Across the longest border I have ever seen – it is literally a 2-hour drive from check point to check point the change was immediate from the lush green we had seen in Kyrgyzstan. The Tourgart Pass has kept China safe from invasion from the west for thousands of years and the dusty road now even makes it a tough place to cross. Our first taste of Chinese bureaucracy was saved by a hail storm. At the second check point (one of four) we were asked to remove all baggage from the truck and take it for X-Ray but the X-Ray machine was outside and just as they were getting done with thoroughly searching Pauls bag (he had an ukulele in his bag, never leave home without one) one almighty storm blew in from no where and the hail belted down sending border guards and all running for cover. This threw a bit of a spanner in the works for the very young looking Chinese officials and after much umming and ahhing they just waved us on to the next check point. So the day went on, formalities for formalities sake, until late afternoon we had entered China and the Xianjan Province.
We had picked up our new local guide Vanessa, a definite must in a country were even guessing the road signs is an impossibility and ordering food can land you with literally anything on your plate.
Making our way to Kashgar we were greeted by an all singing and dancing staff, they came outside and sang and danced for us on arrival, we checked in to garish Chinese style hotel, not my taste in decor I have to say but we soon got accustomed to the elaborately plaster and painted ceilings and headed out to explore Kashgar.
Welcome to China:
The main market in Kashgar has been in existence for thousands of years and walking the maze of vendors was an experience enjoyed by most but the night market and food was the highlight for all, after so many meals of Plov and Shashlik the Central Asian staple, the elaborate and spicy food of China had people drooling as they pawed over the menus.
Crossing through town presented its own set of problems in the form of electric scooters, the city streets are bustling with bikes but not one makes a sound, a bizarre experience but crossing the road is a perilous activity as you rely completely on your sight as the silent bikes fly up and down. We had 3 days here as we readied ourselves to drive across the vastness that is China.
A walk around the old town that sadly was rocked by a massive earthquake last year throws you back a thousand years as tradesmen beat out copper plates on the pavement and blacksmiths hone knives that are famous the world over, the market is a sprawling maze selling everything from paper clips to massive swords, animal fur to live animals of all descriptions. It is wild and crazy and what made this city famous.
From Kashgar we started our journey through China. Turpan is the second lowest point on the planet and a truly appropriate spot to start if you plan on driving to the roof of the world. Turpan is also the hottest place in China and proved itself just so. A night here gave us the chance to wander around the Jinghong ruins, a massive city hued out of the ground but the staggering heat sent most straight to the ice-cream seller.
On from Turpan driving through the desert, hundreds of kilometres of flat straight road bought us to Dunhaung.
China is big into tourism, but tourism based solely on the local population with their closed border policy that is now only slowly opening up, and so with the massive expanse of land available they have made theme parks out of entire cities, Dunhuang is one of these and even if it is not built to suit western tastes it is to be marvelled at. Doubling prices in high season is seen as quite acceptable, capitalism at its best, which caused a bit of upset on a few occasion. On one afternoon we were heading out to the massive sand dunes that surround the city, a natural wonder with a ticketing office the prices had doubled only the week before. The young lady behind the counter totally unabashed pointed at the new sign despite our best protest. So a few folks decided to set off to find a gap in the fence, while others paid their way. Random and bizarre are the best words to describe what we found inside, thousands of camels ready to ride greeted you at the gate, only outnumbered by the masses of locals wearing their specialist sand shoe covers in bright orange, activities were not short on the list, a quad bike ride through the dunes was possible as long as you were happy to trust the driver, or drive yourself while he lent over your shoulder and held the handle bars... A few of us did a five minute flip in a micro light which was great but the highlight for most was the sand tobogganing; walk a steep set of stairs nearly to the top of a dune, fling yourself on a bamboo”toboggan” and fly down a slope, it was one hell of a slog to the top but most folks found themselves running up and down repeatedly until their legs would not make the trip. Next was the crescent lake, a beautiful blue lake surrounded by sand with a 1,000 year old pagoda and then a few cold beers and home, the entry price may have been doubled but it was one of the most random screams we have had this trip.
Next to the Great Wall, albeit only the ruins, but it was a great experience to camp so close to so much history.
