탱이의 중국 자전거 여행기 (http://cafe.naver.com/acebike.cafe)를 볼 때마다 너무 부럽다. 내가 하고 싶은 것을 먼저 하는 사람에게 느끼는 감정이다. 운남성에 갔을 때 다리라는 동네에서 자전거를 빌려 한나절 타고 다녔는데 너무 좋았다. 리장까지 버스로 가면서도 야! 이 길 자전거로 가보면 얼마나 좋을까라고 생각을 했었다.
일본 사이트에서 케이란 청년이 자전거로 무전여행을 한 기록이 올라왔었는데
. 기록이 올라오는 것을 반가워하면서 읽었던 기억이 있다. 그러면서 나도 운남에서 라싸까지 갈 기회가 오면 얼마나 좋을까 생각을 했었다.
케이의 여행기(http://www.geocities.jp/keinoryokouki/)
그 자전거 여행을 내가 알기는 우리나라에서 최초로 한 사람이 탱이님이니 왜 부럽지가 않겠는가? 물론 탱이님은 위에서 아래로 내려오는 여행이라서 즉 라사에서 운남성으로 내려오는 것이라서 내가 생각하고 있던 위로 올라가는 여행은 아니다. 당연히 올라가는 것을 생각하는 나에게는 최초의 꿈은 남은 셈이다. 그러나 언제 이를 이룰 수 있을지... 목구멍이 포도청이라서..
영어 사이트에서 운남에서 자전거로 라싸 가는 법을 찾았다. 그 사이트는 바로
http://www.geocities.com/graydonandjoanne/yunnan-tibet.html
인데 직접 출력하면 오류가 생기는 단어가 생겨 나시 정리했다. 참고할 사람이 있을지는 모르겠지만 계획하는 사람이 있으면 도움이 되면 좋겠다. 물론 운남에서 라싸까지의 여행은 모든 수단이 외국인은 불법이라서 좀 복잡하다. 그러니까 도전심이 더욱 일어나고.. 도전을 꿈꾸는 바이커가 많아지면 좋겠다.
How to Cycle to Lhasa from Yunnan Province
(with updates from travellers, March 2005)
A huge thank you to all those who have written in with updates: Seth Winnerman, Sonja Aufschnaiter and Cassie, Erika Werker and Oliver Merk, Guy Allard, Brian Reed, Yat-Nam Lo, Patrik Wuetrich, Laure-Anne Steck and Alex Koh (and anyone else I may have forgotten!) Please keep those updates coming as the road improves and PSB attitudes change.
If you want to ride your bike to Lhasa from Yunnan province or Sichuan province, you have to be prepared. Carry a tent, stove, cooking set, warm sleeping bag and a full set of tools and spare parts. You're looking at 1600 km or so of improving but still periodically awful roads along which it's frequently inadvisable to stay in hotels, and where you may have to pass a couple of checkpoints and danger zones in the dark. Be aware of the risk of being arrested, fined and sent back by the Public Security Bureau. There are places to buy basic food (ie instant noodles and tea) and occasional restaurants, but you should bring some food with you: instant soups or bouillon, a few pasta-and-sauce packets, some oatmeal, maybe some drink mixes or hot chocolate, dried mushrooms. You can stock up in Hong Kong or maybe in Chengdu or Kunming. You will likely lose weight since instant noodles have little nutritional value. You will climb a series of passes 4500 or 5000 metres high, so be in shape! If you‘re looking for great riding or comfort, this is not for you.
In 2004 there was a rumour that the road was about to open legally. As of 2005, both Peter Snow Cao of Bike China and Janne Corax, a traveller with his ear close to the Tibetan ground, report that it's the same as ever: illegal. Be careful and let me know how the PSB treated you, please!
