The Train to Lhasa – Part 2 Friday, 12th July 2013

With diesel traction on the front we left the station at about twenty to one in the morning. I slept until 2.00 a.m. to find the train had just stopped. I couldn't see anything until ten minutes later when a passenger train passed in the opposite direction. We'd clearly been waiting on a passing loop for the section ahead to clear. I looked out again about 3.00 a.m. and it seemed very misty.

We stopped in a passing loop at about 3.45 a.m. and five minutes later another express in the opposite direction passed us. I slept again until we slowed for another station. After a wait of about 6 minutes, we carried on, passing another station that was not lit up at about 6.25 a.m.

A rather bleak view across the Tibetan Plateau.

We were certainly on the Tibetan Plateau and quite high-up – the grassland had white patches of snow or heavy frost and white fog banks obscured the view from time to time. As it started to get light, I could see a road parallel to us on the left with many lorries. The largest lorries were articulated with long six-wheel trailers and the load sheeted-up. The road was commonly built on a bank of 1 or 2 metres and sometimes marker posts (presumably reflective) were fitted on either side of the road surface to discourage vehicles from plunging og the bank. These poles could be as tall as around 8 feet or as short as 3 feet but in many areas, no markers were provided, even when the road was on a bank little wider than the carriageway. I spotted a religious stupa in the Tibetan style. This, combined with the prayer flags we'd passed in a number of places confirmed my belief that faith was still a powerful force in Tibet. At regular intervals, we passed cellular radio towers. Some of the had elaborate solar arrays nearby. I'd noticed that passengers on the train had no difficulty in making calls on their mobiles, even  when we were in remote places.

At 7.15 a.m. we negotiated another passing loop with a short passenger platform. This was near a fair-sized town with a river running through it, Tibetan-style houses, a petrol station with a massive forecourt and overall roof, a large Tibetan stupa and lots of prayer flags. Leaving the town, I watched 8-wheeler lorries negotiating minor roads which were sometimes only dirt-tracks. I eventually realised that the herds of long-haired cattle were yaks. Out in the country, I saw an isolated road-mending camp complete with either tar boilers or coated roadstone plant.

Half an hour later, we passed another small station but not much in the way of the community it served was visible. By 8.15 a.m. we were rolling through another station, provided with large station buildings in the modern 'Triumphalist Chinese' style - I realised later that this was Tanggula, at 5,068 metres the highest station in the world.

I wasn't feeling too good – I'd developed a blinding headache and felt very sick. I suspected it might be 'Altitude Sickness'. At 9.20 a.m. we paused for a few minutes at An Duo station, where the station nameboard gave the elevation as 4,702 metres. On boarding the train at Xining, I'd seen a number of small oxygen bottles sitting at the end of a coach and I'd photographed the installations in my cabin but I don't know whether my diagnosis was correct. I did have similar symptoms when I stayed in Cuzco, Peru, which is also quite high.

Our route took us alongside a lake at high altitude.

At 9.45 a.m. a large lake appeared on the right and this remained with us for some time. There was another passing loop with a station platform right next to the lake shore. I managed to sleep for a time, waking at half past eleven as we ran through a station with the passing loop occupied by a train of track maintenance machines and coaches which I assumed provided accommodation for the workers.

At 11.40 a.m. our speed reduced to a crawl and I guessed, correctly, that we were approaching another passing loop and that we had not yet got the signal to enter the loop. After a few minutes, out speed picked up. There were four loops at this location. The leftmost was occupied by track maintenance machines and coaches, this time with a red diesel electric attached to the Lhasa end. Waiting on the line next to us was an eastbound passenger train, headed by one of the huge 2-section diesel-electric locomotives used on this line. We passed another eastbound passenger train in a simple passing loop around 12.08 p.m. This time, the other train must have cleared the section ahead earlier, because our speed didn't reduce to a crawl.

At Dang Xiong, I could see a substantial town and the station had three through platform lines plus a fourth loop line. We entered the rightmost platform line because this was the platform with all the station buildings and road access. After a five minute stop with quite a lot of passenger activity, we set off again at 12.33 p.m.

