Xining to Tibet by Train
We went by train from Xining to Tibet. It was a 21.5 hours train journey over a distance 1971km. “10 Day Tibet” guided tour was the continuation of our “8 Day ZhangYe, Badain Jaran Desert, Xining” guided tour. It was arranged that the earlier trip would end at the city (Xining) where our next guided tour began.
We saw on Trip.com that there were several train trips througout the day between Xining and Lhasa. We had earlier informed our tour agency, Dynasty Discovery to book us on a late night train (Z8991) and left all tickets/tour arrangement to them. We wanted to leave Xining at 10 pm and reach Ihasa at 6.30pm the next day. The first part of the train journey would pass QingHai Lake in the dark which we had already visited and we did not mind not being able to see QingHai Lake scenery. In the next morning, after the sun rise we would be crossing some dramatic sections like Tuotuo River, Tanggula, and upper plateau scenery which would be just great.
We were surprised when we were told that our train was Z8981 and would leave Xining at 12.50pm and arrive in Lhasa 10.25am and were told by Sally our guide that there was only one Xining – Lhasa train trip a day. We were upset but there were nothing we could do as these tickets were snapped the moment they went on sale 15 days ahead.
Just before we left, Sally issued our Tibet Travel Permit (TTP) to us. TTP was mandatory for all non-Chinese passport holders. This permit was issued by the Tibet Tourism Bureau and was required to board flights or train to Tibets. Such permits were only issued to travelers through authorized Tibet Travel Agencies with foreign-related reception qualifications.
Sitting on the lower bunk bed it was easy to see the scenery as the window was big. On the upper bunk bed the window view was practically “zero”, the viewing angle was just not right! The person on the upper bunk had to sit cross legged or lie down the whole time which get very uncomfortable if one was not sleeping.
Our softsleeper upper bunk was ¥781 and the lower bunk was ¥40 more. It was a good things that we were friends travelling together so four of us shared the two lower bunk beds till sleeping time. Our fifth friend was allocated a upper bunk bed in another cabin so he too came over to share our lower bunk till time to return to sleep.
From 12.50pm our journey started at Xining, about two hours later QingHai Lake came into our view. We had already visited QingHai Lake, going up close, a few days ago. Looking at the lake from the train did not offered a “better” sight.
Sitting on the bunk bed we had nothing much to do but surf internet, popping sweet and tibits. Every once a while the sight outside our window turned stunning and we all were pressed against the window to take photos.
The train had a dining car which was located near the further end the train. We had to walk past the softsleeper cars, then the hardsleeper cars then the hard chair before arriving at the dining car. Dinner was opened for ordering in the dining car only at specific hours. After looking at the menu we decided not to bother going down to the dining car for our meals. It was easy to just eat cup noodles as hot water was easily available in every car.
After Xining Station there were four stations before the final station Lhasa Station. The four stations were Delingha Station , Geermu Station, Budongquan Station, Tuotuohe Station. By the time we reached Budonquan and Tuotuohe stations it would be pitch black!
The first stop after Xining Station was Delingha Station, it was just a 4 minutes short stop. Two and a half hour later we were at Geermu Station, this thime it was a 25 minutes. We went out of the train onto the platform to have a “leg stretch”. There were some vendors selling freshly cut fruits on the platform and we quickly bought some to enjoy. While out we took the opportunity to clean our cabin window so that any photoshoots later on would be clear and nice.
After Geermu station, it was near to 7.30pm and the sun was beginning to set. The sunrays were very strong and the landscape turned very bright and beautiful. The hills/mountains were casted “golden” by the sun rays, the scenery was brilliantly eye-catching!
The landscape became more dramatic but the sun was also setting lower. It was sad to realise that soon the landscape would darken.
By about 9.15pm the sun was already over the horizon, all we could see was its reddishgolden rays near the horizon behind the many layers of mountains. Shortly the landscape outside our train window was “black”, we could hardly see anything!
Sleeping
We closed our cabin door and went to sleep about midnight. The bed linens were clean pillows looked okay. The train ride was not bumpy and the cabin was not sfuffy. We slept.