1. Id Kah Mosque Square, Kashgar, 1300m.
A standard Chinese habit: make a grand square
in front of a local icon, this time almost
a complete entertainment park with surrounding
new buildings in similar muslim architectural style.
Well, it doesn't look bad, but the real atmosphere
is to be tasted across the street in the old town,
where small streets are full with Uyghur people.
We stayed one week in Kashgar resting and preparing
for the trip to Tibet. We talked to and heard from
many other cyclists who planned to go the same way;
some gave us copied detailed info about the route.
Just before we left we met a Swiss couple that had
come from Lhasa and brought us up-to-date.
2. Altun Mosque Cemetery, Yarkand, 1300m.
We cycled along the edge of the Taklamakan Desert to
other Silk Road cities Yarkand and Kargilik.
In Yarkand the separation between new Chinese town and
old Uyghur town was more clear and parts really looked
like the Middle Ages. Main attraction though is the
Altun Mosque, which was closed, and next to it the 'mazar' 
or cemetery with beautiful engraved tombs of former rulers
and dignitaries.
3. Kuda La, 3350m. 
We endured busy traffic between oasis towns and some of 
the most boring stretches through grey desert in grey,misty
weather before we climbed the first pass with a spectacular
descent. After the next pass (4900m) on the way to Mazar,
the first settlement, there was only blue sky and fresh air.
4. Chinese cyclist.
This was the most special cyclist that we met on the
entire trip. A Chinese guy from Guangzhou province,
near Hongkong, on his way to Urumqi in Xinjiang province.
And that on a normal one-gear Chinese bicycle!
It took him half an hour to get his photocamera out of one
of his bags, all piled up and tied at the back. He told us
he even had to walk one stretch of 500km because of some
problem in his rear wheel!!
(There are pilgrims by the way that walk the whole route)
5. Along the Kunlun Shan Range, 4000m.
Picture taken by fellow cyclist Jordi from Spain
whom we kept on meeting several times on our way
to Lhasa.
6. Aksai Chin, 4800-5200m.
This region between Xinjiang and Tibet is officially
under administration of China and claimed by India.
It is so remote and empty that it took the Indians a long
time before they realised that the Chinese had built a road
through it; the military owns and maintains the road
while keeping an eye on things!
The altitude here is higher than on the Tibetan plateau and
cycling constantly on ca.5000m is quite tiring.
We climbed our first 5000m passes.
The world's highest road passes (more than 6000m) are in
Indian Ladakh, near Leh, just on the other side of the mountains.
7. Lake Palgon, 4200m.
Stormy wind and bad road forced us to camp a bit higher than
planned near a salt lake. After overnight snow we had a very
nice relaxed ride along the edge of this huge lake in perfect
conditions. We ate fried fresh fish in a (Chinese) restaurant.
8. Ali, 4150m.
Finally, after 1345km, the district capital of Western Tibet
Ali comes into view. It has become a very large modern, Chinese
town; an airport is being built nearby.
We had the best (Chinese) barbeque sticks, drank apple cidre with
'tsampa' (barley flower, Tibet's main food source) and shopped
like crazy for the next stage.
9. Ruins Guge Kingdom, Tsaparang.
These are the remains of what was in the 9th-17th century AD
the seat of the rulers of the Buddhist Kingdom of Guge.
Beautifully located on top of a hill along the Sutlej river
surrounded by eroded sand mountains. Several monasteries and
cave dwellings for monks in lower parts, palace buildings on the
top connected via a tunnel. A staircase led through a tunnel
down to the winter palace: simple cave rooms with a view.
10. Tsada Geological National Park.
It took us 3 days (150km) to come here over very bad roads and
our highest pass so far: 5610m. But the scenery was fantastic.
An earth forest created by the Sutlej river with a total area
of 5600 km2, 1300 of which are National Park.
Climbing out of the valley was quite though, very steep in
parts and took us 3 days as well (120km).
