The most high-alonging train in the world. By train Tibet (pros and cons): On the example of the road from Sinine in Lhasa

Not for the first time, the Chinese surprise the whole world with their brave technical solutions. Railway B.
The highland part of China is fully such a project.
Sealed wagons, individual oxygen masks for each passenger, specially designed locomotives, endless overpass on permafrost, dozens of deserted stations against the background of snow-covered mountain peaks - all this unique Qinghai Tibetan railway.

In just five years and three and a half billion dollars in China built a line of 1150 kilometers long, which connected the "roof of the world" with the main territory of the country.

Even at the beginning of the 1920s, Sun Yatsen's revolutionary in his program "China's Reconstruction Plan" proposed to build about 100,000 kilometers of new railways in the country, including lines on Tibetan Highlands. According to objective reasons, the idea of \u200b\u200bthe "Father of Nation" was able to return only in the 1950s with the Chairman of Mao. The railway project in the capital of Tibet Lhasa was approved by 1960, but its construction was frozen almost a half decades - China hardly reached the fruits of the "big jump".

Only in 1974, the construction of the first plot of the future highway, from the capital of the province of Qinghai city of Sining towards Golmoud already on Tibetan Highlands, resumed. 814 kilometers of railway forces by the army and prisoners were built in five years, by 1979, but the passenger traffic was opened here only in 1984.

Work on the second, high-altitude, plot to Lhasa was associated with the engineering tasks of special complexity: builders had to work in the conditions of permafrost, lack of oxygen and also a unique Tibetan ecosystem, the preservation of which was declared by the Chinese party and the government of paramount importance.

Only in early XXI Century The country has reached the level of technological readiness, which has reached the implementation of a large-scale infrastructure project. Moreover, the construction of the railway to Lhasa became the key stage of the Western China development program, the purpose of which is to eliminate the disparity in the development of the Eastern and Western regions of the country. Another important, and possibly the main, the task of the Government of the PRC was to strengthen the relations between the Tibetan autonomy, the control over which was again established only in 1950, with the main Chinese territory.

According to the project approved in 2000 by the Chairman of the People's Republic of Jiang Zemin, the overall length of the new railway was to be 1142 kilometers. 45 stations were organized on this site, 38 of which were automatic, without service personnel. The Tibetan highway from Golmuda rose from a height of 2800 meters above sea level to Tang La Pass (5072 meters) and then descended to Lhasa (3642 meters).

Golmuda Station.

The end terminal in Lhasa.

About 80% of the entire new plot (960 kilometers) passed on difficult-to-alpine areas at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters above sea level, of which about 550 kilometers were located in the permafrost zone.

Construction of the railway there was a serious engineering problem. The fact is that upper layer Eternal Merzlota has a property in a short summer period to disappear, sometimes turning into a hardwater swamp. In this regard, the real threat was the balance of the soil, which could lead to deformation and destruction of the path. In order to eliminate this risk, the designers of the Qinghai Tibetan road have developed a special scheme of its device, actually insulating any impact of the highway on the environment and vice versa.

Rails laid on a special mound from cobblestones, covered with a sandy layer. In the transverse projection, the mound was perforated with a through-network of pipes to ensure better ventilation, and its slopes were closed with special metal sheets reflecting sunlight And thus even more preventing it with heating. In some areas, wells filled with liquid nitrogen were arranged. All these events actually froze the mound under the road, preventing heating the upper layer of permafrost, its thawing and subsequent deformation of the railway canvas.

To compensate for heights in the construction areas, a significant part of the highway is laid on the overpass. A total of 675 bridges, a total length of 160 kilometers, arranged at its 1142 kilometers. Supports of these overpass are essentially piles, the foundations of which rest deep in permafrost, due to which seasonal thawing of its top layer do not have any influence on the stability of the structure of the structure. The gaps between the column supports do not prevent the free circulation of air under them, which allows minimizing the additional thermal effect from the railway.

