Le Train from Lhasa

The ride from Lhasa to Golmud was a beautiful 1142km long and every passanger received an oxygen mask as part of the welcome kit on the train. I only saw one man gasping for air on the ride. The oxygen mask blows rather dry air into your nostrils, leaving them sore and uncomfortable. So, most people would open the wall plug and stick their finger into it to release a steady, hissing, stream of oxygen into the train.


Between announcements of "Dear Passangers, smoking is really, really bad for your health and has become a great hazard to our society" and "The next station is the Tangula mountain pass. This is the most exciting station because it is at an altitude of 5072m which is awesome" I listened to the singing of some very happy people on the brand new Tibet train. Once we left the Tibetan plateau the announcements of the sights passing by the window seized.



The train takes 48 hours to reach Chengdu. It was October 1 when I arrived, a national holiday. Luckily, I was able to get an onward ticket to Kunming but even better I was able to get a picture of the pickled chicken feet I consumed on the train at Kunming station.


Back on the train we rode along the Yellow River for a while. It really is yellow!