & Gyatso-la at 5220m with the second affording spectacular Himalayan & Everest views. Such high passes are all marked with prayer flags & many smaller cairns that look as though many different visitors put their to mark their own visit. Day 3, Sat 27/Oct, left New Tingri at about 8.30am heading for Everest Base Camp (EBC). Went through a checkpoint where are permit & passports were verified. A couple of K's further on our entry tickets were stamped & then we were off on an unsealed road. About 90km to the Rongphu Monastery & a further 8km to EBC. It was hairpin turning roads climbing up & then hairpins down, the river following the river course from the mountains. This took us through several small villages situated on the riversides. The river was little more than a trickle at this time, however. There were lots of roadgangs along the way mostly installing metal safety rails. The roadgangs looked as though they were family groups - men, women & the occassional child - it makes sense as they are camped out by the roadside for the duration of the project.

The landscape, at this high level, was more of the bare brown hills with some variations like massive sand dunes, & rocky, even pebbly, river flood plains. Still no trees. The land looks so barren, so little growth, yet. there is enough growth to sustain the grazing of flocks of sheep, goats, cattle & yak.

We stopped at Rongphu Monastery (4950m) at about noon & had some lunch before walking the remaining 8km up to EBC (5200m). We were talking to a couple of poms the previous evening who said this was an easy and pleasant 2hr walk, so we thought we'd give it a go & asked our driver & guide to meet us there at our expected ETA.

Marg is really cool
One of the high passes in the Tibetan plateau - marked with prayer flags.

The walking trail starts higher than the road & avoids the switchbacking the road can't. It headed straight at Mt Everest for the entire walk, views all the way! It was into a strong wind. The track soon joined the road again & we kept going - mountain to the left, trickling river to the right. There were no road signs so we just had to guess at the distances we'd come & had yet to do. At one point we could see the road up ahead switching back & forth so Marg & I left the road to shortcut the distance. Sue was feeling fatigued & kept to the road so as to have the option of a car pick up when our car finally came by. We soon saw Sue get collected by the car & continued, feeling less confident (& more tired), with our choice. We made it though, our off road did avoid a lot of switchbacking & we rejoined the road only a km, or so, short of EBC. The car came to get us, we were behind schedule, but Sue told us "Only the next bend", so we finished the walk absolutely buggered but pretty bloody happy. Everest Base Camp is not all that attractive a sight - the mountain view - superb - but EBC itself is just a flat, bare piece of ground from which those serious climbers can launch an assault. Very few permanant structures here & the tents etc that do exist are being constantly stretched & stressed by the very strong winds.

The trip back we thought would provide an opportunity to sit back, maybe even nap a little as Tashi headed us back down the hill. No such luck! Tashi took us on a cross-country 'short-cut'. It was an interesting thing - based on Days 1 & 2 of this trip we had suspected that both Gavan & Tashi were a touch narcoleptic. Gavan would fall asleep as soon as the car was put in first gear & Tashi gave us cause for concern, especially, when he donned his sunnies & his head would start to wobble. But Day 3 had woken a sleeping giant within Tashi, obviously a passionate off-roader & dare-devil - able to put this car through all sorts of manouvres. With the vehicle jumping all over the place, Gavan was unable to sustain his normal sleep routines & was compelled to stay awake or sustain a concussion.

The 2.5hr drive was rugged & uncomfortable, at times, but more than compensated for by the superb views. We drove across sweeping plains, rugged, rocky mountainsides, passed through small villages, across river flood plains, passed many fortress ruins, and all the while the great views of snow-capped Himalayan mountains.

Spent the night at Old Tingri in a triple room for 105Y=$16. A little rugged in its own way - no toilet of our own, a shared drop dunny, no showers, hot water by the thermos. Tingri is at an elevation of 4390m was a village spread the length of the road with low level houses & I'd estimate the population to be only several hundred.

Lazz & Marg

Day 4, Sun 28/Oct, we set out at 10ish on unsealed roads again heading for Nyalam where we were expecting to have to wait until 8pm, when the road re-opened after roadworks for traffic to pass through, with, perhaps, another hour of travel to Zhangmu. The drive, again, provided spectacular views, reminiscent of those National Geographic shots, where you see a lone herdsman, leading a herd of yak across a sloping plain with those snow-caps in the background. They were real shots after all! - not clever photo-shopping. Crossed another high pass & stopped for photos & leg stretch.

Met a bunch of bikers a little further along who had stopped for a rest. They turned out to be a group of Aussies riding their 500cc Royal Enfields from Kathmandu to Lhasa & back again. They were from Melbourne & from our neck of the woods (one from Murrumbeena). There was 7 or 8 of them all with new bikes (maybe hired in Kathmandu) & had a support vehicle following them with spares, etc, & a 4WD vehicle with their driver & guide. Could be a docco coming up - they had helmet-cam, hand-held cameras & the like.

Hanging around Nyalam (3750m) for several hours was not a great prospect - it was a one-street town with a checkpoint. We'd taken 3rd place in the queue behind the boom for a quick get-away when the 'all clear' was sounded. Marg managed to change 100 Aussie dollars to get 600 yuan & get us out of our dire financial situation (I could have a beer with lunch). Around 4.30pm, however, cars were moving! We had a mad scramble trying to find Gavan & Tashi but we were on our way out of there by about 5pm.

