China

Despite the crush at the Xi'an train station, the overnight train to Beijing was surprisingly pleasant and comfortable, and all enjoyed various bits and pieces of picnic and beer.

Arrived into town at the crack of dawn, and thankfully permitted to check into our hotel (still no pool!) way before noon, though took a while to actually get into our room, which was 'fine', and we had CCTV 9, hooray!

First day we took ourselves into Tiananmen Square - we all know what happened there - and around the centre of town.

Three of us took lunch in one of the restaurants, which was little more than a street stall, but usually a good place for local food, at local prices. For a meal that would normally cost a pound each, we were thrown to be served a bill for 120 Yuan, about 8 pounds. One argument later, though neither side knew what the other was saying, we left 65 Yuan and bolted.

A highlight of our stay in Beijing, and formally the last full day of our group overland trip, was a trip out to see the Great Wall. Rather than the nearest tourist point, the journey took 3 hours to a quieter spot. Wow, what a fantastic sight, especially on a beautiful day.

The climb up was pretty hard going, but we managed to get to all 15 (or was it 12??) towers before the trail stopped. Cracking views of the surrounding hills and into Inner Mongolia.

Whilst tough going up, it's also pretty tricky going back down - very steep, though only had to walk halfway, before taking the last mile or so in a cable car. Unfortunately lack of time and an element of fear stopped us from taking the Flying Squirrel (aerial runway) back down.

Next day, back in town, we visited the Forbidden City, closed to outsiders for 500 years, hence the name. This place was the residence for the Emperors and their Concubines - a huge area in the middle of the city, to the North of Tiananmen Square.

Unfortunately, a very disappointing trip - scaffolding and covers shrouding most of the important buildings, and limited access to the various exhibits. Where there was access, there was also a million other tourists.

The audio tour was not much better and seemed to always be explaining a completely different part of the City to where you actually were.

Unfortunately, not the best way to spend half a day.

Dinner that night was at the John Bull pub, and coming second in the (Ameri-centric) quiz. Second last that is.

The Summer Palace was very pleasant, with it's huge lake, though, again, lots of tourists and not very peaceful. Over 100,000 folks were comandeered to dig out the lake.

The Mao Mausoleum is a strange place, and visited by flocks of devotees every day (except the days where Mao is being re-touched). We joined in the Communist-style marching with the rest of the queue and made our way through to the viewing room. Must say, he does look a bit like a glow-worm, though very interesting to see such devotion from young and old alike, despite what you read in the history books, if such a true account was available. Of course, the customary Mao gift shop followed the viewing room, where all kinds of Mao-morabilia can be bought.

The remaining couple of days in Beijing were spent either in town or by the lake near the hotel, where more than one Coffee Frappucino was enjoyed at the lakeside!

Despite being a big, 'modern' city, it's a little tough getting around and it's always necessary to show taxi drivers your destination in Chinese. There's very little English spoken here, expect by those in the tourist trade. Also, therefore a shame when it comes to eating and getting into the culture, though certainly not impossible to get by.

Our group whittled down to the last couple of folk by Friday 25th, and we took our flight onto Hong Kong...

Paul and Chairman Chris

From camping out at the 'National Grid' Park we enjoy our last, long, day on the road and arrive in Xi'an.

Slightly tricky arrival as the truck squeezes down the back route to the hotel car park, taking out a China Telecom sign and a couple of kids (well, we heard a 'crunch' half way along).

Nice room, poor view, and sadly no pool yet.

Before the group met up for dinner, we had a walk around to get our bearings, then onto have some Peking Duck, which, here, is served with the head sat on the edge of the serving dish. Sure I saw it move....

There's a pleasant 'green' open space outside the hotel, where seemingly all of Xi'an congregate to fly kites. Not to be outdone, we joined in and only nearly decapitated 2 people, though at least we got airbourne, then tangled beyond repair.

Next day, a trip out to the Terracotta Warriors - at over 2000 years old, these were built for the Emperor to take with him into the afterlife, and only discovered in 1976.

There's still more to uncover, but exposing them to the air is problematic, a bit like the Mary Rose.

Chris and I had a chat about what we might take into the afterlife (if such a thing exists...);

Chris - a pony, chocolate (various), glasses, scuba diving equipment, Hoegarden

Paul - a car and some diesel, a laser gun, shoes, Ipod, Skittles

Chris went to the 'interesting' Steles Museum to see the stone tablets - some of the earliest examples of stone tablets displaying Calligraphy.