In addition to the technical component, the important advantage of the overpass areas is the fact that they do not impede the free movement under the highway unique sometimes representatives of local fauna. The negative effect of foreign inclusion in the Tibetan ecosystem is thus reduced to a minimum.

The areas of the Qinghai Tibetan road laid on the embankment on the surface of the Earth are fenced over all of their length, and for the transition of migratory animals, special tunnels are regularly laid and bridges are built.

After completing the construction, the Tibetan highway installed several robin construction records at once. 350 kilometers from the goat at an altitude of 4900 meters above sea level was built the most high-alley railway tunnel in the world, called Fenghoshan (a windy volcano tunnel).

The Tang La Station on the Mountain Pass of the same name became the most high-altitude railway station in the world. The surrounding mountains seem rather hills, but this is a deceptive impression. In fact, the three-step tang-la is located at an altitude of 5068 meters only four meters below the highest point of the entire highway (5072 meters).

Although trains are stopped here, in fact it is just a traveling on a one-section highway. The station is fully automatic and controlled from the Sinine, where the central control of the entire road is located. There are no localities nearby, which, however, did not prevent the Chinese to build a fairly large station, a worthy record holder station.

In most cases, the doors of the wagons do not even open here. For an unprepared person, to be at such an altitude, where the pressure of the atmosphere is only about 35-40% of the standard at sea level, represents a certain threat to health.

In order for the journey to the highlight areas with their stunning landscapes delivered passengers only pleasure, a special rolling stock was developed for the Qinghai-Tibetan road. The US Corporation General Electric designed for the NJ2 diesel locale, modified to work in high mountain conditions, with a capacity of 5100 liters. from. everyone. Locomotives are able to develop speed up to 120 km / h with a composition of 15 cars. In the zones of permafrost, the speed of their movement is limited to 100 km / h.

Wagons for maintenance of the road were built at the Chinese Plant of the Canadian Concern Bombardier in the amount of 361 pieces (308 ordinary and 53 special tourist). All of them are actually hermetically isolated from ambientThe oxygen pressure close to the standard is maintained inside.

Despite this, the attacks of mountainous disease caused by the lack of oxygen, passengers have happened. To prevent them, each place in the wagons is equipped with individual oxygen tubes according to the sampler. Tinted glass of wagons with a special coating protect passengers from excess solar radiation, again in characteristic of high mountains.

Standard wagons are divided into familiar and us three classes: seating, reserved seats and coupe. In addition, trains have restaurant wagons.

The construction of the Qinghai Tibetan Railway began in 2001. About 20,000 workers, at the same time began laying a highway from both endpoints (Golmuda and Lhasa), coped with the responsible task of the party in just five-year plan, spending $ 3.68 billion dollars. According to official data, no one died, even despite the long-term work in not the most comfortable conditions for this.

The throughput of the highway is eight pairs of passenger trains per day (not counting freight). Currently, Lhasa is connected by regular passenger traffic not only with the neighboring "regional" center of Sinin, but also with major cities Countries - Beijing and Shanghai. In the way, Express Beijing - Lhasa is 44 hours. The cost of tickets depending on the class is from $ 125 (reserved) to $ 200 (coupe).

For seven years of operation, more than 63 million passengers and 300 million tons of cargo were transported on the road. Annual passenger turnover increased from 6.5 million people in 2006, when the highway was commissioned, up to 11 million people in 2012, the annual cargo turnover increased from 25 million tons in 2006 to 56 million tons in 2012. It is already obvious that the new railway has significantly activated economic development Tibet and neighboring Qinghai province.

Delivery of goods to Tibet, including particularly valuable in the mountain conditions, was significantly reduced. The tourist industry has received a new impetus to development, although it is still just anyone who wants to leave, for example, in the Beijing train in Lhasa will not work. To visit Tibet, the Chinese government as before it requires a special permit, without which you simply will not just be placed on the train.