At 1.15 p.m., we were routed through the middle one of three passing loops without stopping. Nearby, there was evidence of possible peat cutting as fuel for the stoves every dwelling is provided with. It seemed likely that dung may also be used as a fuel and perhaps a building material, gluing together the rounded stones that are commonly used to construct dwellings. But there are also plenty of buildings made from rectangular building blocks held together with cement.

We were still passing tents pitched against the railway fence, some with the Chinese flag outside and either a motor bike or small car parked nearby. There was usually a polythene-sheeted mound nearby – the stash of supplies or fuel for the stove or both.

We didn't have to slow at the next station, either. There were three or four lines through the station. An eastbound passenger train with the customary massive 2-section locomotive was waiting on one side of an island platform whilst we sailed by on the other side of the island platform.

The scenery was becoming much more rugged and we encountered a series of tunnels. The first was the longest and it took us nearly three minutes to pass through. As we plunged into the tunnel, I spotted the neat Guard House with a proper, uniformed guard on duty. There were four more tunnels, much shorter and then we passed through the small station of Ang Ga – just two lines with a platform on the right hand line.

We crossed a river and I noticed a small yard on the river bank making building blocks. There was one corrugated iron workshop building, presumably where the blocks were moulded, a drying yard with hundreds of blocks laid out and, out in the open, one large capacity cement mixer. It occurred to me that the adjacent river probably provides the sand, gravel and water, only requiring cement to be bought in. I didn't manage to get the name of the station we ran through at 1.42 p.m. but there was a large factory with railway access on our left. I couldn't work out what the factory made.

It was clear that our line was descending through the river valley, raised on viaducts and crossing the river a number of times to get the best route. The main road was still following us, making its own choices as to the best route to follow. Although we were running through a fertile valley, tall mountains lay on both sides in the background with mist trailing from the mountain tops and streaks of snow in the shaded parts.

We were still passing the periodic radio transmission towers but in this area, the towers bristled with CCTV cameras, unlike the earlier installations we'd passed. The weather was still overcast but now it was also definitely wet as well. We passed some sort of market with lorries, horses and more than a dozen gaily-decorated tents.

A colourful but puzzling event at a small town.

At 1.50 p.m. we ran through the small passing station of Gu Rong. The rock face was very close to the railway and was strewn with loose boulders. As I'd seen earlier, a heavy netting had been fixed over the rock face to protect the railway.

At various points along the line, I'd seen the Tibetan version of the 'polytunnel' form of greenhouse. But now we passed a 'polytunnel city' with the structures crammed together extending over many acres. They build one solid, straight wall to about six feet in height. A large number of  roof members then extend, in an elegant curve, from the top of the wall to the ground. The roof members then support a polythene roof.

Part of 'polytunnel city'.

At these somewhat lower levels (Lhasa is still 2,650 metres elevation), we passed more human habitation and more industry.

At 2.00 p.m., we slowed for the larger station of La Sa Xi (Lhasa West). There was a major high voltage switching station on our left, with an army of transmission towers marching to it across the landscape from a number of directions. There was a rail-connected petrol depot also on our left. On our right, there was an extensive goods depot with a horde of lorries delivering to, or collecting from, long lines of covered bogie goods wagons. There was also a group of private sidings wandering off  but I couldn't see where to.

After the complexity of La Sa Xi, we returned to a single line but the character of the countryside had changed. We were in the developed corridor leading to our destination with major roads (some dual carriageway), apartments and industry. We crossed over a broad river, overlooked by a Guard Tower perched high on the rock face then, on an embankment, headed into a single line tunnel. Above us, the major road swooped across us on a viaduct before plunging into the same mountain using twin tunnels.

There was a large group of sidings on our right full of bogie tank wagons guarded by a blue diesel electric locomotive. The trackwork now became complex and fanned out into (at least) six platform roads. We passed under a huge all-over roof and slowly made our way along the broad platform 1. At 2.14 p.m. we had arrived in Lhasa!

