En route to Lhasa, Tibet

We departed the hotel at 0900hrs. An hour and a half later and we had arrived at Guangzhou Railway Station by Metro!! 

The access to the station was painless and speedier than anticipated! A special 'soft class' (i.e. bed for the night)  waiting room was available with large comfortable leather chairs. At 1100hrs, the gate was opened and we went to the train. 

- carriage 5, beds 29 and 30. The  cabin is remarkably well presented with super clean pillows and a duvet. Unfortunately, no towel was provided and washing facilities are basins at the end of each carriage - no en suite or showers available. As it is bunk class, I'll hone my mountaineering  skills to access the top bunk - no ladder!! Surely Everest is not as challenging as this? CC declined. 

Unfortunately, there  are only 4 bunk cabins. We usually book the whole cabin but on this occasion as we are on a group trip (the only way for a foreigner to visit Tibet as one must obtain a visa and that can only be obtained through an agent), we had no choice but to share the cabin. 

Having taken the necessary train photographs,

we returned to our cabin. Still no sign of our cabin mates!! The train departed promptly at 11.45 hrs. The Chinese railways are as efficient or almost as efficient as the Japanese. It appears we will have the cabin to ourselves for a while. Today is Wednesday and we do not arrive in Lhasa until Friday at 17.30 hrs.

 With luck, we will have the cabin to ourselves tonight?? The steep climb to the stratosphere does not begin until we reach Xining at 19.28hrs Thursday. Maybe our cabin mates won't appear until then.?? 

It is ideal to take the train rather than fly as one can gently acclimate to the altitude - many do not recommend flying to Lhasa as the shock to one's system is too great! When we arrive at Tanggula   Pass, the highest level at 5,072 meters the oxygen level will be only 60% of that at sea level! Oxygen will be piped into all areas on the train! Most of the journey from Golmud to Lhasa is above 4,000 metres. However, piped oxygen must be a new invention as while on the Peruvian Railway journey, which is the second highest railway journey (was the highest until the Lhasa line opened in 2006), there was oxygen available if one needed it, it was not piped at least not when we took the train in 2008. 

We went to the restaurant for lunch. The only people there were the emigration officials checking Chinese passports, some relief drives and the restaurant staff. We got a pre-prepared meal of rice, meat and vegetables with plenty of chilli. It was good. 

The table to which we were assigned was quickly shorn of its table cloth and napkins - they must think we are 'messy'eaters? The emigration officers sitting next to us were most amused when CC, having forsaken the chop sticks, used the Chinese soup spoon😄 I decided to take out a bottle of wine, which we had brought and see what the reaction was...... We asked for glasses - nothing like being brazen!! Next to us were two tables set up in style with proper glasses to which I pointed but in vain, they must have been set for some VIPs - not us - and she produced two mugs for the wine!! Later the table and more particularly the glasses were cleared unused !! 

No English is spoken except the necessary 'numbers' , 'ticket' and 'passport'. This we can use to our advantage as we play innocent and they don't know what to do. They are very polite. It appears at present we are the only two Caucasians on board!  

The train journey continued... We passed through countryside and city. Most of the cities were larger than Dublin and I had never heard of any of them! Our  first stop was Chenzou with a poulation of 21/2 million.

The sky scrapers were a sight to behold. 

But there were Olson old, unkempt apartment blocks. 

In the countryside one saw paddy field after paddy field - the area under cover increasing as we left Guangzhou. 

Construction is huge here - it's like the Celtic Tiger on steroids!!

Prior to arriving at Changsha at 19.28, we went to the restaurant for dinner. Again the tablecloths were pulled back. We ordered a chicken dish and a vegetable one. It was spot the chicken as the Chinese appear to crush the bones and add them too!! They cook most of their food in a very unsavoury oil. J tells them that it is little wonder they die young when their food is laced with said oil. Chinese tea was  served with the meal. 

On returning to our cabin, there was a middle - aged lady ensconced!! She appeared to be wearing pyjamas but if they were she wore them day and night. 

I read until 22.00 hrs. Darkness falls c 19.30 here. There is little dusk. Did I say 'soft sleeper'? The bed was like a plank and the hardest bed I've ever slept on and I've slept on many hard ones.

I awoke at 24.00.hrs but quickly fell asleep til 0840hrs. I awoke to find our cabin mate having breakfast on the equivalent of pot noodles. The Chinese appear to eat copious pots and drink lots of carbonated drinks. One can see an obesity epidemic developing here in the next 10 years. Most bring this type of food on board. 

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). 

Sens - Cherbourg

We set off for Cherbourg. We travelled via Paris. We ended up on Rue Perifique Madam Sat Nav got confused and left up high and dry on the Rue Perifique!! Luckily we soon found the A11 and continued to Cherbourg. We boarded at 20.30 hrs and sailed at 21.30. Arrived back Sunday evening at 14.00 hrs 

THE END

Macon - Troyes - Sers

Last night we stayed in Macon in an excellent Logis in the square. 

