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Asia trip

September - December 2023
A 69-day adventure by Kristin.aroundtheworld Read more
  • 54footprints
  • 4countries
  • 69days
  • 434photos
  • 11videos
  • 27.7kkilometers
  • 21.6kkilometers
  • 2.0kkilometers
  • 278kilometers
  • 225kilometers
  • 140kilometers
  • 96kilometers
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  • 7sea miles
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  • TravelerAsia trip
    Day 1

    New adventure is waiting

    September 24, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    My plan so far:
    Fly to China and visit 2,5 days Beijing, continue to Xining to take the night train to Lhasa. Travel 2 weeks through Tibet including a 3 days trek around Mt. Kailash. Continue to my favorite country by bus and stay at least 2 weeks in Nepal and start another trek. After the trek going for a yoga retreat. Have 3-4 weeks left and are totally unplanned. Will decide spontaneous what I wanna do.Read more

  • TravelerAsia trip
    Day 5

    Night train to Lhasa

    September 28, 2023 in China ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Riding a night train was one point on my vision board for 2023. Going to Tibet was on my bucket list. So why not combining both of it?! Here I am, sitting/lying on my upper bunk bed in a night train, sharing a soft sleeper compartment (the best class) with a Chinese family of 3 for 22h(!).

    THE WORLD’S HIGHEST TRAIN RIDE
    There’s no doubt the new Qīnghǎi–Tibet train line is an engineering marvel. Topping out at 5072m, it is the world’s highest railway, snatching the title from a Peruvian line. The statistics speak for themselves: 86% of the line is above 4000m, and half the track lies on permafrost, requiring a cooling system of pipes driven into the ground to keep it frozen year-round to avoid a rail-buckling summer thaw. Construction of the line involved building 160km of bridges and elevated track, seven tunnels (including the world’s highest) and 24 hyperbaric chambers, the latter to treat altitude-sick workers.    Read more

  • TravelerAsia trip
    Day 6

    Lhasa (1)

    September 29, 2023 in China ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    I made it to Lhasa/Tibet or should I better say Lhasa/China? Apparently Tibet nowadays belongs to China.
    Short summery about the history of Tibet:
    It grew into a great military power and carved for itself a huge empire in Central Asia; then it renounced the use of arms to practice the teachings of the Buddha and the tragic consequences that it suffers today as a result of the brutal onslaught of the communist Chinese forces.

    TIBET, the Roof of the World, is a vast country – over two-thirds the size of India or more than two and half times the size of Austria, Denmark, France and Germany put together. It is a land rich in minerals and the variety of its flora and fauna. And, contrary to popular belief, Tibet is not entirely arid and barren – it has vast areas rich in forests, endless pasturelands suitable for animal husbandry and extensive fertile valleys. Surrounded by high snow-capped mountain ranges and dotted with numerous lakes, Tibet is also the source of many great rivers – the Yar lung Tsang-po (Brahmaputra), Senge Khabab (Indus), Dri-chu (Yangtze), Za chu (Mekong), Ma chu (Yellow), Gyalmo Ngulchu (Salween) to name a few.

    Best thing today…I finally met Gabi, my travel Buddy for the next 5 weeks. She came by plane to Lhasa. Our tour through Tibet starts on the next day, so we had some time for us and strolled around through the old town of Lhasa.    Read more

  • TravelerAsia trip
    Day 7

    Lhasa (2)

    September 30, 2023 in China ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Sera was founded in 1419 by Sakya Yeshe, a disciple of Tsongkhapa also known by the honorific title Jamchen Chöje. In its heyday, Sera hosted five colleges of instruction, but at the time of the Chinese invasion in 1959 there were just three: Sera Me specialised in the fundamental precepts of Buddhism; Sera Je in the instruction of itinerant monks from outside central Tibet; and Sera Ngagpa in Tantric studies.
    Sera survived the ravages of the Cultural Revolution with light damage, although many of the lesser colleges were destroyed.