I was feeling a little better and hauled my luggage into the corridor. There was a slight delay as a numbered of uniformed railway officials were in a compartment further down my coach assisting the party there onto the platform. Waiting actually on the platform was a car and a people carrier to collect the party and their luggage. I didn't actually see who had been in that compartment, but I think I found out what happened to my original tickets!

On arrival at Lhasa, passengers from my train swarm along the platform towards the hall where document checks are carried out.

There were crowds of people making their way along the platform towards the exit and hundreds more presumably waiting to get onto the train for its return journey. I had hoped to have a look at our locomotive but it had uncoupled by the time I got near and quietly dropped forward onto what is currently a headshunt but I believe will become an extension further into Tibet.

There were a number of parallel queues shuffling through the massive hall so I joined one, wondering what happened next. Most people had a credit card sized identity card and they were passed through quickly. I saw one family diverted to a small Police Office. I presented my passport and Special Tibet Visa. Another official was immediately summoned and, very politely in reasonable English, he asked me to follow him. We went outside to where there was a separate building which seemed to deal with foreigners. There were quite a few people apparently waiting for attention but I was cleared almost immediately. Explaining that I was expecting to be met, I was then led outside to a barrier with guides waiting for their charges. I immediately spotted a young girl displaying a computer-printed 'Jan Ford' sign and once the official had checked that the guide had a copy of my 'Special Tibet Visa' he wished me an enjoyable stay and went to find other customers.

My guide, Tse Dol Kar, a young married Tibetan girl with one daughter, spoke good English and led me to a Toyota SUV and driver waiting nearby so I was soon loaded on board and we were on our way to my hotel. I was pretty tired but happy and not a little relieved. I'd made it!

The reception area at the St. Regis Lhasa Resort.

The St. Regis Lhasa Resort was the first international luxury hotel in Tibet, opened in 2010 and part of the Sharwood Group. It fully met my expectations – the staff were friendly, attentive and with good English. Once my guide was happy with the arrangements, she arranged to pick me up at 10.30 a.m. the next day and wished me goodnight. I decided to have a bite to eat – the cod fillet with lemon butter sauce and mashed potatoes was one of the best pieces of fish I've had. Accompanied by a glass of Coke and followed by two scoops of vanilla ice cream, I was very satisfied. Soon, I was in the huge bed and slept quite well. Tomorrow - the famous Potala Palace.

My Pictures

QingHai - Tibet Railway.
St. Regis Hotel, Lhasa, Tibet.

The Train to Lhasa – Part 1 Thursday, 11th July 2013

I'll give you a very brief description of the train journey. I appreciate that not everyone is a railway enthusiast, so I'll try to omit the technical bits and save them for another report later ('Thank goodness', I hear you cry).


My 4-berth cabin. The rose was plastic.

When boarding, I hadn't had a chance to look at what was on the front of our train but the overhead electric catenary continued to the west of Xining so I presumed we were electric hauled. The journey was very smooth and I was impressed. Looking at the railway infrastructure, it appeared well-maintained and I concluded that these were serious railway people. That's not to say that the occasional 'bodge' did not appear, but the overall standards were very good. The similarities with the Russian Railways I was able to study last year (see my posts Trans-Siberian) were significant, apart from the track gauge – China is 'standard gauge'.

After we'd been travelling a little over half an hour, the uniformed coach attendant came round and gave me a Passenger Health Declaration form for completion. This certified to the QingHai – Tibet Railway Company that I was fit for travel at elevations above 3,000 metres above sea level. Xining was two thousand something metres elevation, Lhasa is 3,600 metres elevation but on the way, we would climb to around 5,000 metres elevation. My paper train tickets had been inspected when I boarded but not collected so the coach attendent swopped my tickets for plastic credit cards identifying the berths I was entitled to use but not the date or route. Near the end of the journey, she then swopped the credit cards back for the paper tickets which I still have.

We passed a large group of sidings on our right full of bogie coal wagons. This appeared to be the loading point. I spotted the screening plant but not the source of the coal which I assumed was opencast.

