June 19, 2007
China - Tibet high altitude rail link
I have always wanted to go to Tibet – not just because it is a fascinating destination in itself, but part of its appeal lies in the fact that it’s difficult to get there. A handful of other places have the same almost legendary allure – Easter Island, Zanzibar and Timbuktu. At least one other reader of this site has been lucky enough to go to Tibet.
You can already fly into Tibet (or Katmandu) and Air China now has a direct flight from Beijing to Lhasa. And the Chinese government plans to build another airport near the Indian border – at 14,000 feet it will be one of the world’s highest.
However, recently another option has become available – a train from various cities in China. Visiting Tibet recently became a lot easier when in July 2006 the first rail service between Lhasa and the outside world was opened. The railway line – a masterpiece of engineering – stretches around 2,500 miles between Lhasa and China’s capital city Beijing and the journey time is around 48 hours.
The line runs through mountain passes of up to 16,000 feet high and large parts of the terrain traversed by the line are frozen all year round. The highest station on the line is at Nagqu at an altitude of around 15,000 feet on the Tibetan plateau.
To increase the comfort of passengers, the cars have oxygen supplies for the thin air and filters in the windows protect against UV rays. A state of the art high-tech cooling system helps to keep the rails frozen. Hopefully, all this is quite safe – although a man has died on board the train! Of course he had heart problems and was traveling against medical advice...
Despite the rail link, Tibet still isn’t the easiest place to travel to. You need various permits from the Chinese authorities, and you will almost certainly have a problem with altitude sickness. Here's something on health and politics (there's more but it's a year old).
This article talks about ticket prices and has phone numbers for ordering tickets. The page is in English so presumably travelers can order their tickets in English over the phone...
What next, I wonder? Other amazing engineering feats are being planned around the world including a tunnel from Europe to Africa and maybe one day, a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean.
If I ever make it to Tibet, I promise to post some photos on here!
Guest entry by Mancunian. Related entry: Nepal & Tibet trvael plan.
Posted by James Trotta at June 19, 2007 11:54 AM | TrackBack