11. Mountain colours.
Mountains in all colours of the rainbow: in the summer dry
and brown mostly, but with many stunning pastel colours.
12. Mt Kailash, summit 6714m.
This is the most sacred mountain for Hindus and Tibetans.
The four main rivers of the Indian subcontinent have their
source here: Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra and Karnali/Ganges.
In Hindu epics there is mentioning of such a holy place,
Mt Meru ‘home of the gods’ which became associated with
Mt Kailash through time; it’s south face moreover has a big
vertical crevace that resembles a swastika, Buddhist symbol
of spiritual strength.
The ‘kora’, religious circular walk, is one of the most
important ones in Asia which we did in 2 days (52km, pass 5630m).
It was less crowded with pilgrims than expected.
Shown here is the north face, with chortens of the Dira Puk
Monastery where we had a memorable overnight stay: free diner
at 10.30pm in the monastery kitchen full with pilgrims
(some very rough characters), monks entertaining the waiting
crowd and receiving small gifts from new arrivals.
The next morning we saw the first golden light shine on the
top from our beds.
13. Chui monastery, Lake Manasarovar, 4560m.
From Darchen (at the base of Mt Kailash) we fought against
stormy winds and over sandy tracks, being a main road to
India/Nepal, on our way to a well deserved bath with water
from hot springs near Chui monastery, that is located on top
of a hill overlooking Lake Manasarovar.
The lake is the most sacred one in Tibet. According to Hindu
legend it was formed by Brahma for his sons to bathe in and
this ritual is followed by Hindu pilgrims. When we were there
the weather was bad and cold, so we gave that bath a miss.
We did try though to cycle the first day of the 4-5 day kora
around the lake. Following the lakeshore we passed some
caves and monastery ruins, but we had to push our bikes most
of the way so we exited at the first possible point battling
wind and rain through sandy hills.
14. Bridge blockade, near Paryang.
Temporary blockade when locals had mustered their flock of
sheep onto this bridge to have them vaccinated.
There were quite a few places along the whole route where
passing traffic was disinfected to avoid spreading of animal
diseases. Some took their job seriously and tried to spray our
bikes, but the few drops impossibly could have been sufficient.
15. Sand dunes, Paryang.
Beautiful to see, but horrible to cycle through loose sand!!
Indian Himalayas visible in the background.
16. Mt Shishapangma, summit 8012m.
We left route 214 at Saga and took the so called Pak-Tso
short cut to the Friendship Highway (Kathmandu-Lhasa).
Cold strong headwinds, bad road and some steep climbs made
it again far from easy, but the ride through a gorge,
view on the super blue Pak Tso (lake) and Great Himalayas
was again worth the effort.
Mt Shishapangma is the only 8000m mountain fully located
in Tibet and we camped close to the basecamp to see the
whole mountain at sunrise, luckily clear because the
previous days clouds had obscured most of the tops.
17. Everest North Base Camp, 5020m., summit 8850m.
World’s highest mountain should not be missed of course;
it’s a pity though that you can only see Mt Everest from
basecamp viewpoint and not the other 8000m mountains nearby.
The 100km long main road in has been widened and smoothened
and should be sealed pretty soon for the passage of the
Olympic torch. We cycled towards basecamp via a bad road
from Old Tingri, but after having changed the worn-out first
choice rear tyres before departure, the one of the spare tyres
was damaged and kept on giving punctures to the inner tube:
we were forced to put up camp halfway. That day, October 13th,
several other things broke or went wrong: can’t be a
coincidence, right?! On the next day, 14 is one of our lucky
numbers, everything went right: we managed to hitchhike with
passing 4WD cars to and from basecamp and get a (paid) lift
with a truck for our bikes and all our gear back to our
starting point and we managed to retrieve the 2 worn out tyres.
18. Gyatso La, ca.5200m.
In Tibet it is common to mark all important points or places
with colourful prayer flags: the wind is meant to continuously
carry the prayers further.
