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The amorous girls at the reservoir
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Kids at Karola Glacier
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Karola Glacier
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Printable View
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The amorous girls at the reservoir
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Kids at Karola Glacier
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Karola Glacier
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beautiful!
I had an altitude sickness at 5000m. It was unbearable so after one night needed to descent.
Great Ride!
The view of that mountain is worth every penny.
Congratulations!
Great report fellas. A lot of us are put off with Teebet proper due to cost and red tape associated with it, but this RR really makes one think twice bout that. Keep it coming. :popcorn:
25
We were at the frost covered bikes at 7.30 ready to get rattled about. Nyima was pillion with me as George had taken him on the way up. We made it safely back to blessed tarmac, swapped bikes and made good ground until hitting the same 40 kms of road works, this time uphill. I was so elated at our luck with the weather nothing could dampen my spirits, Everest was completely hidden from view when we left and it seemed as if the gods had opened the mountain just for us before closing it firmly once more, Nyima and his fellow guides said we must have good karma...who knows where I picked that up!
After flying down a descent from 5245 metres we went back through some familiar checkpoints and were back in Xigatse by 5. I did drag the guys off on one very silly rocky adventure which they weren't best pleased about but we did make friends with a nice shephard and his flock.
We hit the beer tents in Xigatse, ate some great bbq and discussed the merits of filling up first thing in the morning versus filling up after an hour's ride,
6105 total.
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Frosty bikes in the morning at base camp
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Buying cheese at the Karola Glacier
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Local salespeople
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Swapping out the crappy battery that comes as standard on jialings
Turquoise lake near Lhasa
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26
We stayed in the same hotel in Xigatse and managed to leave at 9.45 this time, stopped for gas after 90 kms then went up a nice pass by a pretty reservoir. We stopped and took some pics and some Tibetan tat sellers told us they loved us...they can't have seen too many people that day! The next pass was at the Karola glacier which even in it's reduced state was an impressive sight. We descended and at the bottom of the pass my bike just died, unfortunately George and Nyima were leading so they didn't see me. I tested the battery and it was dead as dodo so when George came back to find me we towed the bike 5 kms to the nearest town and fitted a new one.
Turquoise Lake was probably one of the most beautiful places we saw all trip and I hadn't even heard of it. By this time there was lots more traffic and tourists as we were back near Lhasa so we didn't stop for too long and got straight on with the task in hand – namely one of the best descents we'd done all trip. The road was a bit beat up at the start then smoothed out and we both gave it the beans. At the bottom neither bike had any chicken strips whatsever.
Coming into Lhasa we got caught by a speed camera and given a bollocking by some coppers. At first they confiscated our licenses and seemed to want us to pay a 'fine', I was very happy to pay but once they saw that they said don't worry about just take it easy...nice! We covered the 70 kms into Lhasa at an absolute snail's pace, 40, which was probably even more dangerous than speeding because it's almost impossible to concentrate riding that slowly.
In Lhasa we went back to our favourite restaurant 'Dunya' and had a lock in with the Dutch boss. We finished off George's whiskey, drank far far too much and were generally very badly behaved indeed.
The next day we went to the train station only to be told our bikes now couldn't be shipped by train so we put them on a truck instead. I went to pick up my bike yesterday in Shenzhen and found George's bike there...bugger. The bikes are exchanging places as I type this!
By the way the awful dirt road to base camp will be concreted soon so my advice is to go there soon before the whole place is overrun!
6451 kilometres in total.
Georges bike certainly had a good christening
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One of the German/Austrian group riding YBRs
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The Austrian/German tour group getting ready to leave the base camp guest house to ride 4 kms to advanced base camp
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The road to Lhasa just after a truly epic descent
Overall I'd say the trip was a absolute success, the annoyances and expenses of travelling in such a restricted environment were far outweighed by the stunning scenery and wonderful people. Nyima played a huge part, I don't know many people who would have been happy to ride those long hours as a pillion and keep such a sunny disposition, he also was an expert with all the paperwork which really minimised the stress and sped up the whole checkpoint procedure no end.
I think we may have pioneered the guide as pillion technique, certainly no-one we met on the trip had seen it done before, usually guides have their own bike or travel in a jeep, which would add significant costs to an already expensive province to travel in. Speaking of costs...George and I paid 7k each. This included all the paperwork and guiding fees as well as hotel accommodation in Lhasa (3 nights) and a welcome dinner. We paid for Nyima's hotel when there wasn't a guide's room, and all his food and drinks on the trip. George, Tommy and I paid 3.5K up front each which covered all the permit applications but then Tommy couldn't make it so he lost that money. Cancelling his permit was actually quite a big deal for Godzilla who had to make numerous trips to the office to explain what had happened.
Godzilla's wife Medol studied in the UK and speaks fantastic English, her number is 13298907778, email: ngodup88@163.com
We got a 'mate's rates' deal with them due to our Yangshuo connection and I thought it was great value for money, in fact we couldn't have asked for more.
The other way to do it would be on a YBR with the Austrian guide. His company is called 'Asia Bike Tours' and you can email him at heinrich@asiabiketours.com
Tel: +43/1/699 106 04 197. Their website - asiabiketours.com
It certainly did! It'll be hard form him to top that one! It was also his first ride in China so he really hit the ground runningQuote:
Originally Posted by zhu
Alright that's pretty much it for me, if anyone needs any more info about the trip let me know...
Thanks for sharing. It's great that your guide was willing to ride pillion. What a legend!
Pure class dude. What an achievement. You fucking rode tibet, no one gets to do that.
Thanks for sharing such inspirational trip. awesome.
Wow, great report on what seems like an amazing, once in a life time trip...
You got your bike in SZ or just outside it? I'm in SZ, Nanshan and got my bike in huiyang. If you're ever out that way and want to go for a spin do let me know..
excellent report and photos...what a trip to remember!!:riding:
when i stumbled across your entry and when is saw the jialings i knew we met. was with the group you met up there! good to hear you made it back save. all the best - Heinrich www.asiabiketours.com
The Austrian/German tour group getting ready to leave the base camp guest house to ride 4 kms to advanced base camp[/QUOTE]