This drive down to Zhangmu, the Lonely Planet says, is 30km - but, it must have been more! This road drops quickly from the Tibetan plateau at 3750m to a timbered gorge of waterfalls & cascades taking you down to 2300m. All this road was under construction/repair & a 4WD was a must. There were so many construction people, spread along this entire stretch - must have been several hundred of them in total. It was a magnificent scenic experience, the river plunged several times, with the road dropping less dramatically - so there was a very steep fall to one side for much of the journey. Driving through single lane, ditches, rocks, waterfalls, makeshift detours, all in convoy with 14 other 4WDs - the compete off-road experience.

Marg with Everest on her head

Zhangmu is a remarkable town that hugs the rim of what seems to be an unending succession of hairpn bends down to the Chinese customs area at the end of town. It is also a place where trucks swap there loads - Nepali & Indian trucks unloading to Chinese trucks to continue the cargos journey into China & the reverse sort of thing for Chinese cargo heading south. What a mess!. We found the top end of Zhangmu absolutely choked with traffic, mostly massive trucks but also our convoy of 4WDs & other types of traffic. We left the standstill traffic & walked down the road (trying to beat the other 14 4WDs to the available beds) to our Lonely Planet recommended accom, the Gang Gyen Hotel, where we scored a 5-bed dorm for our exclusive use for 120Y=$18.50 thanks to some fancy talking from Marg.

Next morning we had to queue for the 10 o'clock opening of the Chinese customs & fill out a couple of forms all of which we didn't initially know about. This is the sort of thing your guide knows & tells you about. We thought you had to drive across the bridge, a K or 2 on, to be 'processed' but had stumbled upon the customs queue. In fact, Marg was pretty bloody irate with Gavan's absence & lack of help that she went looking for him, found him, got him out of bed & at the queuing area where he should have been. He didn't know too much about the procedures however but we had pretty much sussed it out ourselves. Gavan's sloth was ill-timed as we parted company today & any tip he was hoping for had just evaporated.

Going through customs was reasonably smooth & we found our car - past the customs point- & then drove toward the bridge leading to Nepal's border town Kadari. Couldn't get all the way down, because the traffic, so walked & portered our bags the last km to Nepal immigration & then further on to the Kathmandu bus. As sson as you clap your eyes on Kadari it is immediately evident that this is a much poorer place - the messiness, the crowdedness the state of the roads etc.

We got to the local bus station, despite our porters wanting to take us elsewhere, & purchased our tickets to Kathmandu - 160R=$3 each. Got on this bus, and despite there being only 3 other passengers on board, there was hardly any floor space left. The aisle & the seat foot spaces were all occupied with boxes of beer & brandy. I complained a bit, pulled a box or two out so I had leg room, but I was in the vast minority. New customers were getting on, climbing over the debris in the aisle & doubling their legs up to sit in their seats - I quietened down!

A bunch of 5 young backpackers were amongst the last of the passengers to arrive & most were happy enough to sit on the bus roof with other cargo & other passengers. These - the Polish 5 - were actually 3 Polish, a Brazilian & a Japanese. There was also another pair of English speakers sitting behind us, a Belgian couple, Johann & Tine.

The trip was very slow, lots of stops, all very suspicious. After a couple of hours, & only about halfway to Kathmandu, the bus stopped at a village & told us the bus was going no further today. Accident up ahead? No. A landslide? No. Maoists? Well, no. Well who knows! No straight talking from anyone.

We all got off, the Polish 5, the Belgian 2, us & the rest. We plopped at a local eatery & had some dahl baht. After lunch the Polish 5 went on a fact finding mission determined to find a way to Kathmandu today. They did well, extracted a partial refund (100R=$1.80 each) from our original bus driver & found another full bus going on to Kathmandu. The Polish 5 climbed on top took our bags, Marg considered climbing on top, too, but Sue & I were reluctant so we all had to strap-hang for the rest of the trip. Still cost us another 400R for all 3 of us. The Belgian 2 bargained down a taxi(?) with 2 seats available to get to the city

This bus stopped on the outskirts of Kathmandu, ~30km out, saying "no go" until 8pm that night. The Polish 5 swung into action again, this time with local assistance from an English speaking Nepali also heading to Thamel. Again, the Polish 5 extracted some refund from the 2nd bus (100R=$1.80 for we 3), before assisting us carting our gear several hundred metres down the road to a local bus area. This 3rd bus made it to Kathmandu (30R=50c each) passing through some military type road-blocks & some very heavy traffic to be dropped off, in the dark of early evening, still quite a walk from Thamel. The Polish 5 were also heading to Thamel so they again helped us lug the baggage to a Thamel street corner where I, & the luggage, was left while the girls went looking for the Microne Hotel (a place we'd stayed last visit here).

I was like fresh meat amongst the vultures. I was relentlessly attacked from all manner of street vendor, would-be helper, beggar, pimp, pusher, the lot. I could have had sex, drugs, accom, souvenirs, tiger balm, & certainly had my heart-strings tugged by the life stories of many passing locals, & a couple of kids even displayed geographic knowledge prior to asking for money for cookies & milk! No salesman in Thamel ever hears you when you say you are not at all interested in what they are selling.

It was an age before Marg came to retrieve me from that corner. She & Sue had been many places, not found the Microne (turns out it's changed name), found many hotels fully booked but had eventually found accom at the Thorong Peak Hotel (850R=$15/night). Made it to Kathmandu after all!