Skeptics also consider the Qinghai Tibetan Railway Only the next stage of the gradual Chinese colonization of a peculiar autonomous region and the locomotive of its development natural resources. Geologists have already discovered in the high-mountainous areas of the Tibet field of copper, lead and zinc, raw materials, the extremely necessary rapidly growing Chinese industry. Environmentalists, of course, fear that the presence of a modern railway line in the province will only spur the PRC government to the early development of these deposits with unpredictable consequences for the fragile ecosystem of the region.

However, while it is only no confirmed concerns. But it is difficult to deny the popularity of the road among the inhabitants of Tibet, who received the opportunity to easily and quickly get to the highly developed eastern areas of the country, and especially among tourists, for whom the highway is an excellent attraction created with typically Chinese persistence, literally coating mountains.

Sealed wagons, individual oxygen masks for each passenger, specially designed locomotives, endless overpass on permafrost, dozens of deserted stations against the background of snow-covered mountain peaks - all this is a unique Qinghai Tibetan Railway. In just five years and three and a half billion dollars in China built a line of 1150 kilometers long, which connected the "roof of the world" with the main territory of the country.

Only at the beginning of the XXI century, the country reached the level of technological readiness, which made it possible to start implementing a large-scale infrastructure project. Moreover, the construction of the railway to Lhasa became the key stage of the Western China development program, the purpose of which is to eliminate the disparity in the development of the Eastern and Western regions of the country. Another important, and possibly the main, the task of the Government of the PRC was to strengthen the relations between the Tibetan autonomy, the control over which was again established only in 1950, with the main Chinese territory.

Golmuda Station.

The end terminal in Lhasa.

Construction of the railway there was a serious engineering problem. The fact is that the upper layer of permafrost has a property in a brief summer period, sometimes turning into a hardwater swamp. In this regard, the real threat was the balance of the soil, which could lead to deformation and destruction of the path. In order to eliminate this risk, the designers of the Qinghai Tibetan road have developed a special scheme of its device, actually insulating any impact of the highway on the environment and vice versa.

Rails laid on a special mound from cobblestones, covered with a sandy layer. In the cross-projection, the mound was perforated with a through-network of pipes to ensure the best ventilation, and its slopes were closed with special metal sheets reflecting sunlight and thus even more preventing it with heating. In some areas, wells filled with liquid nitrogen were arranged. All these events actually froze the mound under the road, preventing heating the upper layer of permafrost, its thawing and subsequent deformation of the railway canvas.

Wagons for maintenance of the road were built at the Chinese Plant of the Canadian Concern Bombardier in the amount of 361 pieces (308 ordinary and 53 special tourist). All of them are actually hermetically isolated from the environment, inside the oxygen pressure close to the standard one is maintained.

Standard wagons are divided into familiar and us three classes: seating, reserved seats and coupe. In addition, trains have restaurant wagons.

The throughput of the highway is eight pairs of passenger trains per day (not counting freight). Currently, Lhasa is connected by regular passenger traffic not only with the neighboring "regional" center of Sinin, but also with the largest cities of the country - Beijing and Shanghai. In the way, Express Beijing - Lhasa is 44 hours. The cost of tickets depending on the class is from $ 125 (reserved) to $ 200 (coupe).

For seven years of operation, more than 63 million passengers and 300 million tons of cargo were transported on the road. Annual passenger turnover increased from 6.5 million people in 2006, when the highway was commissioned, up to 11 million people in 2012, the annual cargo turnover increased from 25 million tons in 2006 to 56 million tons in 2012. It is already obvious that the new railway significantly activated the economic development of Tibet and the neighboring province of Qinghai.

Skeptics also consider the Qinghai-Tibetan railway only the next stage of the gradual Chinese colonization of a peculiar autonomous region and the locomotive of the development of its natural resources. Geologists have already discovered in the high-mountainous areas of the Tibet field of copper, lead and zinc, raw materials, the extremely necessary rapidly growing Chinese industry. Environmentalists, of course, fear that the presence of a modern railway line in the province will only spur the PRC government to the early development of these deposits with unpredictable consequences for the fragile ecosystem of the region.