Only 2 nights in Xi'an before the adventure of an overnight train to Beijing...

Paul and Little Chris

Having left the peace and quiet (relatively) of the plateau, arriving in Lanzhou to the sound of car horns and traffic, together with the choking smog. Lanzhou is apparently one of the most polluted places in the world, being tucked at the end of a valley which houses numerous industrial works - mainly brick and cement factories and other aggregates.

Chris is missing Tibet already, though pleased to arrive in a modern hotel for a shower. Once again, nice sit-down toilets, and 50+ channels of classic chinese television. No CCTV 9 (only english language channel generally available) here.

Whilst nice to be away from the ground floor traffic on the 15th level, we seem to have the slowest lifts in the world - usually a 5-6 minute wait each time. Imagine the delight to find that your keycard doesn't work when you finally get to your room, with all your gear...

Nothing of particular interest in Lanzhou, but enjoyed more good food, and treated ourselves to 100 Yuan worth of bottled beer - 50 bottles in total (15p a bottle) and happily treated any local that cared to toast with us. Not sure if that's quite eco-tourism, but we were famous for a night.

Briefly back to the food - we ordered some BBQ skewers, which included liberal lumps of fat, which turns out to be a favourite here. In fact, so much a favourite that we came across a wok-full of sizzling fat-lumps. Yummy.

More clubbing here too, which included a free pole dance. Unfortunately, a skinny gyrating man in leather hot pants doesn't quite do it for me. Once again, the westerners get gawped at with their strange dancing behaviour - no-one heard of breakdancing before???

So, two nights in Lanzhou then more road-work as we make our way to Xi'an, via a camping spot (probably not quite official) outside an electricity sub-station. Drew the biggest crowd of the trip so far - I think a whole village came to watch us tonight - all good hearted and plenty photos exchanged.

Just one more long day on the road before Xi'an....

Paul and Chris

After 5 days of citydom, we get back on the truck to spend the next 5 nights camping and covering many hundreds of kilometres between Lhasa and Lanzhou.

Not a great deal to report, but the landscape changed dramatically - from snow capped peaks, to desert. The roads remained pretty good, so not so many bumps.

Sitting at the back of the truck was something of a wind tunnel, and grateful for being wrapped up in a blanket.

Whilst the landsacape was truly amazing, boredom did eventually set in and we played a game of 'Guess The Crisp Flavour'. Despite 4 different coloured bags, they all managed to taste the same - chicken-y, though I think they were some kind of spicy pork and egg.

Camping seemed like a chore to look forward to at the end of the day, but after a couple of days you get into a bit of a routine - I think we got an A-frame tent up in 9 minutes at best.

Camp fires were pretty cool, and Yak dung (dry!) does work well in place of wood, though we held back on the marshmallows.

As part of a travelling group, we were all assigned different chores (head of leftovers, tent management, chief of larder) as well as having to take a turn in cooking breakfast, lunch an dinner. Thought it would be a nightmare, but didn't turn out too bad in the end and no leftovers to discard on the day we cooked.

Most of us now past the altitude sickness, though glad to be heading down to less than 2500 metres. We were hoping to feel 'amazing' when we got back down to thicker air, but didn't seem to happen for us - maybe too long on the road/our backsides.

Many k's later, and we arrive back in civilisation - Lanzhou.

Paul and Chris

Now off the road for five days and into Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and home of the Dalai Lama - well, it would be if he wasn't in exile in India!

The hotel in the pleasant end of town (the Tibetan end) and well placed for getting around the city, which is mainly walking!

First sight to see was Barkhor Square - on the face of it a tacky tourist area, with stall after stall selling the same crappy souvenirs or clothes. Looking past that, the area is highly atmospheric and you find yourself sucked into the clockwise procession alongside the pilgrims, making their way around the Jokhang temple. Whether spinning a prayer wheel, playing with beads, chanting ('Om Mani Padme Hom' - 'Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus')or 'prostrating' (the motion of their prayer position, stretching out on the floor as you make your way around the temple) - the sight was amazing! And yes, more smells of rancid Yak butter.

Regrettably neither of us took the leap of faith that is to try some Yak butter tea - a nasty concoction, containing....you guessed it! Hats off to Justin for placing his firm order!

The Potala (spared during the cultural revolution - winter residence of the Dalai Lama and prior seat of the Tibetan goverment) is the main attraction in Lhasa. A stunning building, both inside and out, though a shame that so much of the inside is restricted access - you can probably get into 20 rooms, out of many hundreds. Therefore, considering the 7 hour queue for tickets the previous day (from 6am!), together with joining a scrum that developed from an orderly queue - something of an expedition!