A warning: I received an e-mail from Brian Reed, who cycled this route in the summer (ie, the rainy season) in 2002. He warned that if you're on this road during the rainy season, it's more than annoyingly muddy: it can be deadly. A Belgian cyclist was killed by a landslide near Baxoi in 2002, as was a Japanese hitchhiker and, reportedly, an entire party of Chinese tourists in a Land Cruiser somewhere along the road. So maybe it would be a good idea not to try this route during the monsoon (mid-June to mid-September), or at least stay out of landslide zones during or immediately after heavy rain.
Anyway, here's a brief summary of the road from Zhongdian, Yunnan, to Lhasa, with kilometre markers, checkpoints, big climbs and descents and towns indicated. The kilometre markers occasionally die out for long periods, in which case I have estimated distances from my cycling computer. I don't have kilometre markers from Zhongdian to Yangjing, unfortunately so if somebody takes the trouble to record important spots along that stretch, I'd appreciate receiving them by e-mail so I can add it to the list. By the way, you can't see this site if you're in China (thanks to the Chinese government's Internet paranoia, all Geocities sites are blocked) so print this out before you enter the PRC if you want to use the information on this page.
Zhongdian-Benzilan: 85 km, all paved as of 2003: long climb, a bit of undulation, 30 km descent to Yangtze, cross Yangtze, climb gently to Benzilan. Hotels there, although I camped outside town. Benzilan is at km 1967. From Seth Winnerman, spring 2004, these are the markers along route 214.
2047 - Zhongdian (Elevation 3250 m)
2017 - Take right fork.
2010 - Village. Restaurant, basic supplies, hotel? police checkpoint.
1982 - Village. Restaurant, basic supplies, hotel?
1965 - Benzilan (2000 m; thanks Erika for this and all other town elevations!)
Again from Seth, spring 2004:
A FEW K'S BEFORE BENZILAN, BEFORE YOU CROSS THE MAJOR BRIDGE, THERE IS A DIRT ROAD OFF TO THE RIGHT UP THE OTHER SHORE OF THE RIVER. THEY ARE RE-BUILDING IT, BUT IT IS A FLAT ROAD (ON THE MAP, ANYWAY) THAT TAKES YOU ABOUT 60KM EAST OF MARKHAM on THE 318, SOME ADVENTUROUS PEOPLE MAY WANT TO TRY IT!
Benzilan-Deqin:100 km (enormous climb over pass between Yangtze and Mekong rivers. From Benzilan, it's 50 km uphill to first pass , then 14 km of up and down over 2 more passes ,, then 35 km descent to Deqin, the last 25 on pavement!. Hotels and restaurants in Deqin. I took two days to do this stretch.
1953 - Dongzhulin Monastery far below you
1945 - Village: Restaurant, basic supplies, hotel - Last village until Deqin!
1939 -Cobblestones start.
1925 - Good camping near road maintenance camp
1912 - First of three passes (Baima Xueshan Shuolalaka Yakou; thanks Yat-Nam Lo!)
1905 - Second pass
1898 - Third pass (4292 m, according to the sign; thanks, Yat-Nam and Seth) 500 metres of isolated pavement
1890 - Pavement
1865 - Deqin (3300 m)
Deqin-Yanjing:116 km (to first checkpoint in Yanjing). 11 km climb out of town (on pavement) to Meilixueshan viewpoint, then a 40 km downhill (back to dirt roads) to the floor of the Mekong Valley. According to Brian Reed, in the summer of 2002 pavement extended 27 km past Deqin, past the turnoff for Meilixueshan. Then 67 km of flat riding along awful roads. No good camping spots, and very little water, since the bottom of the valley is a desert. I did this in 1 long day, but many people do it in two, staying at a road maintenance place about 52km (or so) from Deqin I think it’s risky to stay with the road crews along here, since you‘re so close to the border and the cops might come asking questions
1852 - Meilixueshan Viewpoint; guesthouses, restaurants, basic supplies
1813 - Road maintenance camp
1798 - Foshan: food, a truckstop and a PSB station that you might want to stay away from.
Seth rode straight through town n 2004 but reported that THERE IS A "DO NO ENTER" SIGN AND BARRIER. ALSO THERE MAY BE A HIGH ROAD AROUND TOWN.
1760 - Tibet border; huge sign in Chinese on a tall pole, but nothing in English.
Kilometre markers change at this point, to those on route 318, which joins the 214 in Markham. It's about 7 km from the border to the first Yangjing checkpoint.
3304 - Brian reports that about 4.5 km before Yanjing there is a superb hidden campsite right above the road between two small stone walls. It is exactly above where the power lines cross from the power station. Seth stayed there too.
However, Erika Werker remarks that it is too small for even a small tent.
Yanjing-Markham Yanjing is your first checkpoint. You need to pass this one in the early morning (an hour before the sun comes up), when the checkpoint man is asleep, if you don't have a travel permit. There are 2 checkpoints, 3 km apart, one at each end of the village. The checkpoint comes about 4.5 km past a lit-up bridge/power station far below the road on the Mekong: in the dark, you can’t miss this. The road follows the contours of the side of the valley, bending far to the right and then back again. Suddenly, you're come around a bend and the checkpoint is 50 m in front of you. It’s lit up at night, but no-one is awake before dawn. Just walk under the barrier across the road and keep going. Watch for a police station in the middle of the village. After 3 km there’s the second checkpoint: also lit up at night (sometimes; Seth didn't even see it and nearly banged his head on it!), but the people there are also sound asleep. Again, pass under the barrier and off you go. After the second checkpoint, there are 4 km downhill: good for rapid getaways.
3309 - First Yanjing checkpoint (approx).(2600 m) Keep right after the checkpoint.
3313 - Second Yanjing checkpoint (approx).
3317 - Reach Mekong River, start to climb to the east of the Mekong.3323 - In 2004 there was 5 km of ugly construction for a new bridge; thanks Sonja and Seth!)
3355 - Crest of pass (4400 m). Downhill for 12 km (good camping here) then head
upstream on a small river towards Markam.
3372 -- Brian, Guy Allard and Seth report that there's a friendly monastery, Neboli/Nambolu Gompa, with an English sign and an English-speaking monk named Jamanbo here. Brian and Guy both stayed here and said Jamanbo would be glad to have other foreign guests; Seth reports that Jamanbo expects to be there until 2010). It's about 1-2 km above the road; the turnoff is 5 km from the bottom of the descent from the previous pass; turn left at a small store at the crest of a small hill. You can't see the monastery from the road but watch for an English sign.
3395 (approx) Nasty village full of stone-throwing kids and surly adults. Don't stop. Watch out for kids trying to steal stuff from the back of your bike. on the other hand, in 2003 Guy ate here and had no problems.
3424 m outskirts of Markam (Mangkham) (4000 m)
Checkpoint and intersection. Again, camp outside town (lots of grassland spots about 5 km before town) and come through before dawn.
You're come into town along a long road that curves to the right. Stay on the
main road. It will become paved. Go through the centre of town and keep going
along the paved road for a couple of km.
3429 - Finally you're come to the intersection: left to Tibet, right to Sichuan. There's a checkpoint on the Tibet road about 50 metres past the intersection. It’s lit up, but unmanned at night. Erika, Oliver, Cassie and Sonja warn about a vicious pack of wild dogs about 1 km past the checkpoint. Cassie got bitten. They all got chased. Perhaps carry sausages to throw to them?
If you start in Chengdu, you will join the road here. The road from Chengdu is the 318 and the kilo metre markers show distance from Shanghai. You'll be on the 318 all the way to Lhasa and the Nepalese border. There’s another checkpoint just as you come into Markham, about 200 m from the intersection. I don't know much about the Chengdu-Markham road, but you need to avoid staying in hotels as soon as you get anywhere near the Tibetan border. Camp and don't spend too long in any towns. Be careful!