Getting to Tibet is not as easy as it may seem. First you need to get permission. It gives exactly at the time you will book a tour. Just to come to Tibet can not. Prices for tours bites. We paid $ 1,800 for three days. This is for the individual guide, permission to enter, train tickets and tickets to the temples. Everything. A good hotel is at least $ 150 per day per room. In fact, you pay for permission to enter and guide.

How do China's authorities explain why foreigners need to make permission to go to Tibet? Very simple: "Tibet is a specific region of China."

Therefore, the State Council of China (Government) decided that

Based on folk traditions and cultural heritage;
. According to the requirements of environmental protection;
. Based on the features of traffic and reception capacity of the tourist infrastructure

citizens who are not citizens of China should receive permission to enter Tibet.

Like this! That is, it is not at all that you can deploy a banner "Freedom Tibet!" And shout "Dalai Lama - President!". Rather, the whole thing is that foreigners got used to to shit everywhere. All the rivers and the air of China were rid, all the entrances were already obsessed! Therefore, in Tibet - only with permission! This is the last pure block of land.

By the way, foreign diplomats and journalists can be riding in Tibet as tourists. They need to receive a special permission. Without a guide, it is impossible to go to Tibet too. The region can only be found in the tourist group (even if you are going alone).

Before Lhasa, you must either fly on the plane, or go by train. Well, you can go on the car, but this is generally tin. By the way, if you are a foreigner, then formally you seem to be able to get into Tibet behind the wheel of the car, only as a passenger (and, again, a member of the tourist group). Although the precedents were such.

The main problem is in height. Lhasa is at an altitude of 3490 meters. The train overcomes the Tang-la Pass at an altitude of 5072 meters (the highest point of this railway), and many die from mountain sickness. There is another problem: so that passengers are comfortable, oxygen is supplied to the train. They say, because of this, the body is then poorly passing acclimatization, since during the day the train is sitting on oxygen. In general, all the room experts on the Internet strongly do not recommend going by train.

But this is the most high-mountain railway in the world! How can I miss such a miracle? And we went by train. It should be noted here another moment. In the midst of the tourist season, buy train tickets is almost impossible. They must be taken! You must have a special person who at the last moment will get you a ticket. In the process of getting a ticket, the price may increase twice - of course, all this is unofficial.

Tickets were delivered to us the day before the departure of the train. So let's go!

01. The main station of Sinina, from here by train to Lhasa go for 21 hours! In size, approximately as Vnukovo Airport.

02. Tickets cannot be online. More precisely, it is possible to buy, but then with the number of armor and documents it is necessary to approach the cashier and pick them up. To get tickets, you need to show permission to enter Tibet. In general, the process of approximately such as when buying tickets for a train from Moscow to Kaliningrad (True, we have no Russian authorities, but Lithuanian).

03. We got tickets in advance. The livrey in ordinary cars is the same as we were with the Union. Cars themselves, of course, new.

04. Waiting room at the station. How do you? To enter the station, you need to show tickets, passport and permission. All this is scanned, then you will look after you and only then let go to the building. No seeming and meeting do not have the right to enter the station.

05. Since Sinin is a gate to Tibet, and Tibet is China, the train station on all screens shows how Comrade Si Jinping circles the troops. The rollers go on all screens without stopping, and there is a reason - 90 years of the Army of the PRC.

06. It's time for the train! The platform is allowed directly before its departure.

07. The train in Lhasa is additionally decorated. See what beauty!

08. The train to Lhasa goes 21 hours. Wagons are three classes: seating, soft sleeping and hard sleeping. With sedent, everything is clear, layout of chairs 3 + 2.

09. Soft bedroom is an analogue of our coupe. 4 shelves, bed. Due to the fact that there are no upper shelves for luggage, between shelves more space. And the coupe seems more spacious than ours. Each coupe has a socket.

