Отправлено 09 февраля 2005 - 18:29
А вообще у нас изначально была вот такая инфа. Правда мы ей не воспользовались (в горах законектиться было негде). Впрочем про пермиты нас так никто и не спросил.
How to Cycle to Lhasa Illegally from Yunnan Province
(with updates from travellers, Oct. 2002)
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 awful roads along which it’s frequently inadvisable to stay in hotels, and where you will 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.
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 foreign 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).
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 (long climb, a bit of undulation, 30 km descent to Yangtze, cross Yangtze,15 km of cobbles into Benzilan. Hotels there, although I camped outside town. In the summer of 2002, this was under construction all the way to Deqin and apparently will be paved by next year. Good news for the future, a pain in the tush for right now.
Benzilan-Deqin: 100 km (enormous climb over pass between Yangtze and Mekong rivers. 50 km uphill to first pass, then 14 km of up and down over 2 more passes, maxing at 4600 metres, then 35 km descent to Deqin, the last stretch on pavement!. Hotels and restaurants. I took two days to do this stretch. In the summer of 2002, this was under construction all the way to Deqin and apparently will be paved by next year. Good news for the future, a pain in the tush for right now.
Deqin-Yanjing: 116 km (to first checkpoint). 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, to 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 60 km (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. I camped beside the road, about 11 km before Yanjing, but there are better places to camp closer to Yanjing. About 7 km before Yangjing you'll pass a big pole beside the road: welcome to Tibet!! Brian Reed 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 (see below). 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. 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’ll 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. After 3 km there’s the second checkpoint: also lit up at night, but the people there are also sound asleep. Again, pass under the barrier and off you go. After the second checkpoint, there are 7 km downhill: good for rapid getaways. At the border, the kilometre markers along route 214 change sequence (they seem to adopt the distances from the 318, which joins the 214 in Markham as Patrik Wuetrich and Brian Reed have pointed out to me), and I started keeping track of them.
Yanjing-Lhasa (with kilometre markers)
3309 – First Yanjing checkpoint (approx).
3313 -- Second Yanjing checkpoint (approx).
3317 – Reach Mekong River, start to climb to the east of the Mekong. .
3355 – Crest of pass (4400 m). Downhill for 12 km (good camping here) then head
upstream on a small river towards Markam.
3372 -- Brian Reed reports that there's a friendly monastery with an English- speaking monk here. He stayed here and said they would be glad to have other foreign guests. It's about 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.
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.
3420 – Markam (Mangkham) checkpoint and intersection. Again, camp outside town
(lots of grassland spots about 5 km before town) and come through before dawn.
You’ll 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. Finally you’ll 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.
If you start in Chengdu, you will join the road here. The road from Chengdu is the 318 and the kilometre 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!
3435 – Crest of small pass (4338 m); only 11 km of climbing (the pavement ends 4 km
from Markham). Boggy but lovely grassland at the top, then downhill through 35 km of horrible road construction (in fall, 2001). Brian Reed reports that construction was over in summer 2002 and the road was in good shape. Excellent!
3478 – Juka Bridge over the Mekong River. 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 – Crest of first pass (approx 4000 m). Descend/undulate for 16 km.
3518 – Start climb to 5000 m pass. Great camping along river near km 3527.
3556 – Crest of pass. Down, down, down on decent dirt road.
3578 – Pavement (!!!) starts.
3588 – 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. I camped about 5 km past town, along the
river. Great, flat paved riding along river for next 70 km.
3655 – Cross river; village with shops and guesthouse(?). End of pavement.
3672 – Start of decent camping. Try to stay out of sight of villagers.
3696 – Bomda truck stop. 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.
3710 – Crest of Gama La pass (4839 m). (Thanks to Patrik Wuetrich for sending me the name!) 40 km hellish downhill through road construction (in fall 2001). By the summer of 2002, this was finished and in good shape, according to Brian Reed.
3730 – Dreadful roadside truckstop/brothels.
