The World's Highest Train Ride.

Beware that in China everything is huge to accommodate the 1.4 billion population.! 

When taking a journey be it by air, bus or rail allow plenty of time and do, if possible, a 'dry run' the day before. . Airports, bus stations and railway stations are massive and have so many gates, entrances and exits, the mind boggles.!!

Yesterday, we did a 'dry run' to collect our train tickets for Lhasa  and check out the departure area at Guangzhou Railway Station. 🚉  We timed the whole journey from hotel to the station and we must allow a further  1 - 11/ 2 hours  to locate the platform and have one's person and baggage scanned as at an airport.  

Considering our experience of taxis here, we feel more secure using the metro as most taxi drivers have little or no  knowledge of the cities (our hotel is close to the airport but the morning of our arrival, the taxi man had to ring the hotel twice for directions - we had agreed a fare in advance!) 🚖

We took 🚟 Metro 3 from the airport and changed to Metro 2 a little further up the line, the no. 2 line bringing us directly to the  railway station. Finding the correct exit proved a challenge!  We almost disrupted the whole metro system at the railway station by entering the Metro and attempting to exit before taking a journey!!!   Our day ticket, (24hr) cost of ¥20 (€3) would not permit it so a paper empire was constructed to allow us to exit!! 

After eventually discovering the correct railway exit, I joined one of the numerous queues for tickets - each queue in excess of 40 people - all very orderly. It took exactly ONE HOUR to get to the counter. It was a wonder to behold as the ticket seller entered our passport details on screen and the tickets issued in seconds. She was the most efficient operater I have ever encountered; issuing tickets and counting out the change in seconds. 

Since its inception in 2006, the Qingai - Tibet railway has been the world's highest train ride.  It has exceeded the heights achieved by the Peruvian Railway from Cusco  to  Puno on Lake Titicaca -  that notch is already on our belts. 

With tracks topping the 5072 metre at Tanggula pass; its station at 5068 metres and with 80% of the Golmud to Lhasa stretch above 4000 metres, the railway journey should be impressive.  

Its 160 km of bridges and elevated track were built over 550  km of permafrost so sections of cooling pipes were inserted to keep the muddy ground frozen in summer!! (You geographers take note). For more facts on this epic feat as  the experts questioned its feasibility. ... read tibettravel.org/ quinghai- tibet- railway

It cost a massive US$ 4.1 billion to construct!! 

Today is our final day of leisure here. Tomorrow at 0900 hrs, we depart for the  railway station to commence our railway journey to Lhasa.......👍

Dublin-Amsterdam-Guangzhou-Lhasa (Tibet)

As we departed for Dublin airport, a beautiful sunrise lit up Sandymount Strand. 

A quick 1.15 hr flight had us arrive at Amsterdam/ Schipol.

We departed Schipol at 13.45hrs (Saturday) on a China Southern A330-200 for the 11 hr. flight to Guangzhou.  At 0645 hrs (Sunday), we landed. 

We had flown into the night accompanied by a full moon. As we flew over Russia at 39,000 feet, the clear, full moonlit sky allowed for a view of the lights of the cities below. We followed part of the route of the Trans Siberian Railway journey, we had taken in 1988, passing over Irkutsk and Novosibirsk Siberia. Ironically,  as we flew over the Gobi Desert, a film of cloud below (fellow Geographers you understand) appeared as a mantle of virgin snow.

As we approached Guangzhou, the sky cleared, the dawn broke, pink hued brush strokes streaked the sky, followed by another spectacular sunrise. We followed the route of the Pearl river as it wound its way to the South China sea at Goungzhou. The muddy river meandered torturously through the wide valley, forming some Oxbow lakes as it flowed. 

The cities threw their multi storey apartment  blocks into the sky with their numerous industries spewing out pollutants to form the smog so indicative of Chinese cities. 

We taxied to the Crown Plaza adjacent to the airport, where J lives!! Thankfully we immediately got a room, a quick 5 hr. nap and I'm feeling rested!!  We will have some R& R here until on Wednesday next, we depart by train for Lhasa (Tibet).