Initially, we were running through an industrial area but eventually this gave way to grassland with rolling hills and lakes but it was very noticeable how many high voltage power transmission lines were following our route. Electrification of any country is important but China, with its high growth rate, has made big demands on its electricity grid. I found the rural areas reminiscent of Mongolia (where I made a brief visit last year, described here). From time-to-time, we passed traditional buildings with arrays of prayer flags nearby.

Traditional buildings and prayer flags on the grassland.

Also dotted around the grassland, there were a few tents, each with a stove pipe sticking through the roof. Some of these were rectangular, some round (but not having the proportions of the Mongolian 'Gyr' tent). I concluded that these were used by nomadic herdsmen and this seemed to be confirmed when I started to see long-haired cows, mainly black, wandering free.

Periodically, there were tents erected just outside the railway fence but I thought at least some of these were used by railway security workers for we frequently passed lone men wearing either 'High-Visibility ' jackets, Army Camouflage or various uniforms. Some of them stood to attention or saluted as we passed (often standing on a dais made of concrete slabs), some of them waved at the train and some totally ignored us. In addition, we passed periodic properly-built two-storey guard rooms. Here we could expect to see at least one man in a smart uniform saluting the train. Incidentally, at stations, the staff stood to attention sometimes with a salute as we passed – this is something you can also see in Russia.

After we'd been travelling about three hours, we passed through a large station and turned off to the right on a curving single line. Looking along the continuation of the double track main line we'd left, the track bed continued to two tunnel mouths, but there was no track! I can only assume this was a new piece of railway still under construction.

Our electrified single line now started to look more like Switzerland, with mountains rearing up left and right and our route twisting first to the left, then to the right to find a way through. At least I was able to catch a glimpse of our locomotive on the curves and confirm that it was a single electric unit.

Some of the cuttings we negotiated had been stabilised with a steel mesh.

Because we were on a single line, there were loops every few kilometres, allowing trains travelling in opposite directions to pass one another. At the first of these loops, we went straight through, passing a waiting freight train on our right loaded with military tanks. We went straight through at the second passing place.

At Nanshan, we passed another waiting freight and then the line certainly emulated Switzerland in order to lose height, for it corkscrewed to the right, then to the left, sometimes crossing under itself and continued in this fashion for a bewildering few kilometres. From time to time, the rock wall loomed very close to the line, in other places strong fences had been erected to protect against falling rocks.

In the mountains between Nan Shan and Luo Bei, the railway twists and turns, sometimes crossing under itself.

Finally, we passed through a tunnel curving to the right and then made a broad sweep to the left to take us to the passing loop at Luo Bei where another freight was waiting for us to clear. A couple more tunnels took us to a fairly complex junction where a double track line joined on our left. We passed through without stopping but there were at least two more freight trains waiting on parallel tracks. After three more tunnels, we passed the small station of Mulan.

By 9.00 p.m. it was pretty dark. I didn't get the name of the large station we stopped at but seven minutes later, we were on the move again. I wasn't feeling brilliant so I decided to go to bed early. I was fairly comfortable on one of the lower bunks but I'm not used to sleeping in a single bed. I slept intermittently until midnight when perhaps the sound of a passing train woke me. Ten minutes later we stopped at a large station whose name I didn't get. As we rolled in, I'd seen a massive 2-section diesel electric in the sidings and I wondered if this was where the traction changed to diesel electric – it was. There was a roadway next to us on the non-platform side and I was not surprised to see a number of workers waiting for us to stop.

In the 30 minutes we stood at the station, at least four 'honey wagons' passed alongside emptying the lavatory tanks. Our coach was provided with two toilet cubicles – one with a 'western style' pedestal W.C., the other with a 'squat' toilet. Both had 'vacuum flush' where pressing a pushbutton runs water into the bowl and after a few seconds delay the contents of the bowl are sucked into a large tank carried underneath the vehicle. Sadly, for most of the journey, both types of toilet had urine swilling about on the floor. I'm afraid this probably has more to do with the habits of the passengers than any defects in the system design.

And on that not-very-salubrious note, I'll conclude this report. We still had another 14 hours to go before Lhasa and I'll tell you about that next time.

My Pictures

QingHai - Tibet Railway.