On the road

At last we leave Lhasa to begin the leisurely drive to Base Camp.

20 April - on the road

It feels good to be on the road. If driving quickly it is around 3.5 hours but there is a new speed limit of 60km/h, and our drivers only drive at 80km/h instead of around 100km/h. We brake suddenly as the driver spots a cop with a radar, and 200m away is a uniformed team. We are OK, except that he can't read Chinese and it says "Stop". He rolls past and stops when they tell him to, and after 10 minutes of apologizing he is let off. Kunga, with Jayne, Matt and Kirsti in the vehicle are not so lucky, and the driver is fined 50Y (about $8) as a token fine; he was just over the limit, but the real speeders get fined around $100. So the journey takes around 5 hours with pee stops for us, which are welcome cigarette breaks for our drivers (who don't smoke in the vehicles).

We had lunch at a really typical Tibetan teahouse, yak and potato stew on top of rice before the rest of the drive to Shigatse.

Phil, Johan and Philippe waiting for lunch, but what is that Hindu poster doing in Tibet? - Jamie

21 April - on the road again

The road is sealed and flat, almost brand new with red and white blocks on the corners to stop you going over the edge, and Armco steel crash barriers on the windy sections; a road to a standard better than much of the world, truly astounding, considering we are in a remote province of China.

Colours and textures - why I love Tibet (and Ladakh) - Jamie

The guides and drivers and Matt relaxing at kilometre 5000, which is measured from Shanghai (not Beijing).
It is highway 318, one of the longest in China - Jamie