10. If you decide to repeat my feat with a railway trip, then I highly recommend you take tickets for the evening train. At the beginning, the road is not very beautiful: the steppe and the steppe around. But in the morning, hours at 9, the tang-la pass begins with a height of more than 5000 meters. That's already beautiful. Passengers of the morning trains of all this beauty do not see, as they overcome the passing at night.

11. Snow!

12. Near each shelf there is an oxygen supply valve.

13. Landscapes

14. Wagon-restaurant, on the left in boxes of fresh salad grows.

15. Along the railway there is a car, slowly burned beam trucks. According to my feelings, 80% of all transport are trucks. By the way that someone may want to go to Tibet by car.

16. Alpine architecture settlements Primitive and dull.

17. Basically, these are some trains and tents, standing in the mud.

18. Let us return to our train. From amenities there is a toilet. According to my feelings, it does not wash it while driving, so the farther, the sharper flavors. Sleeping near the toilet is difficult due to a sharp smell.

19. In each third car there is a toilet for disabled! He is spacious and cleaner, as few people walk into it.

20. Along the road, almost through every kilometer there are booths with the inscription "People's Security Road". Soldiers sits in every booth and gives the honor of passing trains. These booth really very much, it is not very clear why they are. Maybe sabotage fear?

21. Although perhaps it is railway workers, not soldiers.

22. In some places there are no booth, so the dude in the form comes to the paths by car and instead of giving honor, speaks by telephone.

23. Beautiful

24. As I said, the train has a restaurant car. But that's not all! Have you ever seen in the train car-karaoke? Here! And he is there! Whole car of rampant fun. Here you can buy clashes and sing any songs.

25. Despite the fact that at the height of drinking alcohol is strongly not recommended, the local people crashed in the trash.

26. How much should beer need to get out? It should be borne here that the fortress of Chinese beer is usually 3-4 degrees, so you need to try to very much.

27. Train, by the way, is not bad decorated.

28.

29. And rams graze outside the window.

30. And Yaki! Yak here is the main animal, their some kind of inconspicuous herds. I have never seen so many yaks. They say, by the way, that on Tibet, half dishes are cooked on the basis of meat yak (how to say in Russian, "Yacita"?).

31. In a sitting class, the people are also quasit.

32.

33.

34. The train gradually decreases, and the snow disappears, green meadows begin.

35. There are no sockets in sedentary cars, so people charge their gadgets near washbasins through numerous extension cords and Powerbanks.

36. A new highway is built outside the window! The construction was just started, but somewhere they began to make overpass and tunnels.

37. I understand this protection, so that in winter I did not notice the path? And what kind of grid of stones in the foreground? Why is she?

38. Stop slightly, and they use mostly local. The tourist get out on the half-one will not work, because the Chinese have thought out everything! As soon as you sit down, you have a ticket with you, and instead you give a plastic card with your room number. To get out at any train retention station, you need to show a ticket! And there is no ticket - there is no exit in the wrong place! The ticket returns you immediately before arriving at your stop. Like this! In general, everything is strict.

39. Local people drags with them some giant bales. In general, it is incomprehensible how they move with them at such a height. An unprepared man breathe hard. Labor migration is very common in China. People constantly go to work in more developed regions, that is, from west to the east of the country. They are forced to carry with them great amount Skarba with which they are equipped in a new place. For example, they can carry a mattress on which they sleep at a construction site where they hire work.

40. Interior of a sedentary wagon

41.

42. Outside the window is incredible beauty!

43. It is worth only for landscapes. You sit and constantly remove the window.

44. Well, is not a miracle? And they graze Yaki around!

45.

46. \u200b\u200bOn each chamber post! What did you want? Not easy area.

47.

48.

49. Minute of advertising my good friend! Remember Moisha from New York? He worked paparazzi, and I did about his hard matter. By the way, if not read, be sure to read, it is cool. So, Moish was tired of running around New York behind the stars, and he decided to sell tea! Tea is very good, deliver worldwide. If someone from my readers in the subject, remember the site. Especially if you live in the USA. Enjoy black tea in the train is not so simple: at height water does not heat up to 100 degrees, and black tea is difficult to brew.

