When the bus entering Lhasa (capital city of Tibet) everyone in the bus were yelling and clapping hands! It seems many of my stories are from the transportation but I really have to document this - what a ride!

Meeting up with Daniel and Mei in Hong Kong we took three different trains to get to Xining in Qinghai (after spending two nights in the train). It was the plan to take another train to go a little father to Golmud to avoid the horror sleeper bus. But for whatever reason we were all tempted from the "Lhasa Express Bus" signs when getting off from Xining train. I must be very excited from making to Lhasa in the Tibetan New Year Eve!





It turned out it is one of those private bus that's proven to overload with passengers and bagages. The sleeper bus was jammed with 30% more people. I remembered I always shaking my head whenever I saw those breathless bus and I cannot believe now I am on it! Having paid for the tickets we all agreed to stay on. I talked to myself: "At least we suffer together with the Tibetan people..."





We spent the first 15 hours just to get to Golmud, while we could have taken the express sleeper train for the same amount of time. Now I talked to myself: "At least we got to pick the seats when all Golmud passengers can only take whatever space left behind."

About 30km from Golmud we arrived to the first border check point. I can finally depict from all the online stories of those hard core foreigner smuggling thru the check point at night just to save the Y2000 Tibet Travel Permit, and some of them got caught at the last check point and being sent back 1000km away!

We didn't buy the permit since the Chinese government relieved the permit requirement from Hong Kong and Macau citizen three years ago. It is written on paper but you know the border police can say and demand anything they feel like. I feel very very nervous and definitely don't want to be one of those travelers being sent back. I always have this identity crisis in China and came across so many frustrating incidents. Now Daniel asked if we really don't need the expensive permit... "I am pretty sure.."

Amazingly not even one police checked the bus at any check points. I started to realise what the driver did to them. I am sure he bribed them at the first checkpoint when he was begging around the officers and made the deal in the little house. It is a illegal bus at the first place!





Clear sky, the sun is strong and bright. The bus climbs the gentle slope on the high mountain plateau. We are now on the Qinghai Tibet Highway, stunning view along the way but I got quite bored of the same same view hour after hour. The temperature is dropping and we are gaining altitude. I feel so static in the evening when it is completely dark outside, try to imagine cruising on the endless road on the plateau. The air is getting thinner and thinner. And people are getting very quiet now, except those Tibetan seems to immue from the altitude sickness. We are all getting severe headache while they are singing the Tibetan songs. How ironic?

The baby is crying, he must have the same headache more or less? His mom trying to clam him down saying that he'll be fine once the bus get over the Tangula Pass. At over 5000m above sea level with only 50% of oxygen content, and it is brutally cold outside, and inside too, if the frozen water bottle and Pepsi is any indication of the temperature. I can tell you that it is very very cold, I am stuffing myself in the -18 down bag.

We stopped at the crappy gas station, the bus driver warns us to be quick and waste no time at this altitude. It is a major undertaking just to get off the seat and walk to the dumpster like toilet at this altitude and temperature. Daniel started to feel really sick and dizzily. He said he is passing out, the only help I can offer is to pass the Tibetan medicine to him.

It is interesting to witness my headache severity, it is like counting down to the pass and started to feel a little better when the bus flying downhill at rocket speed.

"Fire! Fire!". The voice from the back woke everyone up and the driver floors the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. I feel very scared at the moment and started to remember those fire scene from the TV news. I put on my hiking boot at lightening speed and getting ready to jump off the bus, only to find out that it is JUST some toasty smell from the back. Seriously enough everyone got off the bus and the bus driver try to inspect the source of smell. Why he didn't shutdown the engine is beyond my understanding. And Daniel is swearing very hard to the while "crappy bus" incident.

I was told the smell is from the rear drum brake. "So?" No one seems to care the implication and jumping back to the bus at no time. I guess the weather is too cold that they would rather die in the broken bus than getting frozen in the freezing night outside? I am speechless and shaking my head. My body is shaking too. I guess staying on the bus is an wise idea?

The smell seems to go away, although I am still sleepless, and the songs in my MP3 player are looping and looping until it ran out of battery. I wonder how many hours are passed?

The sun finally came out from behind the mountains. Lhasa here I am! Mei, being very quiet from entire trip, finally say something: "I'll never do this again!".

90hours altogether, overland from Hong Kong non-stop, I feel like we are making a record!