The subject of Tibet came up; somewhere that I have long wanted to visit, and which is becoming more open to tourists who travel as a part of an official tour, and which is made even more comfortable with the commissioning of the train from Beijing to Lhasa.
Can you imagine? This would be definitely one of the great train journeys of the world! P and P had even discussed this with our Chinese friends M and T, who were equally enthusiastic about the notion, but thought that it would be best to fly in and spend a few days acclimatising to avoid altitude sickness (apparently as the train is pressurised this can be a problem when you arrive), and then take the train back to Beijing. We thought this sounded a wonderful idea.
Later in the day we caught up with M and T, and carried on the discussion, and it seems that you can take a four wheel drive tour from Chengdu in Sichuan Provence, and DRIVE to Lhasa, camping along the way and eating in small villages along the route! It seems that it is not advisable to drive in August and September, as this is landslide season (gulp!) but it would be quite an adventure and certainly the way to see the country!
Of course, this blog is called "So Much World, Not Enough Time" for a reason, but some time in the future the travelling friends may join a group of four wheel drives and bump and rattle to Tibet, enjoying the scenery along the way, and then turn around a travel first class on the train back to Beijing.
Now THAT would be an adventure!
