What is the best route to share when traveling by car in Tibet?

Tibet is located in the southwest of China and is also the highest region in the world. The air environment here is very well protected and it has the largest pastures and glacial snowfields in the world. Lhasa is the largest modern city in Tibet. Here are the things you should pay attention to when traveling in Tibet.

In 2012, I saw the photos my colleagues took from Tibet and made them into a photo album. I lamented that the motherland still has such vast beauty, and always thought that I would go there. This trip was also an impromptu decision, probably because I haven’t traveled for a long time.

I decided to quickly prepare my luggage and necessary medical safety supplies, such as cameras, hats, sunglasses, rhodiola rosea, jackets, etc. The 50L bag was full. I thought I was in good health and didn’t need to prepare a lot of medicine. Because when I was in Lijiang last time, there was basically no response from Lugu Lake. But later the facts told me that this was a big mistake.

I bought a ticket from Shanghai to Xining and walked for nearly 48 hours on the night of the 21st. Two days of sleeping on the berth was really tiring. It is recommended that you take a flight to Xining first, and then take a one-day train to Lhasa, so that there will be an adaptation process.

When the train arrives in Xining, it must be changed to an oxygen train because it has to cross the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at an altitude of about 4,000 to 5,000 meters. There was a doctor on the bus. If you feel unwell, you should seek medical treatment promptly. Two aunties in my sleeping compartment vomited. I also had trouble breathing.

Shanghai-Lhasa

The high loess slopes taken by the train

I arrived in Lhasa on the evening of the 23rd and stayed one night at the nearby All Seasons Hotel. On the 24th, I went on a day trip to the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple on the Beehive.

It is still necessary to sign up for this group, so that you can better understand their history from the tour guide's explanation.

I brought my luggage with me when I went to Pugong and Jokhang Temple because I would go with a self-driving group introduced by my friend in the evening.

Although there was only one bag, it really made me breathless. I had difficulty breathing several times while climbing the Cloth Palace. Fortunately, my teammates in the group took good care of me and divided their glucose into several tubes to replenish my energy.

Kowtow in front of the palace.

Potala Palace

This palace overlooks the city of Lhasa.

The tour guide will explain to us what each room in the Bu Palace is used for and which one is the Dalai Lama. I can’t remember many of them clearly. What impressed me deeply was the love poem "Prince Tsangyang Gyatso" written by Dalai Lama VI. It is said that the real body of other Dalai Lamas is here, but his is not here because everyone thinks that he did not do his job well and had affairs with his children all day long, and was then exiled to a place where his real body was not found.

In the afternoon, I visited the Jokhang Temple. After the visit, I reconciled with my new teammates. We had dinner at the famous Majia Ami near the Jokhang Temple.

Lunch

Jokhang Temple.

On the 25th, we are going to Yangzhuoyongcuo. There were seven people in the convoy. Later, when we took the Qinghai-Tibet line, two of them left, leaving only five people. Brother Li, a veteran driver, suggested taking everyone to a bar to celebrate. The bar was so noisy I couldn't breathe. Later, I simply went to the front lobby.

The goddess muse of literature, music and art

Brother Li took us to Yanghu. There are Tibetan mastiffs on the road that you want to take photos with, but don’t take photos easily. Say hello to the price first, otherwise you may get ripped off. Yanghu is known as one of the three holy lakes in Tibet. Yanghu Lake is more than 4,000 meters above sea level. After returning home in the evening, I had my blood oxygen level measured and it was 82, which was moderate hypoxia. Anything below 80 is serious. Normal people are above 92. So I went directly to the clinic and took oxygen for half an hour.

Yanghu

On the morning of the 26th, we set off for Namtso. The weather was changeable, with rain, snow and hail all the way. Brother Li did not take us on a regular route, so the scenery we saw was probably different from what others took. I thought Namtso would be like Yang Lake, but after going there, I actually felt like I was on an Antarctic glacier. We also rescued a car on the road and they gave us a bag of milk tablets as a thank you.

Namtso

Rescue

In a hurry, we had to find a place to stay before evening.

The original plan was to go to Tanggula, but then we chose Nagqu. We were walking in a no-man's land, and it was the first time we walked into Brother Li. After driving more than 100 kilometers, we didn't encounter anyone. Now we don’t even dare to think about it. Fortunately, there are mobile and telecommunications phones in the car. Some places have no signal, and some places have no telecommunications. This is how we switch navigation and export. But the scenery is really charming.

Yak

On the way

Another car was saved.

Getting to that song was truly an experience I will never forget. The other two teammates wanted to take the night journey to Xining because they were afraid of not catching the plane in Xining. At this time, my body could hardly hold on any longer and I was taking oxygen all the time. Finally, I decided to spend the night in that song.