This is the highest and windiest pass on the Friendship Highway.
The road between Lhasa and Kathmandu (Nepal) is highly popular
with cyclists, many of them on organised tour with mountain
bikes and luggage support; the Chinese won’t allow cyclists
to come in from Nepal. The road is mostly sealed and is part
of route 318 from the Nepalese border to Shanghai, with a
total length of 5334km the longest road in China.
19. Sakya monastery, ca. 4100m.
Only 25km of the main road and worth the side trip.
It was founded in 1073 and once the seat of power in Tibet.
Abbots are not selected by reincarnation but by a line of
succession through sons of the ruling family.
This monastery was very special in its different colourscheme
(grey-red-white-black) and the many dark chapels with
underworld paintings and statues, corpses, skulls, stuffed
wolves and other macabre items. The sombre humming and
drum sound of monks sitting in the small rooms increased
the hellish atmosphere.
20. Tashilhunpo Monastery, Shigatse, 3900m.
We arrived two times into Tibet’s second largest town.
The first time by truck to get a visa extension, having
left our bikes in Old Tingri and the second time by bicycle,
9 days later.
This monastery is the seat of the Panchen Lama
(second in rank to the Dalai Lama) built in 1447 and houses
a giant Buddha statue and golden tomb. There are currently
two 11th Panchen Lamas, one recognised by the Tibetan leaders
and one appointed by the Chinese.
21. Kumbum Gompa, Gyantse.
Beautiful structure with 6 levels each
giving access to numerous small chapels.
22. Snow landscape, Ralung, 4350m. 
We had camped just before the second last main pass
(Karo La, ca.5000m) on our way to Lhasa.
Snow overnight created this winter landscape and we got
some snow during the climb as well, but the road was clear.
23. Harvest, Pede Dzong, 4400m.
This is a fishing village on the shore of beautiful,
but cold and windy Yamdrok Tso.
In October and November it is harvest season and
everywhere along the road you see yaks, horses and
small tractors make their rounds over the collected
barley and hear people singing and tossing it up.
The grains are being grounded into the local tsampa flower
that is used for making bread and ‘cookies’;
it is also added to thicken alcoholic drinks.
24. Nethang Drolma Lhakang, near Lhasa.
This monastery contains relics from the Bengali Buddhist
master Atisha and paintings dating back to the 11th century.
It was saved from the destructions of the Chinese Cultural
Revolution (1960’s), because of a Bengali request and
personal intervention of Zhou Enlai, the Chinese premier.
Picture taking inside was surprisingly allowed and free of
charge, but we donated money as per usual fee.
25. Buddha Carvings, near Lhasa.
We saw some nice small ones along the road near Nagartse,
but these were bigger.
26. Potala Palace, Lhasa.
Until recently the seat of the Tibetan government and the
winter palace of the Dalai Lamas. It is imposingly located
on top of a hill and the site was first used when King
Songtsen Gampo built a palace here in the 7th century . 
Construction of the current complex was started in 1645.
The White Palace contains the living and reception quarters
of the Dalai Lama and the Red Palace contains chapels and
very richly decorated chorten tombs of previous Dalai Lamas.
27. Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, 3600m.
Golden roofed, 1300 years old and Tibet’s holiest shrine.
No wonder that it is here that we saw a lot of people
prostrating, mainly in front of the main entrance.
Pilgrims from all walks of life and from all corners of the
country come and pay their respect here. The queue in the
morning can be very, very long, but tourists who pay to get in
are allowed to go in separately of course.
The temple was constructed originally to house Buddha images
brought to Tibet as part of the dowry of King Songsten Gampo’s
Nepalese and Chinese wives.
The area around it, known as Barkhor, contains a pilgrim’s
circuit (‘kora’) through busy streets lined with souvenir
and other stalls and the crowd keeps on moving clockwise.

Let's go: