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31 Oct 2017
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Road to Lhasa
 Screen Shot 2017-09-24 at 18.16.47 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We left the hotel just after 745 and easily got on to the highway as there were no vehicles at all. This is a difficult access as the lanes are so narrow you can not pass easily. Sara has taken her panniers off also to try to make it easier after almost not making it last night. Her’s are so low they can hit the barriers curbs.
We had eaten at the hotel and so wanted to make some distance early for our 492 km day to Gong He.
 Screen Shot 2017-09-25 at 19.24.18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE1561 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
It is very industrial and polluted to Lanzhou.
 FILE1678 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
The number of tall apartment complexes is astounding.
 FILE1576 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE1637 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE1699 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
The money being spent on infrastructure here is unbelievable with roadways, tunnels, and elevated train tracks.
 FILE1704 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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31 Oct 2017
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We stopped about 30 km past Lanzhou for a break and to make a coffee. The driver and Toni left before us and said we would catch up. Dan posing for photos.
 FILE1684 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
The next toll is 36 km and in fact you exit one, go 4 km and enter another. We made it thru these easily and as we passed by the next rest station we saw the guides there about 400 m away and they jumped into the van.
 Road to Lhasa-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE1666 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
Then at Xining we got separated as there are 2 bypass roads. They had told us to stay on the G30, which is the right bypass road. We had messaged them to confirm that we would take the right, but for some reason they took the left. This meant that when we got to Huangyuan and messaged them they were now actually ahead of us.
 Screen Shot 2017-09-25 at 21.16.14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We stopped there to message and met a bunch of Chinese bikers also on their way to Lhasa. They are totally decked out and all had the coveted A plate from Beijing. The station would not sell us gas as we did not have a police permit. No worry we had enough and were just trying while we waited to figure out where our team was.
 Road to Lhasa-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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31 Oct 2017
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In the end they were just 10 km ahead on the side of the road. The 4 lane divided highway suddenly ends on a 2 lane city road and the limit is 60 for the first 30 km, but then its back to the highway. You climb up the mountain and one 5 km tunnel lets you out at 3400+ meters.
Then it is down down to Gong He (Qbaqa on open street) at 2900 m. We stopped at the first gas station, but here motorcycles have to go to one certain station and so off we went. They would not pump into the bikes, but at least the jugs they used are metal with a long metal spout and they do not leak. Plus at 10 later it was a lot faster than the 4 l leaky kettle with the rubber tube.
 Road to Lhasa-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
The town is not much to speak of, but the hotel is surprisingly good and thankfully today clean. We had not eaten since 7 except some snacks as there were no service stations after Xining. Starved we headed out for fresh noodle soup.
 IMG_0049 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
Then we had a long walk about the town and it seemed longer because of the elevation.
 Road to Lhasa-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
Oxygen anyone??
 Road to Lhasa-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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1 Nov 2017
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We had a great night sleep, but woke up before 6 to the rain. It was light and in fact had stopped by the time we set out at 730. We did still all put on the over suits mostly as it was only 8 degrees. We have a very long day of 682 km to Ge Er Mu (Ge’er Mu, Geermu, or Golmud it is confusing as towns all have traditional, Tibetan, and Chinese names).
 Screen Shot 2017-09-26 at 21.46.33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE1718 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE1733 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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1 Nov 2017
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We stopped here to refuel and the gassed the bikes no problem at the pump! It is now 1 pm and we have 320 km to go and so we made another 45 km to a service center and had some lunch cooked under a tarp in the parking lot. The soup was good, but we could not manage the organs just the veg and fresh made noodles. The local ladies were very keen for some photos.
https://youtu.be/wnXOywp0FRk
 IMG_0052 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_0058 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_0065 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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1 Nov 2017
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The toll stations here are in general much easier as they are wider and the agents don't try to stop you. There is now only one road to Lhasa and so there is no toll fee for bikes so they let us thru.This toll gate was a bit narrow and Dan’s rain jacket got hung up until the sweeper unhooked him. Lulu was right at handlebar height so was even more tricky.
 FILE1863 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE1869 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We arrived to the city, which is pretty cosmopolitan with tall building, parks with huge sculptures, and lots of restaurants. The parking is inside the courtyard and the bikes had their own spot, which the guards showed us they were watching with the night vision cameras when we came in from cleaning the chains. We are are feeling pretty good at 2900 m.
 FILE1886 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We were met also by our Tibetan Guide Pam, who just arrived after a 16 hour train ride form Lhasa. He will take over from Toni once we hit Tibet. We walked over to a massive Muslim restaurant where when you drive you go into the huge covered courtyard, there are two levels of room and each table is in a private room (the windows can be curtained off for privacy). The food was amazing again and we sampled Yak meat (delicious and not gamey). The hotel we had was very nice and very comfortable and the breakfast buffet was huge.
 Road to Lhasa-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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1 Nov 2017
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Today is is sunny, but 4 degrees when we set out at 8 am. We have 418 km to Tangulazhen on the China national Highway 109 that connects Beijing to Lhasa. (We have been on this route since Xining and this portion is called the Qinghai-Tibet Highway).
 Screen Shot 2017-09-27 at 18.29.11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We will be starting our assent to altitude today from 2900m and Dan and Sara started Diamox, which is a medication that prevents altitude sickness. We will be sleeping tonight at 4600m and this difference is way above the recommended 400 m per day above 3000m. Not much we can do as the next lowest place is Lhasa 1100 km away. Orvar and Trevor decided against prophylaxis against the doctors recommendation.