Having said that, Paul chose to take up a mountain bike tour on the morning of ticket queueing, leaving Little Chris to fight off the chinese (in the nicest way).

Cycling through town a bit of an experience, and with the instruction to 'not hesitate or make eye contact', we faced up to the cars head-on, and survived!

From cycling to horseriding - Chris spent a day in the saddle and came across some local horsemen blessing the valley, in full regalia.

Lhasa also the first place for us to experience nightclubbing, Chinese-style. Again, feeling goldfish like as this group of westerners make their way across the floor! Was all in good humour and I'm sure we made some friends with our moves.

Next stop ....five long days on the road, and lots of camping!

For anyone coming to Lhasa - must read '5 Years in Tibet' - even though it's 10 years old, not much seems to have changed.

Despite still being at high altitude, the sun continues to scorch, and the thin air is playing havoc with dry, cracked, lips. We keep smiling....

Paul and Little Chris

Just two weeks into a 52 week trip and nightmare of nightmares happens - Ipod gives me the screen that suggests 'I'm broken'.

Fast forward a bit and it seems that Ipods don't like the altitude (my video Ipod at least).

Seems to go a bit funny above 3500 metres, but don't fret...

The route away from Everest took us several hours to a a small place called Shegar, where we met back up with the big truck and a waiting rice salad, and the stinkiest toilets encountered so far. Filth!

The afternoon drive and a bumpy road to Lhatse didn't quite go to plan. The Chinese have a different view on how to do roadworks - rather than close off a small bit and allow traffic to get around, they choose to close the whole road - both directions!

Five hours, and after a stream of curious locals climbing the steps to look into the truck, later.....and we manage to get some transport on the other side of the road closure to our hotel at 11pm. I use the word hotel quite loosely - and won't even mention the toilets. Oh goody, we need to be up at 6am the next day for a loooong drive to Shigatse.

Out of the wilderness, we stumble across civilisation and the nearest thing to a western hotel - really, it was quite nice and even more welcoming to know that we'd be staying for three comfortable nights, with a proper sit-down toilet and loo paper.

Shigatse is the second largest city in Tibet and the main attraction is the Tashilhunpo monastery - the seat of the Panchem Lamas. Briefly, the Panchem Lamas are 'second' to the Dalai Lamas.

The monastery is in a huge compound and brimming with chapels and chanting monks. One lasting memory is the smell of burning Yak butter, which is given as an offering by the pilgrims. Additionally, money (small notes!) is liberally scattered around the chapels, tucked here and there - seems to me (Paul) that you need to buy your way into a prosperous future. At least counting the money keeps the monks busy, very busy!

Chris was blown away by the whole religious experience and the kindness of the pilgrims and monks. Chris took the route of the pilgrims around the monastery and was fascinated by the devoted pilgrims spinning the prayer wheels.

Out of Shigatse for a day and to see the Pelkor Chode monastery at Gyantse. Whilst we had been accompanied by a Tibetan guide since the China border, today was the one and only time he gave a little history as we walked around the monastery - a real shame he'd not done so before, local knowledge really adds so much to a place.

Also in Gyantse was a steep walk up the Dzong (a fort), which was the sight of the battle between the British and Tibetans in 1904. The fort also contains the 'Anti-British' museum, giving the Chinese view of the 'invasion'. Felt like the climb to the top of the fort achieved a heartrate bpm of 188...

Paul, Chris and the pilgrims

Out of Tingri next day, for the travelling comfort of a Landcruiser and an off-road excursion to Base Camp.

Fantastic landscape along the way, as well as the usual sight of nomadic Tibetans, and their bright white teeth, tucked behind wide smiles. The climate conditions don't seem to do a lot for the complexion, their skin seemingly leather-like.

Through green valleys, rocky valleys and streams we make our way towards the Rongphu Monastery (4980 metres, highest in the world), though one of the vehicles had a puncture on the way up.

Across from the monastery is where you pick up the pony and cart to take you the final 8 kilometres to Base Camp. Poor little ponies - the nasty man made our convoy take a steeper shortcut and the little pony hooves were slipping. Little Chris got a bit upset.

It would have been nice to have walked that final track, but was quite a bit uphill and it was something of a struggle to walk 100 yards!

Unfortunately the weather conditions not great, and the view of 'Big E' was masked by cloud - it should be in full view all the way up to Base Camp.