We now started our climb to the roof of the world, China was not going to make it easy though. The first big road we were going to drive was closed all day due to road works. Chinese-style they just open the gates at night and its every vehicle for yourself as you drive some of the worst roads I have ever seen, in the dark, luckily both Cher and I can drive so we took it in turns throughout the night to arrive safely at our first bush Camp in the Tibetan region. Hiding ourselves behind some hills we thought we had found a good secluded spot, but as if by magic strangely dressed folks started to appear as if from nowhere. Standing, staring, and then coming closer and giving us a hand to put the tents up. Not quite sure what to make of theses friendly people the situation took a bit of getting used to, we had been watched from afar before but this was pretty much in your face. Eventually entire families arrived to watch our antics. Cooking that night you felt the urge to give an explanation of why you were cutting the carrots just so as 10 women stood and quacked at you, all at a respectable distance just fascinated by our peculiar behaviour. Our first introduction to Tibetan people and our first night at sleeping at 4,000 metres was an odd one but enjoyable and everybody soon became very attached to the wonderful people of Tibet.
At this stage we also picked up our Tibetan Local guide Dawa. We now had two local guides on board which is a great treat, Vanessa to help us with the Chinese and Dawa to explain all the strange sights and sounds of Tibet. A great help on the truck too, he would spring about the place helping with everything he could while we all struggled in the thin air.
Our local guide explaining the history and culture of Tibet:
Next to Lake Namsu, the highest lake in the world, which would take us to just below 5,000 metres, a good time to test your stamina as now the air is very thin and even though we had made this ascent over 5 days going up and down slowly to give our bodies every chance to acclimatise we would be seeing how we would cope with Everest base camp. Most folks were pleasantly surprised with how well they handled it, but walk a bit and then rest was definitely the best option. Even talking you would find yourself having to stop, gulp some air and carry on.
A night at the lake and then down again to Lhasa.
Lhasa had been on many peoples’ lips for so long everybody was really excited to arrive and drive down past the Potala Palace, steeped in history and controversy, and now having quite a bond with the local people we were surprised to find a massive army presence in the town. After the riots last year China has clamped down and their presence is truly felt. Not to be put off we checked into our hotel in the heart of the old town and planned our next 3 days of activities.
Debating monks - despite the language barrier, it is fascinating to watch:
Town was in full swing as we had managed to arrive on Tuesday, the next day was the 15th of the month and a Wednesday, a double whammy on the Tibetan calendar the incense burners were billowing smoke as the pilgrims threw themselves on the ground outside the Johang Temple. Doing this up to a thousand times a day, it’s as much a work out as it is a religious exercise and you find yourself dumb struck and in awe of the peoples’ devotion. As we toured the temple we jostled with the pilgrims in what is one of the most incredible buildings I had ever seen. We found ourselves walking from room to room, nearly not saying a word as Dawa fought to make himself heard over the chanting and praying.
A walk around Barkor Street surrounded us with thousand of bits and bobs to buy from your typical tourist tat to fabric woven from yaks hair and handmade saddles. Not only tourists shop in this part of town.
The next morning we headed for the Potala Palace. 100 million steps and several litres of sweat saw you arrive at the main gates. We chose to arrive as a group but travelled around in small clutches so as not to get ushered out by the money hungry staff. It’s an incredible building but you can’t help but find yourself wondering what we would have found in its days of former glory and not just a tourist Mecca.
The first two days we had planned a major attraction either morning or night as due to the new ticketing laws groups must travel as groups and you all have to be with a local guide. So the spare time was divided up amongst the many other temples and sights and Dawa made himself available to show those interested the what’s what of Lhasa.
So on the last day most people just relaxed or shopped or whatever they may so have chosen, though I would say it was probably more shopping as the next morning the luggage locker was stuffed to the brim as we started our journey to the mighty Mount Everest.
Two days of driving would see us ascend from the 3,800 metres to base camp at 5,150 meters, now well acclimatized only the truck would cough and splutter as the oxygen thinned on the way up. The second night of camping we managed to enter the park as Dawa was friends with guys of the gate so we were able to camp at the base of the 160 switchbacks that would snake us over the hills and to the base of the top of the world.