 Road to Lhasa-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE1910 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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1 Nov 2017
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You only drive about 20 km and you hit the First checkpoint. The level of security checks in Tibet is mind boggling. There is control over everyone's movements and they know where everyone is at all times. Gas is also controlled and you have to register and line up to buy it. This is a big control point and is the pre-check for the Tibetan boundary we will cross half way thru tomorrow. We did not have to do anything but had over our passport, Chinese DL, and plate card to Pam, who did everything. The police took just under an hour and we finally got the call from the higher powers in??? Beijing that we could pass the checkpoint.
 FILE1912 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE1926 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
The road is paved, but badly grooved and damaged in sections. There are huge whoops and today riding the bike was like riding a wild horse at times. Your ass was off the seat quite a bit.
There is almost a continuous line of trucks full headed south and empty headed north as the 109 carries 85% of the goods in and out of Tibet. The oncoming ones can often be in your lane trying to avoid some rough road and many times today there was 2 semis oncoming at you. We took the dimming covers off our accessory lights and this helped.
 FILE1937 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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1 Nov 2017
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1 Nov 2017
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Then we stopped again at the first pass at 4765 m.
 FILE2002 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2016 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_0080 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_0079 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We continued on and ran into a huge military convoy.
 FILE2029 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2043 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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1 Nov 2017
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Registered Users
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Join Date: Aug 2015
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Hi Guys
I am keeping up with the RR, and I see you are getting very close to Thailand now.
As I am presently riding in North Thailand it would be my honour to meet up and shake all you Guys hands for such an interesting RR you are kindly posting for us all to read.
So if you can post or PM me your expected route with dates in Thailand I would love to meet up somewhere along the way.
Ride Safe
Steve
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2 Nov 2017
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Contributing Member
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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We made another 80 km to where we got gas (from a jerry can, but at least it held 10 litres and had a great no drip spout) and had some lunch (most expensive so far 12$ for one meat stir fry and some rice). It is only going to get worse as we head south.
 FILE2061 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
Now we have another 150 km or 2 + hours to Tanggulazhen. As were having lunch the traffic was stopped by the military and 86 huge trucks in a convoy pulled out headed south. We caught up to them in 50 km, but amazingly there was almost no oncoming traffic and we could pass 5-6 of them at a time even up the hill to the second pass of the day at 4639 m.
 FILE2081 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2022 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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2 Nov 2017
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Contributing Member
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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About 50 km later we found the reason for the limited traffic. A crew was putting tar on the road of a bridge with small shovels. There was about 10 of them blocking the traffic in both directions. The semis could not get thru and the cars going north had pulled beside them and were blocking the south bound lane as well. We went around and then squeezed past the row of cars on the dirt verge.
Now just 50 more km with still lots of trucks to pass, but without much difficulty. Finally we arrived to the town and again gassed up with a good spouted can (It is the small things really that make your day!). We were amazed to see a Maybach filling up here and driving on these terrible roads.
 IMG_0082 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
The hotel looks pretty sketch from the outside, but it is actually much better than expected and nice. Heated floor and on demand hot water. It is the most expensive place (400 RMB or 80$) we have stayed yet more than Beijing or Xian. We are happy our Lhassa hotels are “included” as a 3 star runs 200$ US a night. None of us is feeling that bad, but neither of us felt like eating dinner. Dan against my advice had a  and really regretted it the next day. The town is pretty polluted with coal smoke and this does not help us with the lack of oxygen here.
 FILE2126 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_0083 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_0084 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
Dan got a free “for being handsome “
 Road to Lhasa-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Road to Lhasa-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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2 Nov 2017
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Contributing Member
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We were in bed by 10, but up several times to pee as Diamox has a diuretic effect. Then we had banging on the door at 330 and it was Trevor saying Orvar was not well. He had gone down to the bike to get water and was dizzy. We woke the guides and they got some O2 from the car. Sara went in to assess him. He did not have altitude sickness, but more of the same general fatigue and poor nutrition. While she was there Trevor started vomiting. Now this is something to worry about as he clearly has altitude sickness. Sara started them both on Diamox anyway and we all tried to get some sleep. Orvar has lost a lot of weight and is not taking care of himself, but he does not appear to have Altitude sickness at least.
 Road to Lhasa-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
Trevor was nauseated and had a headache in the morning and he bought an O2 travel bag and some nasal tubing. After sucking back one bag he felt pretty good and the hotel filled it up again for him to take for tonight.
 Road to Lhasa-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)
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Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia
"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK
"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia
"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany
Lots more comments here!
Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook
"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.
Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!
New to Horizons Unlimited?
New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!
Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.
Read more about Grant & Susan's story
Membership - help keep us going!
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.
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helps answer the question - Why Go? Inspirational stories by veteran travellers Greg Frazier (5 times RTW), Peter and Kay Forwood (193 countries), Tiffany Coates (Mongolia Mayhem) and Rene Cormier (University of Gravel Roads).
Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers!
break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! Presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
Cotton or synth sweat-wicking t-shirts with the cool Horizons Unlimited graphic on the front and a snappy slogan (changing every year) on the back.
Show your route on your panniers. Great conversation starter when you meet people on the road!
Motorcycle and travel books to inspire and inform you!
The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