3750 – Bottom of pass, next to Salween River. Dry, waterless, hot desert.
3752 – Restaurant and guesthouse, run by friendly folks. According to Patrick Wuetrich, this was closed and abandoned in the summer of 2002.
3753 – Cross Salween at Nujiang bridge. Start climbing beside tributary river.
3765 – Pavement starts!! Dry, desert scenery.
3790 – Baxoi. Big town, lots of food and supplies for sale. Hotels, but don’t stay here. In the summer of 2002, Brian Reed reports that this was the start of 110 agonizing kilometres of nasty construction, all the way past Zhongmu Lake.
3798 – Pavement ends. Continue climbing slowly up the river, through desert, then
through cultivated fields.
3859 – Crest of extremely flat, gentle pass (4618 m). Much steeper downhill. From here
there are 250 consecutive downhill kilometres.
3880 – Reach gorgeous meadow with Himalayan views. 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 – End of lake. Start of steep gorge of Palung Tsangpo river. Worst road yet. Again it was under construction to around 3910 in the summer of 2002, according to Brian Reed.
3955 – Good campsite.
3968 – Pavement begins.
4006 – Bomi. 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.
4024 – Good campsite beside stream.
4034 – Pavement ends (again, thanks to Patrik for the correction). From here the road gradually deteriorates and gets almost unrideable. Brian Reed says it was in good condition up until Tangme in summer, 2002.
4080 – Enter the leech zone in moist rainforest. Watch out for leeches!!
4094 – Awful campsite, full of leeches and mosquitoes.
4098 – Tangme. Start of worst road of entire trip: landslides, mud, construction. Don't get killed by landslides around here. Seriously.
4112 – Turn up Rong Valley, end of worst part of roads.
4114 – Trulung. Restaurant, guesthouse (I met a Czech who stayed here: no problems).
Beautiful virgin forest, views of Mt. Namche Barwa, nice flowers, steep climb.
4123 – Good camping on right side of road, under power lines.
4130 – Tongyuk Bridge. Food shops.
Somewhere here, during 100 km without kilometre markers, I lost 9 km. (ie, it’s actually 35 km from Tongyuk to Lunung.)
4146 According to Brian Reed, in the summer of 2002 this was the start of a massive construction zone that lasted all the way to Ningchi (72 km), so maybe it will be paved by the time you read this. (Keep your fingers crossed.)
4156 – Lunung. Good restaurants, several guesthouses. I didn’t stay here (PSB in town).
Start of steep climb to pass.
4167 – Campsite beside road (not very good, but acceptable).
4183 – Crest of Sekye La pass (4720 m). Steep downhill towards Ningchi,
4207 – 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 – Small village with power plant.
4212 – Pavement starts! It’s paved from here to Lhasa.
4214 – Nyingchi, home of overzealous PSB officers. They will arrest you if they see you, so don't let them see you!!!!. 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. 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.
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 – Bayi: 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.
4234 – 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.
4312 – Namse Zampa. Guesthouse, restaurants, no problems staying here. You can do
a side-trip to Draksum Latso lake from here.
4360 – Kongpo Giamda. Large town, with good food.
4403 – Jinda: nice Tibetan town, with baozi and bread for sale.
4407 – Good campsite above road.
4420 – Syangboteng.
4456 – Shungdor truck stop. Restaurant, guesthouse, supplies for sale.
4468 – Good spot to camp before the pass.
4484 – Mangshung La (5000 m).
4509 – Rutok hot springs; huge construction site for new hotel. Pretty dreadful.
4548 – Not-so-great campsite.
4563 – Turnoff to Katsal Gompa (on right).
4563 – Medro Gongkar.
4572 – Turnoff to Gyalmashing valley (lovely monasteries on valley sides).
4583 – Lamo village (nice peaceful gompa).
4591 – Turnoff to climb to Ganden monastery (9.5 steep kilometres uphill).
4632 – Bridge over Kyi Chu river.
4635 – 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’ve 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 at
graydonandjoanne*песик*yahoo.com.