After dinner, I went to bed to rest and took some medicine, thinking it would be better, but I felt weaker and weaker. I tried to get up and drink a few sips of glucose, but still no improvement. There was a strong tingling sensation in my brain. I persisted for a while, but still couldn't fall asleep. Around 1 o'clock, I felt increasingly weak and had almost no energy to get up. I called Brother Li who was sleeping in the other bed. I said I was about to die and asked him to take me to the emergency room or call 120. He was sleeping at that time and I woke him up. He was probably a little impatient and said it was normal. Take a deep breath and hold on for a while. I lay down again, but my body knew it. After a while, I felt that I couldn't hold on for half an hour and almost fell unconscious. I tried to sit up and called him again to ask for help. To be honest, I can't hold on anymore. Then Brother Li probably thought it was really serious, so he got up and sent me to a nearby oxygen bar to get some oxygen. At that time, I was walking and felt almost exhausted. When I got to the oxygen bar, I breathed oxygen there all night. At first, I didn't get better. I still feel breathless and very sleepy, but I dare not sleep. I kept telling myself that I couldn't sleep. At that time, I felt really afraid that I would not be able to wake up if I fell asleep. I thought about a lot of things and bad things were going to happen in front of me. The medical oxygen I used at the beginning was a big iron tank that kept delivering oxygen, and it cost 100 yuan an hour. After smoking for a while, I didn't feel any better. I changed to an oxygen concentrator, which cost 150 yuan a night. Later I felt that the oxygen concentrator should deliver oxygen according to the rhythm of breathing. In fact, I felt worse after inhaling it, and I ended up switching to medical oxygen. Therefore, it is recommended that everyone try not to inhale oxygen or use medical oxygen in order to save some money. You will continue to receive oxygen and the person will feel more comfortable.

It wasn’t until the next morning that the owner of the oxygen bar told me a lot of things, saying that he almost didn’t want to receive me yesterday and that the driver, Brother Li, smelled too bad when he first came in. He had shit on him and it was late. I asked what was going on. He said it was normal to urinate uncontrollably on the plateau and that such things happened often. It is said that during the peak season in summer, there will be several waiters at the door of their oxygen bar, and people who respond well will often bring them over. The waiter will judge which people can be saved, and some people will be unconscious if they are sent over. If they are not saved, they are not allowed in. It's a bit scary to think about it. Just because you're in good health on the plains, it really doesn't mean you'll be fine on the plateau. I also met many people coming to buy oxygen in the morning. Later, I bought an oxygen bag when I left. It seems that oxygen bags are really better than oxygen bottles.

Next, I ran to Tanggula. The car broke down once on the road. Fortunately, it was not far from Nagqu and the car repair company had spare parts. If it's in no man's land, that's it. There are frequent traffic jams in Tanggula. It is said that there was a traffic jam of 200 kilometers in the past. Fortunately, Brother Li, the old driver, overtook me all the way. When he met the police, he lied that someone in the car was seriously resisting. If the roads were difficult, he would start traveling across the country in his Land Cruiser. However, I was not in good condition that day. I kept taking oxygen and did not take any pictures. That day we had lunch at the military station with the highest altitude.

As his teammates catch the plane, Brother Li has been on the road and the traffic conditions are constant. There was a snowstorm along the way. It's really a bit like the movie "The Day After Tomorrow", where you can't see the front at all. It is really not recommended for friends who come to Tibet for the first time to drive by themselves, because you don’t know how far away from this snowstorm, it may be hundreds of kilometers, and you are not familiar with the roads. Along the way, I also saw car wrecks on the roadside, and I didn't dare to get out of the car to save anything. We had to keep going.

Goodbye, Tibet.

Finally we left Tibet and then went to the no-man’s land in Hoh Xil, Qinghai. Fortunately, I was very happy when I was in no man's land with no snowstorms. Hoh Xil is still very beautiful. I gradually mastered the rhythm and started breathing again. I had to take a deep breath. There's not enough oxygen in my nose.

Cocoa beans

Cows

Wild donkeys

After leaving Hoh Xil, we went straight to Golmud. Finally I can take a shower. I had never taken a shower before and I didn’t dare to. Because my health doesn’t allow it, I always wear my teammates’ hat when I sleep at night. In order to keep warm, I dare not take it off. So it’s useless for everyone to bring baseball caps or whatever. After staying in Golmud for one day, we went straight to Chaka Salt Lake and Qinghai Lake the next day.

Unfortunately, the tea card was closed that day, so we had to go directly to Qinghai Lake.

Qinghai Lake

The next trip will go directly back to Xining. I didn’t have time to see the Tuotuo River in Kunlun Mountains, but I guess I wasn’t in the mood to see it either.

Although the time is short, I am really glad you came. These experiences were unlike anything I had experienced in years. I look forward to coming to the roof of the world with a different version of myself next time.