Pre-trip: Final Travel Plan

The departure date was approaching and we were still waiting for the Tibet permit so we could book our return flight. We were getting really anxious.

Meanwhile, I was researching for the trip and finally planned our route. Jeff left the mission to me as I told him that I liked planning the trip beforehand. He, on the contrary, usually traveled without planning and just went with his feelings instead. I tried that once and failed horribly, so here what our trip was supposed to look like...

6 Sep: Hangzhou - Xining (plane) >> booked
7 Sep: Xining - Chaka Salt Lake - Heimahe (bus/minivan)
8 Sep: Qinghai Lake - Xining - Kanbula Park (bus)
9 Sep: Kanbula Park - Xining (bus)
10 Sep: Xining - Lhasa (train) >> booked
11 - 23 Sep: Tibet Tour [Lhasa - Mount Kailash - Everest Base Camp - Namtso Lake] (4WD) >> booked
24 Sep: Lhasa - Xining (train/plane)
25 Sep: Xining - Huashixia (bus)
26 Sep: Huashixia - Xia Dawu (minivan)
27 Sep - 1 Oct: Amnye Machen Kora (trekking)
2 Oct: Huashixia - Yushu (sleeper bus)
3 Oct: Yushu - Manigango (bus)
4 Oct: Manigango - Yihun Lhatso - Ganzi (minivan)
5 Oct: Ganzi - Kangding (bus)
6 Oct: Kangding - Chengdu (bus)
           Chengdu - Hangzhou (plane)

Many people suggested to have a rest day after 10 days of traveling or so, but that would never gonna happen to me, not before, and not in a million years. I thought I was tough enough for this 31-day trip. Mostly we would be in the bus anyway. And normally on the bus, I would be sleeping. I had been running (30 mins) and cycling (10-30 km) almost every day. I should be fine, I hoped.

Pre-trip: Qinghai and Date Planning

During the last two weeks before our Tibet tour, Jeff and I started our intensive research on where we could go in Qinghai primarily around Xining. I didn't think I would find so many interesting places in Qinghai. See all the useful links I came across on the internet here (no need to pay for guidebooks, trust me!).

My initial rough plan for Qinghai part was something like this...

Xining -> Kanbula Park -> Tongren -> Machen -> Amnye Machen -> Huaxishia -> Xining -> Qinghai Lake -> Bird's Island -> Xining 

If we decided to travel around Qinghai before going to Tibet, we would have to fly to Xining on 30 Aug (which was quite too soon). But if we decided to go after Tibet, we could fly to Xining on 7 Sep instead (which we would still have enough time to plan our trip). We could also choose to overland to Sichuan and fly out from Chengdu at the end of our trip without returning back to Xining.

At first, I was planning to take vacation leave only for 3 weeks meaning I would come back to Hangzhou on 29 Sep. I had to ask my colleague to take care of my dog while I was away. It would be troublesome for him to take care of my stubborn Giant for the whole month. I didn't want to bother him too much. But later I took a closer look at the calendar and realized that there would be a week long holiday during China's National Day (1-3 Oct for my company, but for other Chinese companies would be 1-7 Oct). It would mean that I only needed to take 2 more vacation days and we could travel for one more week! 

I wholeheartedly knew what I had to face if I chose to travel during the golden week...

1) Incredibly expensive flight ticket
2) Huge crowd of Chinese tourists everywhere
3) Crowded bus/shared-van/train/flight/restaurant/toilet
4) More expensive dorm bed/room cost (if there is any left)
5) More expensive shared-van cost

Avoid traveling during the long holidays at all cost.

I had experienced the REAL nightmare last time when I was traveling in Yunnan in 2010 during  National Day. I didn't wish to relive that nightmare again. But one week more was very tempting. We could go to many other places. We could do the full Amnye Machen kora (which would take at least 6 days to complete). Overland to Sichuan would also be possible for one and a half weeks without any haste. Too tempting that I could not resist. I decided to face the nightmare again.

I asked my friend whether it was okay for him to help look after my dog for 4 weeks. He said no problem. I felt very grateful for his kind help. So, we were good to go!! 

Travel Period: 6 Sep - 6 Oct 2013

6 Sep (evening): arrive in Xining 
7 - 9 Sep: travel around Xining
9 Sep (evening): take train to Lhasa
10 Sep: arrive in Lhasa
11 - 23 Sep: go with the tour in Tibet
24 Sep: fly out of Lhasa to Xining
25 Sep - 5 Oct: travel around Qinghai and overland to Sichuan
6 Oct (evening): fly back to Hangzhou


4 weeks on the road. The longest trip I would ever take in my life so far and it would seem to be the most adventurous and exciting one also. I couldn't wait for things to unfold. I knew it would not roll smoothly as on the rose carpet. Still, I could try my best to pave the path to be a little less bumpy.