Markham-Zuogong
3441 m Crest of small pass (Lao La 4338 m; thanks for the name, Guy!); only 11 km of climbing (the pavement ends 4 km from Markham). Boggy but lovely grassland at the top, then downhill on new (built in 2001-2), good dirt road.
3478 m Juka Bridge over the Mekong River (2800 m). Truck stops before bridge, and also 5 km
uphill past the bridge. It’s safe to stay here (no PSB). Start to climb over the 5000-metre double pass between the Mekong and Salween rivers.
3502 m Crest of first pass (Jyo La; thanks Guy! approx 4000 m). Descend/undulate for 16 km.
3518 m Deng Ba. Start climb to 5000 m pass. There is a very basic guesthouse reports Guy Allard in October 2003. Great camping along river near km 3527.
3556 m Crest of pass (Tangda La; thanks Guy! 5008 m). Down, down, down on decent dirt road.
3579 m Pavement (!!!) starts at another Deng Ba.
3588 m Zuogong: big town. Lots of food shops, etc. There’s hotels, but I didn’t stay here since there are lots of PSB around. Brian Reed reports that he stayed in a hotel here in 2002 and had a visit from the PSB; he escaped by befriending some local soldiers who scared off the cops. So probably not worth risking a stay in a hotel. Sonja and Cassie report that PSB was checking permits here in 2004; they camped 7 km before Zuogong and rode through by night. I camped about 5 km past town, along the river.
Zuogong-Baxoi
Great, flat paved riding along river.
3655 m Cross river; village with shops and guesthouse(?). End of pavement. Good dirt road in 2004. Should all be paved by now, acording to Seth!
3672 m Pavement begins!! Start of decent camping. Try to stay out of sight of villagers.
3696 m Bomda truck stop (4000 m) What a hellhole. Decent restaurants, you could probably stay here if you wanted. The road forks: left (uphill) to Lhasa on the 318, right (flat) to Chamdo on the 214. Pavement ends (but under construction in 2004; maybe it's pavement now?)
3710 m Crest of Gama La pass (4618 m) 40 km downhill on newly paved road.
3730 m Dreadful roadside truck stop/brothels. (Not there in 2004, says Sonja; vanished with the construction)
3750 m Bottom of pass, next to Salween River. Dry, waterless, hot desert.
3752 m Restaurant and guesthouse, run by friendly folks. According to Patrick Wuetrich, this was closed and abandoned in the summer of 2002. Guy Allard didn't see it in 2003.
3753 m Cross Salween at Nujiang bridge. Start climbing beside tributary river. This is a bad spot for landslides, so watch it.
3765 m nbsp; Dry, desert scenery.
3790 m Baxoi (3300 m). Big town, lots of food and supplies for sale. Hotels, but didn't stay here. on the other hand, some cyclists have stayed and had no problems. Your call.
Baxoi-Bomi
3798 m Pavement end, but only for 1 km.
3799 - Start of new pavement!! Paved for next 90 km or so. Continue climbing slowly up the river, through desert then through cultivated fields.
3859 m Crest of extremely flat, gentle pass (Dokha La, 4618 m; 4460 m according to Erika' altimeter.). Much steeper downhill. From here there are 250 consecutive downhill kilo metres.
3880 m Reach gorgeous meadow with Himalayan views. Rawu village (3900 m) Start of Zhongmu Lake. A few guesthouses and restaurants near here. Past the town, great camping beside lake in pine trees. A great place for a much-needed rest day.
3893 m End of lake. Start of steep gorge of Palung Tsangpo river. Pavemt ends.
3910 - Construction zone. Worst road yet. 3931 (or 3948 opinions differ) - Start of sporadic pavement
3955 m Good campsite.
3968 m Permanent pavement begins.