Base Camp (5200 metres) is a curious collection of tea houses (where the sofas double up as bedding for the night), with the obligatory sale of souvenir items. Even more curious is that there is a mobile signal up there!

Fact - Base Camp was first used/set up by the British Everest expedition in 1924. Souvenirs were not available at that time, nor was mobile phone coverage.

We spent most of the day taking it easy and eating chocolate and drinking tea - unfortunately, the clouds failed to clear, though you could see a bit of Everest.

With just one night's stay at Camp, fingers were firmly crossed for a view the next morning - I guess prayers must work, as we were treated to a fantastic early morning view of the North Face, though we were teased whilst the low mist cleared and the sun popped up.

Really was an amazing scene to be standing 'just' 3500-odd metres from the top of the world - our breath was quite literally taken away!

Sadly, time was against us and our pony train took us back to the Monastery, but we enjoyed the view of Everest all the way back down the valley.

Fact - British Leyland produced a van called a 'Sherpa' - coincidentally, Sherpa's are also the folks who live on/around Mount Everest, and have played a key role in all Everest accents. There is no record of a Sherpa van ascending Everest.

Paul and Chris, and the little ponies

After meeting our travelling buddies for the next 4 weeks last night, we seem to have a good group and should get on just fine. Curiously, only 10 on the trip, plus 2 drivers/guides (women drivers!), whereas the trip caters for up to 22.

With our stuff all packed away in underseat lockers, we get on the road, making our way out of town - great scenery, and the foul air of the city fading away, though toilet standards as grim as ever. Maybe the facemasks aren't for the city pollution after all...

The first day sees us arrive at something of an oasis - The Last Resort, an out of town haven, both for peace as well as something more adventurous. First impressions for Paul were 'oh my god' as the entry into the resort was across a Jacob's Ladder, with a huge drop, from where you can bungy. Apparently, this is a higher drop than the highest in New Zealand(??) - either way, not fun to cross in the rain.

That said, it was a nice, peaceful, place to stay overnight, and Paul enjoyed an hour or so, full body (back and front - not the middle bit) massage. We both passed up the opportunity to scale down waterfalls in a wetsuit - 'canyoning'.

Next day, making our way to the China (Tibet in truth) border. Fantastic scenery along the way - huge walls of mountain either side, with the numerous waterfalls only enhancing the view - or at least taking your mind off the sheer drops just a couple of feet to the right.

Altitude begins to play a part in our daily routine from here, with warnings that we'd need to drink plently, and do very little in order to acclimatise.

Lots of fun at the border - though not too much to worry about getting out of Nepal. This was our first taste of Chinese red-tape - and to cut a long story short, 29 hours later, we were allowed through. Thanks, China! Seemingly our guide (groups need to be guided through the country) was not going to meet us until the next day, with the necessary travel permit. One grim hotel night later (damp/smelly) enhanced by Snickers and Mars, we finally got away the next afternoon... As we entered China, we were subjected to a short questionnaire, but shocked to have a 'laser-gun type thing' pointed at our heads. Thankfully nothing more than an external thermometer - I'm sure the experience could have been made a lot more personal, and intrusive!

Back on the (bumpy) road, to Nyalam - all recollection of truck/travel now coming back - and we wind our way up to 3750 metres, and the altitude effects start to take their toll on some of the group - and, it's bloody cold up here! Thanks to the people of Kathmandu for making nice warm hooded jumpers!

From Nyalam, we moved onward for our first night camping and the sight of Yaks and multi-coloured prayer flags (a Tibetan speciality). Oh for a 4-season sleeping bag! Almost forgot, tonight our first experience of being a goldfish in a bowl - a goat-herder stood transfixed as we laid out our cooking gear and tents - at least he enjoyed some of our leftovers. Fact - Yaks can't live at less than 3000 metres.

Now up at 4300 metres as we get to Tingri, though after crossing a mountain pass at 5100 metres. To quote Lonely Planet, Tingri is 'a photogenic huddle of Tibetan homes that overlook a sweeping plain, bordered by towering Himalayan peaks' - which is about right, though I'd add that this town is just short of one Clint Eastwood - very Wild-west-like. Chris not very well here, with a little bit of sick. Our room nice and bright, with full-on Snoopy motif.

One strange thing we're experiencing is that, despite the cold at altitude, the sun is very strong - I guess like it is for the skiers out there. Next stop, Mount Everest!

Paul and Chris