From Ba Yi to Lhasa there is a choice of roads The southern and northern routes. The group split but the police forced us back together again!
As it was only Dave and Gavin with Visa problems Roland and I decided to take the longer southern route to Lhasa so the group split with Britta going the easier way. We crossed Ba yi town and a long bridge without incident and thought how great we were, the last hurdle overcome. In the morning we head along the worst road in history 53 km up a slight hill and then at the peak too late to stop a checkpoint! No way around as it was at a bridge with a large barracks by the side of the road we tried ignoring the shouts of stop but with crowds of police all around we eventually got off the bikes and went into the office. At first the "I don’t speak Chinese" option seemed to work but an English speaker arrived and in broken English said
"no permit no go on"
Reverting to Chinese I explained we were just common workers in the west and could not afford the astronomical cost of a tour to get a permit, he should be a good man and just let us proceed. To this he called the commander of the post, despite half an hour of arguments he just answered
"go back to Ba Yi get a permit"
towards the end he began to get irritated by my continued presence and asked how come we were here on a closed road anyway.
"You’re right we should go back to Ba yi and get apermit, Bye bye!"
So we went back along the windy sandy rocky road towards Ba yi with no intention of getting a permit. A friendly tibetan trucker gave us a lift a bit of the way to relieve the pain of backtracking. Once more through Ba Yi we sped this time with the cover of a rainstorm. Once on the other side we had the advantage of tarmac and made good time to Gongpujiangda 120km in a day. Camping outside town another river wash then onwards on a deteriorating road which at times was almost uncyclable to a small town Jin Da more of a truckstop with a few restaurants and guesthouses and a couple of Tibetan teahouses than a town. Here safe we found a room. Across the road while drinking beer on the balcony we noticed a western face, the others too had found refuge here in a traditional teahouse.
Together again we rode the hard 60 plus km to the army base of Song Duo past road works making the road little more than a collection of jagged rocks with little rocks between. It was usually easier to use the grass beside the road than to ride on this sorry excuse for a road surface. The workers on the road made things better and we shared a curry dish with some from Xinjiang who told us the road would be finished next year. Finding a zhaodaisuo (very basic accomadation) we had a bed for two nights running something of a treat! From this base we climbed the last mountain before Lhasa ‘Mi La Shan’ and from the
top decended to a hot springs town 20km down where we stayed at a great Tibetan tea house with on of the friendliest couples we have met as the landlords.
Eating our weight in yak meat and tsampa (barley porridge) with a lake of buttertea the bill came to less than a usual nights sleep. From here the road was again tarmac boring flat and long 130km into Lhasa along the high plateau bear off trees.
A stop at some traditional Tibetan tents of yakherders provided the highlight. Brown thick material provide the outer layer. Inside beds go around the outside with a pot of bubbling butter tea in the middle. We were lucky to witness them doing mantras with drums and bells.
So after this epic journey here we sit in the comfort of Lhasa.It’s a great place. All the comforts of home with all the sights and sounds of Tibet swirling around you as you munch on pancakes and pizza. The Jokang temple and the market around it are not to bemissed. Shopping here is pure hedonism with all the tibetan costumes we saw on the road available. I’ll be the hit of any nightclub when I get back! Problems…. only one the psb won’t extend visas in Tibet so Dave and Gavin had to rush onto Katmandu. Britta, Roland and I will face the friendship highway alone.