4006 m Bomi (2750 m). Very big town, lots of food and supplies. Don’t stay here, but you can check e-mail at an Internet joint. Good street food! Brian Reed was seen by a cop while he was in a bike shop here, but the cop didn't seem to care. Guy Allard stayed overnight in a hotel and he had no hassles.
Bomi-Nyingchi
4024 mGood campsite beside stream.
4043 m Pavement ends (again, thanks to Sonja for the correction). From here the road gradually deteriorates and gets almost unrideable. Brian Reed and Guy Allard say it was in good condition up until Tangme in 2002 and 2003.
4080 m Enter the leech zone in moist rain forest. Watch out for leeches!! (At least in the rainy season.)
4094 m Awful campsite, full of leeches and mosquitoes.
4098 m Tangme. Start of worst road of entire trip: landslides, mud, construction. Guest house. Don't get killed by landslides around here. Seriously.
4112 m Turn up Rong Valley, end of worst part of roads. Lowest elevation of the ride.
4114 m Trulung (2000m). Restaurant, guesthouse (I met a Czech who stayed here: no problems).
Beautiful virgin forest, views of Mt. Namche Barwa, nice flowers, steep climb.
4123 m Good camping on right side of road, under power lines.
4135 m Tongyuk Bridge. (2700 m) Food shops.
Somewhere here, during 100 km without kilometre markers, I lost 14 km. Apparently, there are 14 km not counted by any kilometre markers.(ie, it’s actually 64 km from Trulung to Lunung.)
4146 - Start of pavement.
4156 m Lunung. (3300m) Good restaurants, several guesthouses. I didn’t stay here (PSB in town). End of pavement. (At least for now; paving continues apace in 2004.) Start of steep climb to pass.
4167 m Campsite beside road (not very good, but acceptable).
4175 - Start of better dirt roads.
4183 m Crest of Sekye La pass (4720 m). Steep downhill towards Ningchi,
4207 m Terrific, hidden campsite amidst pine trees on left side of road. Good place to
stay before sneaking through Ningchi and Bayi. Ningchi and Bayi don’t have checkpoints, but they‘re danger points, and cyclists get arrested there by the PSB. Be careful! Leave several hours before sunrise.
4210 m Small village with power plant.
4212 m Pavement starts! It’s paved from here to Lhasa.
4214 m Nyingchi (3000 m), home of overzealous PSB officers. They will arrest you if they see you, so don't let them see you!!!!. Two Dutch cyclists were arrested here and sent back to Lhasa by bus in 2001. (But maybe they're lightening up. Both Guy Allard (October 2003) and Alex Koh (February 2004) had no problem passing through by day.) Big, modern town. At the main intersection in town, turn left if you want to take the southern road along the Tsangpo to Tsethang and Lhasa.
Nyingchi-Lhasa
It’s about 600 km to Lhasa along a partly dirt road by the southern route, or 420 km
along a completely paved road by the northern route. If you take the southern
route, be careful of a nasty checkpoint at Gongga Bridge, 40 km from Ningchi. (No problems crossing this checkpoint in broad daylight in 2003 for Guy Allard, but a hassle for the inorbitt.com crew in 1999. Guy says that the monastery of Lamoling was a good place to stay at for 2 nights. Guy got himself arrested, though, further on in Meiling.)
I continued along route 318, the northern route to Ningchi. It’s downhill for a
few kilometres, then flat along the river to Bayi on pavement.
4230-35 m Bayi (3100 m): a huge new Chinese city, probably bigger than Lhasa now. The road
goes around the city. DO NOT GO INTO TOWN! YOU WILL BE ARRESTED! You should be well past Bayi by the time the sun comes up. (Again, experiences differ; Alex Koh stayed in Bayi overnight, although he's ethnically Chinese, which might have helped. Guy Allard rode by on the ring road without incident, although he says he was careful.)
4234 m Bayi Bridge. If you‘re taking the north route, go straight and don’t cross the
bridge. If you suddenly decide to take the southern route, you have a second
chance: turn left and cross the bridge, then turn left again at the end of the
bridge. You will rejoin the southern route at Gongga Bridge.