This morning we left for Sens via Troyes, to do some retail therapy at Mc Arthur's Outlet. 

It was a very spectacular drive through the Paris Basin. Fellow geographers will appreciate my claim. At one stage Madam Sat Nav brought us into the Cote               d'Or, a forested area, but this was the exception,  as the vast, agricultural Plain stretched out before us - all very systematic in the planting. The farms here are large and this was evident in the absence of much settlement except the villages which interspersed the landscape at intervals. 

The sides of the Côte d'Or were covered in vines. As we drove through the Champagne region, we called at a chateau for a tasting and added to our wine collection!!! 

Having splashed the cash, we repaired to Sens and found an olde worlde hotel. Our hostess runs the adjacent bar. She advised of a restaurant, Cafe de Paris. It was a good meal if not excellent. A French couple spoke to us as we quitted the restaurant- Parisians about to commence a walking holiday. 

We adjourned to a local hostelry, where again we were estoppeded to enquire as to our country of origin.  Of course , we are always British.! 

We  returned to our hotel. 

Arles - Avignon - Macon

I'm sorry for my silence,  faithful reader, but a serious problem loomed!  Two nights ago in Arles, we had dinner in a modest restaurant. To be honest choices were few and having been unsuccessful in one, we repaired there. An interesting and very authentic, olde world Provençal establishment. Dinner was excellent. We attempted to pay. Four bank cards showed incorrect pin number, though we knew the pins were correct. Luckily, we had enough to pay in cash. On our return to the hotel, we rang AIB.. We were told all cards bar one were blocked, not by AIB but because of some problem with French banks. We were worried, we needed to pay our hotel bill and get back to Cherbourg. Money had to be transferred by Western Union, we were advised!! Later this proved to be incorrect information from AIB, the card they said didn't work did, but another they had said did work didn't !!! ! My advise if you're going to France keep enough cash on you. We were advised it frequently happens , though on prior visits, we must have been lucky.!!!!

With the relief of having paid the hotel bill, we set off for Avignon. Here we visited Palais des Papes and the olde Bridge. St Benezet's bridge spans about half the Rhone and is the centre of much attention. Archaeologists, historians and geomorphologists, among others have taken years to establish the bridge's history and construction techniques. 

It appears that in the period of the Popes' reign in Avignon, it was used by the cardinals to access their villas on the Villeneuve side of the river!!! 

 Our next destination was Palace des Papes. 

It was very interesting, though it is now a series of rooms and passages, devoid of furniture, it is impressive.! 

                The Avignon Popes

  

We departed for Macon.

Arles and Le Camargue

This morning, we set off for the Camargue - the  delta region between Arles and the Mediterranean, with its wetland area sporting distinctive flora and fauna. 

The big three to see are the Black Bulls, the white horses and pride of place the flamingos.

The area teems  with bird life - an ornithologist's dream. 

The area is vast and its chief town at the most southern end is Les Stes Maries- de - la - Mer. It is your typical tourist town reminiscent of Irish sea - side towns, we of a certain vintage holidayed in, in our youth - before we all headed abroad on holidays in search of the sun.

The Park Naturel Regional de Camargue  was reasonably busy as it attracts people on activity holidays - walking, hiking and cycling are extremely popular and many areas can only be reached on foot or by bike! 

The lagoon was quite choppy, though it is some miles from the Mediterranean and there was a bracing breeze to fill the lungs. We had a pleasant walk along the promenade.  

We returned to Arles by another route, which necessitated a 5 minute ferry crossing and once again negotiated the narrow streets of the historic city enroute   back the hotel. One needed a code to access the street as it is 'pedestrian only' except for access to the hotels. 

This afternoon, we devoted to sightseeing in Arles. It is a small town with a population of 55,000, but a very important centre of Provençal culture. Van Gogh priduced many of his greatest painting here, because of the brilliance of the light. We visited the Van Gogh foundation 

but was disappointed to discover that the gallery had only one of Van Gogh's paintings: 

An exhibition of 31 of his works here is imminent!! The foundation was promoting the works of 20th century painter, the Italian Georgia Griffi. 

This visit was followed by visits to the  amphitheatre 

constructed in the the first century AD, it became a fortress in the Middle Ages and later it was almost destroyed as town of 200 dwellings was built from the stone of the amphitheatre. Restoration began in 1825 and is ongoing!!

The Roman theatre 

built by Augustus 27-25 BC suffered a similar fate  and by 5AD , it's stone was being used to build churches before it disappeared beneath houses and gardens. Excavation  also commenced in the 19th century. 

We continued to Place de la Republique 

which Place is dominated by a spectacular Hotel de Ville 

for such a small city and l' Eglise St - Trophime built in the 11th century, had an intricately carved portal 

With a vast, cool, stone interior, a welcome relief from the warm, Provençal sunshine in the Place outside. 

We returned to the hotel and en route purchased some savon ( soap) , particular to Provenance, smelling of roses, lavender, strawberry and mojhito among others!!