Lhasa Transportation

This was a 3.5 hour journey, so plenty of photos to take! Again, each one looked just like the other 20 or so, but I did manage to get some good ones of prayer flags dotted along the way! What did amaze me was that there were really dry mountains, mountains with foliage and mountains with sand...all different kinds. Our guide said that there were only two kinds of trees which grow in Lhasa, those being the Birch which is used for wooden carvings and the Willow which is used for the rooves of the Tibetan's houses.

It's one of the those photos that you take a million of at the time and then when you sort through them afterwards you realise that they all look the same! The scenery was beautiful however as we passed by the Lhasa River. At first we passed through the Yalung Zangbo Valley from the airport whose Indian name is Dhamaputara, and then through the newly constructed 3km long tunnel called Galashan which the guide was very proud of. The tunnel has actually cut the journey from around 93km to 60km, so that was the part that I was pleased to hear about! At the other end we went through the Lhasa Valley, passing the Lhasa River where I took this photo.

...but where it was is another matter!!! I really cant remember what the purpose of this Buddha here in the mountain side is, but I do remember the guide saying that the land used to be owned by the government and it was therefore free to get in and take photos, but recently it has been bought by a wealthy businessman and there is now a fee of 10yuan to walk inside, hence my photo from the side of the road. Nice billboard! At least the advertisers were clever enough to realise that people would be taking photos of it even if they didnt want to be! All the white 'rubbish' strewn on the mountain side are haddas put there by pilgrims and travellers. I should have probably put mine there as it kept getting caught on my bag zip, but then I would have had to pay 10yuan just to put it there..a vicious cycle!

I was so excited to see the snow capped mountains from the aeroplane, and you could even see the most gorgeous turquoise coloured lakes dotted around the mountains. A great start to this amazing trip.

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Lhasa's airport is not in Lhasa. It's actually located in the small town of Gongga, about an hour away by bus. There is only one international flight, so if you are not going to Nepal then you must fly to another domestic destination and change planes.
If you need to use the restroom, there is only one western style toilet in the airport and it's located next to "International Departures" on the far right as you enter the airport.

There is plenty of transportation to Lhasa from the airport, but if you fly into Gongga and wish to go elsewhere in Tibet then options are very limited. There is a road that goes to Gyangze (highway 307) but it is constantly under repair. For 10 yuan you can get dropped off by the Lhasa shuttle at the nearby intersection that goes west to Shigatse (spelled as "Xigaze" in VT database) and then hitch a ride on a mini-bus for 40 or 50 yuan. (See additional photo)

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I was amazed by how easy it is to buy a train ticket at Lhasa station. It only look about a total of 5 minutes for me to go into the station on a Friday afternoon and purchase a ticket to Golmud.
When I got to the ticket counter there was only one person in front of me. Where were the long lines? What about the bureaucracy?
I was told that buying a ticket to Beijing or Chengdu required advance reservations. Yet since I only wanted a cheap hard seat to Golmud, the tickets were in abundance for my Sunday departure.

It is possible to buy tickets to Dangxiong or Naqu if you want to see a couple more destinations in Tibet. Dangxiong is the station near Nam-tso Lake and Naqu is famous for its horse racing festival. These tickets are very cheap but you'll need to stay overnight in order to proceed to Golmud or return to Lhasa. In the near future I believe day trip packages to Nam-tso Lake will become available.

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You probably won't walk across it but the Lhasa Bridge is used frequently by vehicles arriving in Lhasa from the train station. Further west there is a new bridge currently under construction in 2006 that will provide a shortcut to town from the train station. The old bridge will still be used by vehicles travelling east to Sichuan.

The area surrounding the Lhasa Bridge is an ideal place to observe the Bathing Festival, which is usually celebrated some time in September. Use the west gate of Tibet University to access the bridge area, as the road from town leading up to the bridge does not have a suitable sidewalk for pedestrian traffic.

Public buses are good way to get around within Lhasa and to nearby monasteries. It is 2RMB within the city, and more to further away. The buses are actually mini-buses and are quite frequent. There are various routes, it is better to ask at your guesthouse which one and where to take beforehand.