4292 m nbsp; Bepa. Shops and a cheap guesthouse. A bit of a dump.
4312 m Namse Zampa. Guesthouse, restaurants, no problems staying here. You can do
a side-trip to Draksum Latso lake from here.
4360 m Kongpo Giamda. Large town, with good food.
4403 m Jinda: nice Tibetan town, with baozi and bread for sale.
4407 m Good campsite above road.
4420 m Syangboteng.
4456 m Shungdor truck stop. (4300 m) Restaurant, guesthouse, supplies for sale.
4468 m Good spot to camp before the pass.
4484 m Mangshung La (or Mi La, 5013 m; thanks to Alex Koh and Erika for the data.) 4490 - Crap road for the next 20 km in 2004.
4509 m Rutok hot springs (4380 m); huge construction site for new hotel. Pretty dreadful.
4548 m Not-so-great campsite.
4563 m Turnoff to Katsal Gompa (on right).
4563 m Medro Gongkar (4360 m)
4572 m Turnoff to Gyalmashing valley (lovely monasteries on valley sides).
4583 m Lamo village (nice peaceful gompa).
4591 m Turnoff to climb to Ganden monastery (9.5 steep kilometres uphill).
4632 m Bridge over Kyi Chu river.
4635 m Central Lhasa! You made it!!!!!
It took me 26 days of cycling from Zhongdian to Lhasa, covering 1625 kilometres.
About the PSB and their attitude to you. In Yanjing and Markham and Bayi and Nyingchi, the cops are on the lookout for foreigners trying to sneak by. As well, in the villages from Deqin to Yanjing, there’s a chance that the PSB will come looking for you. Aside from those spots, the PSB seem not to care too much about cyclists. I was seen 20 or 30 times by PSB officers in trucks along the road, and they waved and smiled at me. There doesn’t seem to be any problem in staying in towns/truckstops where there are no visible PSB officers or police stations. These include Juka, Zhongmu Lake, Bomda, Jinda, Rutok and Namse Zampa. I got the definite impression that once you get past Bayi, you're made it. The cops will not hassle you between Bayi and Lhasa. There doesn’t seem to be any problem with stopping in the larger towns to eat and to buy supplies; these include Zuogong, Baxoi and Bomi. I wouldn’t stay there, though, since there are lots of PSB around and they might come to your hotel and want to talk to you. When in doubt, camp; it makes little sense to risk your entire trip by taking a needless chance. In 2001 a couple of Swiss cyclists were arrested, fined and sent back towards Chengdu after going through Markham by day, and a Dutch couple riding Lhasa-Chengdu were arrested, fined 1000 yuan each and sent back to Lhasa by bus after riding through Nyingchi by day. You have been warned. on the flip side, a Japanese guy cycled through the checkpoints and Bayi and Nyingchi in 2002, staying in hotels, and had no problems at all. Maybe the PSB thought he was Chinese.
If you go the other way, from Lhasa to Yunnan, be careful around Bayi; camp before Bayi and leave really, really early, since after Nyingchi you leave the pavement and, in the summer or 2002, hit ugly construction and start to climb steeply, and you want to be well out of the way of the Nyingchi PSB before the sun comes up.
Good luck, and if you make it, let me know about it!!!! I'd like to keep this list as correct and up-to-date as possible, so please do write me with updates, corrections, suggestions and your stories. A huge thank you to all those who have written in with updates: Seth Winnerman, Sonja Aufschnaiter and Cassie, Erika Werker and Oliver Merk, Guy Allard, Brian Reed, Yat-Nam Lo, Patrik Wuetrich and Alex Koh (and anyone else I may have forgotten!) Please keep those updates coming as the road improves and PSB attitudes change.
You can contact me at:
graydonandjoanne@yahoo.com
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