    In Tibetan monasteries, debates are an everyday part of life, and an important part of learning. Monks debate almost every day, normally in the late afternoon and evening, and the debates can sometimes last for several hours each. The groups of monks normally pray for a few hours before the debate, to heighten their awareness and sharpen the mind for the philosophical debates.    Read more

  • TravelerAsia trip
    Day 8

    Lhasa (3) - Potala Palace

    October 1, 2023 in China ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Lhasa’s cardinal landmark and home to every Dalai Lama from the fifth to 14th, the Potala is one of the great wonders of world architecture. As has been the case with centuries of pilgrims before you, the first sight of the fortresslike structure will be a magical moment that you will remember for years. It’s hard to peel your eyes away from the place.
    The Potala is a structure of massive proportions, with over 1000 rooms, and an awe-inspiring place to visit, but still many visitors come away slightly disappointed. Unlike the Jokhang, which hums with vibrant activity, the Potala lies dormant like a huge museum, and the lifelessness of the highly symbolic building constantly reminds visitors that the Dalai Lama has been forced to take his government into exile.    Read more

  • TravelerAsia trip
    Day 9

    Shigatse

    October 2, 2023 in China ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Today was our first day in the direction of Kailash. We passed the Gampala Pass (4.790m) and stopped at the Yamdrok Lake (4.400m). We continued our drive to the Karola Glacier viewpoint (5.000m) and arrived finally Shigatse in the afternoon after 360km, where we visited the beautiful and energetic Pamchen Monastery.Read more

  • TravelerAsia trip
    Day 9

    Shigatse - Pamchen Monastery

    October 2, 2023 in China ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    About 250km southwest of Lhasa and 90km northwest of Gyantse lies Shigatse (Rìkāzé), Tibet’s second-largest town and the traditional capital of Tsang province. Shigatse is a modern, sprawling city, with wide boulevards humming with traffic (even in the pedestrian-only lane). As you drive in across the plains, the site of the Potala-lookalike Shigatse Dzong, high on a hilltop overlooking the town, will probably fire your imagination, but the fort is empty and most of what you see dates from a 2007 reconstruction. It is the Tashilhunpo Monastery, to the west of town, that is the real draw. Since the Mongol sponsorship of the Gelugpa order, Shigatse has been the seat of the Panchen Lama, and this seat was traditionally based in the monastery.

    The Panchen Monastery
    One of the few monasteries in Tibet to weather the stormy seas of the Cultural Revolution, Tashilhunpo remains relatively unscathed. It is a real pleasure to explore the busy cobbled lanes twisting around the aged buildings. Covering 70,000 sq metres, the monastery is now the largest functioning religious institution in Tibet and one of its great monastic sights. The huge golden statue of the Future Buddha is the largest gilded statue in the world.    Read more

  • TravelerAsia trip
    Day 10

    Everest Base Camp

    October 3, 2023 in China

    For foreign travellers, Everest Base Camp has become one of the most popular destinations in Tibet, offering the chance to gaze on the magnificent north face of the world’s tallest peak, Mt Everest. The Tibetan approach provides far better vistas than those on the Nepali side, and access is a lot easier as a road runs all the way to Base Camp.
    Everest’s Tibetan name is generally rendered as Qomolangma, and some 27,000 sq km of territory around Everest’s Tibetan face have been designated as the Qomolangma Nature Reserve.

    It was an experience - an experience we don’t need again 😅 (a lot of people, a lot of people who can’t enjoy and respect the nature and long waiting lines for disgusting toilets).    Read more

  • TravelerAsia trip
    Day 13

    Mt. Kailash - Kora Trek (1)

    October 6, 2023 in China ⋅ ☀️ -1 °C

    Mount Kailash considered being central of the world and the holy snow peak for Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Bon. Thousand of pilgrimages go there every year walking around the peak but it is never climbed.

    The sources of four major Asian rivers lie close to this mountain and the two lakes. These rivers are the Indus, the Sutlej, the Brahmaputra and the Karnali.

    VERY INTERESTING FACT❗️
    Kailash Mountain is considered the axis of the universe, the center of the world, the pillar of the world. It is the place where the earth connects with heaven. As you can see from Google Maps, the distance from Stonehenge in the UK to Mt Kailash is 6,666 kilometers, which is also the distance from Kailash Range to the North Pole. The distance from Mt Kailash to the South Pole is 13,332 kilometers, which is exactly twice the distance to the North Pole or Stonehenge.    Read more

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