Slow going we stopped off at a view point. Staring at a cloud covered mountain range our hearts began to sink but suddenly the cloud cleared for just a moment and we caught our first sight of Everest. Known as Chomolungma by the locals, a far more fitting name meaning mother goddess of the universe. The mountain is as elusive as it is dangerous. Hundreds of people die every year to reach it peak and thousands make this bumpy drive and never even catch a glimpse of the summit.
Lady luck was by our side, as when we arrived the clouds would clear and close around the peak, cameras flashed and flashed as we booked into our hotels for the night. Our hotels, sporting names like the Yak hotel or Himalaya Hotel were not quite what one would think… Made from yak hair woven into mats and with a burning stove in the middle they were homely as you like. In the evening the hostess would arrive to tuck in your quilts as you bedded down for the evening around the slow burning stove.
As the mountain was clearing we thought best make use of our time and caught a bus ride to the mountain climbers camp, this is as close as you can get without forking out the US$20,000 ticket to climb the mountain itself. We arrived in good cheer but were soon lined up by the officials at the gate. Our intended local guide had fallen ill just before we arrived and Dawa was sent in his place, but the permit we had to enter base camp had the intended guides name on it. So in true Chinese fashion as the paper work was not 100% we were all refused entry. The stone that says Everest was 50 metres past the barrier and this is a tick box photo everybody wants to have but despite all our begging and pleading there was not a stone to be moved with this little man with big power. So we made the best out of what we had and climbed the hill just behind the gate post and watched what we came to see.
The next morning a couple of us decided to walk up to the base camp gate to watch the sunrise. We woke at five that morning and made the slow trek up the windy slope, slow going with all this lack of air and blindingly cold the standing water around us had frozen. Climbing our little hill behind the gates we waited for the show to begin. The stars up here are incredible, with so little pollution and sky in the way they burn brighter than nearly anywhere on the planet. Shooting stars lit up the sky as the first morning light crept in. The sight that greeted us I have never even seen a photo of. The white jagged peaks stretching off to the right and Everest without a cloud in sight. Absolutely magic.
Walking back to the camp, everybody was out, some still wrapped in sleeping bags to ward off the chill, photos from the night before were frantically being deleted to make room for the mountain as naked as a new -born child.
Down the mountain we wove to the viewpoint for lunch, once again the clouds had gathered, and everybody realised, despite the Chinese silliness, just how lucky we had been. From here we had one camp and then back into a now familiar Lhasa for one night to scrub up at our comfy hotel and then back to the bush.
We had five nights of bush camping ahead of us though a few were rained out and we found ourselves in little local hotels , we were the first overland company to drive this leg and even though it was hard going and our truck suffered a bit of bang and bounce and even a rather dramatic puncture, it must be one of the most scenic stretches of road in the world as you wind your way up monster mountains through dense jungles and barren grassy plains surrounded by snowy peaks and amazing settlements, it’s a part of the journey we will never forget.
That tiny speck on the road is the truck! Gives you an idea of the scale of the mountains around:
Ouch:
But Shangrila was our next big destination. Staying in a quaint guest house all made of wood we had two nights here to explore the town and temples. It was also the wonderful Cheryl’s Birthday and celebrations were held in the appropriate fashion, a group meal out we ordered a set menu for all followed by dancing and drinking until the small hours of the morning.
It was also the drop off point for people wanting to hike the Tiger leaping gorge, as I did not go along for that check out http://teeandle2009.blogspot.com/2009/08/china-yunnan-tiger-leaping-gorge.html .
We took the short drive to Liejang. Another world heritage site history and more shopping and then to Dali. Dali is yet another Chinese tourist town but on a much smaller scale and a nice end to the touristy side of Yunan province.
From the quaint little town we headed for Kunming. Kunming is the biggest city on the South Western side of china and after so much rural driving the smog on the horizon was an interesting change. We only had two nights here though even in two years you would not see it all. Kunming gave everybody a chance to stock up with provisions before we headed down south out of China and into a much more relaxed Laos.
China is an incredible country to travel and hopefully this blog has given you some idea of what it is like, but to get a true picture you will just have to get out here and see it for yourself on one of our future expeditions!
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