Train from Xian to Lhasa?

A friend of mine just realized they needed one more to make a group to get into Tibet, so invited me to tag along. They've obviously done a lot of research to decide what they want to do, but now I'm here with an invite to a location or two or three that I know nothing about. There is an obvious lure to Tibet, but I really know nothing about it. I understand you must travel from mainland China to get there, and their plan is to take a train from Xian which they say takes 2-3 days. That seems like a long time, and they couldn't give me any info on what fills those three days.

From looking around on the web I see some info on that train, but a lot of horror stories about getting tickets. That said, that info all seemed to be 5+ years old, so I am hoping to get some up to date information, especially based on the new train that was supposedly built on that line. Does it make the trip faster? Are there stops in interesting places? Oh, is there cell service en-route? 3 days without at least email access might be painful!

Then there's Tibet - the kind of travel I've done all my life is very brief and shallow - go to a place for 2-3 days, see the great sites, but never 5+ days. 3 days seemed plenty to me in Hong Kong, in Bangkok, in Amsterdam, in Paris... do I really need 5 days in Tibet? I hear horror stories about 3 meals of Yak every day.... How's the food in Tibet?

In short, I'm hoping that this great community can fill in the gaps that my friends are too busy to fill in for me. That or they don't know - really they're going for 2 months all around Asia so it's not like they're flying 20+ hours and spending the money just for this one place, so for them there's less question about whether it's "worth" the 10 days out of their 60.

Finally, it looks like I may get a round trip from DC to Beijing. A one way ticket to Xian, and then the train to Lhasa. We apparently will leave Lhasa by car to the border near Kathmandu. Maybe a few more days there and then a flight back to Beijing? Thoughts (I know, that's not a question.... but I'm still early in this process!).

Thanks 1,000,000!

Your friends obviously aren't up to date on the train, you can fly to Beijing & catch the train to Lhasa from there, the whole trip is only 2 days & there is a stop in Xian.

http://www.seat61.com/China.htm#Lhasa&Tibet

I did the trip in 2009 from Kathmandu to Lhasa then the train on to Beijing, it was awesome, food was good, I am sure you won't regret it. The 5 painless days from Lhasa is done in easy stages with lots to see in Toyota Land Cruisers, 4 people in each.

busman7 wrote:Your friends obviously aren't up to date on the train, you can fly to Beijing & catch the train to Lhasa from there, the whole trip is only 2 days & there is a stop in Xian.

Yeah, I'm not surprised. I still have yet to sit them all down and get the full info on their plan. They have a ton of time (2 months) so I'm sure getting all the details of each stop is less important for them (and much harder, with so much more planned) than it is for me if I'm going to join them for just 10-12 days.

I'm not sure I would prefer taking the train all the way from Beijing to Lhasa - the flights from Beijing to Xian are very cheap and when you fly all the way across the world, spending a day in a train (IF that train is not going to be a great experience in itself) may not be the best use of precious time on the ground. I poked around some of the many websites linked from your link and I'm not finding a train that only goes from Xian to Lhasa, though you can get it from Beijing-->Xian-->Lhasa so you'd assume it's possible.

I'm thinking I may go to Beijing for a few days to acclimate, then either go to Xian from there, or to Shanghai and then Xian depending on whether it's worth the time in Shanghai. I've just heard that the first week of October is China Golden Week or something, which apparently means avoid at all costs if you plan to get a hotel or a train. Is that the case?

I did the trip in 2009 from Kathmandu to Lhasa then the train on to Beijing, it was awesome, food was good, I am sure you won't regret it. The 5 painless days from Lhasa is done in easy stages with lots to see in Toyota Land Cruisers, 4 people in each.

You say "5 painless days FROM Lhasa" - from Lhasa to what? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding your phrasing, but 5 travel days in a row sounds like misery, if that's what you're describing.

If that's your feeling this trip isn't for you, tell your friends to find another person.

busman7 wrote:If that's your feeling this trip isn't for you, tell your friends to find another person.

Can you explain, or must it remain a mystery why (you think) this trip isn't for me?

These message boards are for helping people, right? Am I in the right place?

Cameronjpu wrote:

busman7 wrote:If that's your feeling this trip isn't for you, tell your friends to find another person.

Can you explain, or must it remain a mystery why (you think) this trip isn't for me?

These message boards are for helping people, right? Am I in the right place?

OK you stated "---but 5 travel days in a row sounds like misery to me, it that's what you're describing."

Yes I said 5 days, left out in a row as I felt that was obvious.

I did the trip from Kathmandu where the first day was about 15 hrs long with the border crossing + delays due to road construction, culminating in a very basin hostel, 4 person mixed dorm, with no heat (last week in Oct), squat toilets down the hall & cold water to wash. Breakfast was basic local food.

Day 2 & 3 were only about 8 hrs with 2 person rooms but still squat toilets down the hall, food getting progressively better.

Day 4 about 6 hrs

Day 5 about 4 hrs terminating in Lhasa at a nice hotel, still shared room but with western toilets & whatever food suited your fancy.

So doing the trip in reverse would start off easy & end up with hard days when you were tired.

According to your feelings about travel over 3 days would lead you to change the word "misery" to "hell" IMO.

Back on track, I went to Tibet last year.

Firstly, when are your friends planning on going exactly? Because my understanding from friends in the area right now is that Tibet is currently closed to forgeiners, might change soon but who knows.

Second, I took the train from Chengdu (48 hours) but many people were flying to Lhasa from there. I'm guessing that means you can fly to Lhasa too so long as you do it from mainland China. If you take the train... well I got cell phone reception in bigger towns but none of the stops are long enough to actually get off. This is much more a sit and enjoy your solitude and contemplation of the scenery sort of train journey!

Third, for all his tact or lack thereof, busman is right in that if 5 days of travel sounds like a lot to you then it's not the sort of trip you should be signing up for. Train aside, once you leave Lhasa travel in Tibet is basically a day of driving with a few scattered stops along the way, several hours for sure over some roads that were pretty crap honestly, as there are hundreds of miles between Lhasa and the Nepali border you have to cross! So if that doesn't interest you I'd reevaluate things.

On the bright side I can attest that the food was decidedly not yak 3 times a day and was actually quite fine enough, lots of Chinese style stuff mainly. Though there IS yak if you want to try it...

Well, in my opinion Yak meat is excellent. I had it a few times in Xiahe (so-called "Little Tibet" in China) and enjoyed it. Yak meat dumplings are superb, as are the Tibetan vegetable "paale". Don't be put off by inaccurate accounts of terrible Tibetan food!

Bear in mind that as of right now (15 Aug 2012) Westerners need a special permit to go to Tibet (in addition to a Chinese visa) AND you need a Chinese guide the entire time you're there. This may change, so keep monitoring the situation.

Be aware that travel in China is a fair bit harder than (say) Europe. Language (obviously) is only part of it. In more remote areas they are not accustomed to Westerners and just doing simple things like buying a train ticket can be difficult. Not impossible, just a little more difficult. I didn't go to Tibet but I'm guessing that these difficulties will apply there as well, probably more so. I found that Chinese trains are very comfortable and reliable, and generally on time.

Enjoy!

I was checking up on this last week and all the info pointed to Tibet being closed to foreigners again for the foreseeable future. There are a few who are getting through but I believe they are with high level blessing.

Not surprising as the way the Chinese occupation army of young punks was treating the Tibetans, likely wasn't something they wanted the world to see!