China, Tibet - The closest place to heaven & closer to God

Map of Tibet & Route Map has been updated

Once again thanks Franki awe-inspiring.

Could you get from Suanghu back into Xinjiang heading straight up through the MT Hoh area?I think there is another big mountain range on the border there that is pretty remote but westerners have been there?

The northern Tibet plateau is rarely explored as it is too extreme. Many places are uninhabited and not accessible overland. Theoretically one can try to go there but I think one needs very strong logistic support & special vehicles to do that. I have not heard about westerners going into such area. Even Chinese needs special permits to enter.

These photos are just awe inspiring. What incredibly beautiful country.I cant keep my eyes off this ride report. Thank you.

Payang to Saga is no better. When climbing a steep mountain, the road was very rough where some time both wheels were air born. The 2 bolts securing the XTR sub-frame broke about <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:chmetcnv w:st="on" TCSC="0" NumberType="1" Negative="False" HasSpace="False" SourceValue="10" UnitName="km">10km</st1:chmetcnv> just before reaching Saga causing it to collapse. Luckily I felt it went down and ease the bike to stop at a safe place. One bolt is broken inside and one is completely missing. I put in one spare bolt and rode carefully down the mountain to Saga. It took me visiting 3 bike shops to find one that is willing to take the broken bolt out and replace it with a new one. When I return to the hotel, Jon had met some other bikers travelling the other direction and also plan to stay in the same hotel as ours. Needless to say, dinner party is on.






A group photo was taken before the dinner party





A kid carrying his make shift rug sack looks on as we rode pass





On going road construction made the road even worse to ride on







Saga to Lazi is about 5% better but I still got sweaty palms and aching muscles. None of us bordered to dig out the camera to take photos as we were all busy staying upright. After we left the G219 road construction zone, we came to the end of G219. Just before reaching Lazi, the road connected to G318. Jon had to rush back to his girl friend who happened to be in <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Lhasa</st1:City></st1lace> and not feeling well. Capt. Kool and I stayed in Lazi for the night and we head to wards Zhangmu which is border with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Nepal</st1lace></st1:country-region>. To get to Zhangmu, we need to cross over 2 +<st1:chmetcnv w:st="on" TCSC="0" NumberType="1" Negative="False" HasSpace="False" SourceValue="5000" UnitName="m">5000m</st1:chmetcnv> mountain passes and than started to decent to below <st1:chmetcnv w:st="on" TCSC="0" NumberType="1" Negative="False" HasSpace="False" SourceValue="2000" UnitName="m">2000m</st1:chmetcnv>. The geological change was very drastic and the scenery change was amazing.




<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
<o></o>



This is the point where road construction end and also close to the end of Route G219 . We congratulate ourselves in completing all the off road sections of this trip with even having one spill, with the exception of Capt. Kool of cause




Hahaha...




The USD fork left leg started to leak after the super washboard road at the northern route. Thus, little braking on front rotor for the rest of +6000km journey.




For a long time we were on dirt roads, this clean tarmac road is a welcome for a tired rider. Yes, you are not wrong about the white napkins. We use them to dry out the extra moisture inside the boots and they work very well. Its only when we wanted to buy them in the supermarket, we always got a strange look from the girls over the counter





This photo is just to demonstrate where the napkin is surpose to be used.





We stopped by this milestone to sign on it in memory of our travel on Route G219 in 2010.





Vegetation showed that we have decented to a lower altitude of around 4000m




Greener pasture, more animals





The farmer is better dressed

I am so proud of you guys!
Thanks for sharing!

Xu Ding

Motorcycle is magnet to kids






When I grew up, I wanna be just like him....





This one is young at heart

Jiacuo Pass at 5248m was cold and windy











Coming up to the second mountain pass





Milestone showing 5288 km from it starting point near Shanghai





It is hard to imagin how people live at above 5200m

A typical Tibetan tea house





A stroke of sunlight warmed the house





Dried meat





Stone slates harvested by farmers for building material





After passing Neila-mu, we were greeted by a wall of fog and clouds. This is the pass that stopped all the moisture coming through from the west.





We got very wet once inside the clouds and sometimes the visibility dropped to 5m





Lavishly green





Its like a fairy tale or Chinese painting





There are hundreds of waterfall, only if I can see them. I can surely hear them roar.





The road descending down to Zhangmu





Zhangmu and the parking lot for border trade trucks





There is not one square foot of flat ground in Zhangmu so all the houses were lined up just along the narrow road.

Hi Xu Ding,

You have got the tools and you are in the area. Go for it!

Franki

Incredible photos, inspiring journey.
Thank you.
FP

Truly top notch trip, report and photography! Simply stunning.

Thanks a lot for sharing.

Zhuangmu didn&#8217;t look like <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">China</st1lace></st1:country-region> to me, may be this is the same with all border town. There are more foreigners there than Chinese. Even some of the shop keepers are Nepalese. Border trade is booming here and traffic jam on these narrow mountain roads can be horrific. Hundreds of Land Cruisers lined up on the street (yes, there is only one narrow street in Zhangmu) sending or receiving pilgrims and western tourists. I called it the Land Cruisers supermarket.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
<o></o>
We intended to ride our bikes to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Nepal</st1:country-region> and had all the documents ready for entering <st1lace w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nepal</st1:country-region></st1lace> from Zhangmu. I have exited <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">China</st1lace></st1:country-region> many times before and never had any problem. But this time, I faced the unexpected. The Chinese Customs will not let my bike out of <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region> unless I have got a permit issued by the Customs office in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Lhasa</st1lace></st1:City> with a &#8216;healthy&#8217; cash deposit. There is no way I ride back to <st1:City w:st="on">Lhasa</st1:City> to get such permit so I wanted to give <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Nepal</st1lace></st1:country-region> a miss this time. But Capt. Kool said he has never been out of the country before and he had applied for the passport and visa especially for this trip. Furthermore, I do have Nepali friend expecting me in <st1lace w:st="on">Kathmandu</st1lace>. So we left our bikes in a secured parking place and walked across the border to Kodari and took a taxi to Kathmandu. The 5 hour taxi ride to Kathmandu was very uncomfortable in such a cramped space and we hit rush hour traffic entering <st1lace w:st="on">Kathmandu</st1lace>. Pollution was very bad compare the crisp clean air back in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Tibet</st1lace></st1:country-region>. It took me a while to adjust from the tranquil <st1:country-region w:st="on">Tibet</st1:country-region> plateau to the hassle and bustle of mad Kathmandu traffic, considering I am from <st1lace w:st="on">Hong Kong</st1lace>.






Store in Kodari





Road side restaurant





Farmland





Fruit market





On the way to Kathmandu





The city





Temple





When east meets west





Courtyard of the living goddess - Kumari Bahal





Intricate wood carving




Window of the living goddess





Wood carving in temple. A kind of worship or sex education?





Sex is beautiful





Temple in the rain










Please do not disturb





Rickshaws = Kathmandu Durbar Square



<o></o>

Life in the rain





Acient & modern





Alleys of Thamel





Taking a break





Feeding the sacred bull





Simble of peace





Deep in his own world

Street vendor






















Cramped Kathmandu





Monkeys of Monkey Temple
















Bird's eye view

Gift shop










Masks











Chinese influenced wall painting





ADV riders mini meeting in Kathmandu

Somebody is asleep at the switch . . . maybe me. Near as i can tell none of these photos have made it to the front page yet. I nominate one, any or every photo . . . motorcycle in it or not. Worked and road on this landscape 25 years ago . . . i still wake up in middle of the night . . . cold . . . with the plateau and mountains in my dreams.

None of my photos look like yours ! I honor the light that shines within you ... all. If this is not adventure riding quality. Nothing is.

Thanks for the reply! Yeah I can read and type Chinese (poorly) so I'll give those chinese forums a crack :) my mandarin is ok and my cantonese is barely there even though it was my first language, and i'm working on the language of the throttle too

I'll earn myself some of those maoxian zhongguo stickers!

I can understand the difficulties of setting up such a forum but maybe there will be opportunity in the future. Hope i can be a part of it when that happens

Thanks for the compliment. From what you said, you must be the pioneer in exploring Tibet on a bike. I am just one of your followers

Don't honor the light that shine within me, its the light around me that make the photos look so good. I am just there to record it.

PM me your e-mail address and I will let you know the progress of the Chinese forum and when there will be some new stockers coming out.