50.

51. In the morning, local alkashi began to play cards. The Chinese are very large fans of card and gambling, it is quite frequent pastime. At the same time, gambling money in China, naturally, is prohibited, but still everyone is playing, everyone has long to do.

52. Clouds thickened over our train.

53. How many yaks are here!

54. And what about food? Well, first, there is a car restaurant - you already understood. And secondly, the wagons constantly walk conduit with trolleys.

55. Sell any low-alone junk like chocolates and chips, as well as gas. I highly recommend to take me with me.

56. Under the morning there is a trolley with milk.

57. This is all the construction of the road. Soon the highway will be held in Tibet!

58.

59.

60. Unlike Russian trains, the washbasin in China is not in the toilet, but separately, right next to the tambour instead of one of the coupe. Very convenient: when in the morning everyone goes to brush their teeth, do not stand in line to the toilet.

61. Each car has free boiling water.

62.

63. Drive up to Lhasa.

64. The active construction of historical and cultural heritage is underway.

65. Trains are very clean, everywhere carpets! And even the doors between the wagons are always open, and you can safely walk. By the way, the clutches are hermetic, nothing is noise. You can stand in the tambour and whisper to talk.

66.

67. Another station.

68. Inscription on the road: "We will build an exemplary way to keep the last clean plot of land in the world!"

69. At each station there are people in shape and follow the order

70. Passengers are built into accurate queues.

71.

72. And here it is, Lhasa Station! Huge!

73. Foreigners must be registered with the police. Once again check the resolution and scan passports.

74. Tomorrow I will start telling you about Tibet! Interestingly?

In each journey, the most important thing is to put the way moving. First, because this is the lion's share of the cost of the entire tour. Secondly, from where and what to go to Tibet, the success of the trip and the overall impression often depends.

I am a reception in the Tibet of Russian-speaking tourists. In connection with the peculiarities of my activity, a lot of travel, I can, both on my experience, and on the experience of hundreds of tourists who come to Tibet every month, tell all the pros and cons of different traces of the roof of the world.

In this small essay, I will share my experience of arrival in Tibet by train through Sining (Qinghai Province, PRC).

I will say right away if it were not for work, herself would never go so. But every year there are travelers (it's hard to say, on the basis of what) seriously believes that this is a great way to drive to Tibet, they say "gradual acclimatization" and so on. By the way, those who are on cars drive in Tibet from Nepal are also considered to be tormented by a mountainous disease all the trip.

Objectively, there are two pluses of arrival in Tibet along the route Beijing-Sining Avia, Sining-Lhasa Railway:

1. Small savings compared to airborne Beijing Lhasa,

2. Reducing risks with the acquisition of railway tickets compared to Beijing Lhasa railway.

What is the complexity of arrival in Tibet by train?

Railway tickets to trains Walking to Tibet always in short supply. Why? Railway path connecting Tibet with the outside world of just one. This is a Qinghai-Tibetan railway. All passing trains (Beijing Lhasa, Shanghai Lhasa, Guangzhou Lhasa, Chengdu-Lhasa) are going to Sinine. These are trains that go 1 time per day or 1 time in two days. In the tourist season they are always filled with passengers already at the point of departure. Even at the point of departure to get tickets for these trains becomes a problem if the trip time falls for the period from the end of April to the end of October, as well as in Chinese public holidays. At this time tickets, the coupe and reserved seats at the box office simply do not have no, there is no more on the Internet. All of them first are withdrawn from the sale by the state, because it is an important strategic line. Further, on connections with the heads of train stations, tickets partially fall into the hands of professional dealers. And from them, on the links, again (as the activity is illegal and punishable), the tickets sometimes fall into speculators easier, and further in travel agencies and to customers. That is why in China, in addition to the cost of the ticket itself, which is indicated on it, there is also the cost of buying a ticket. At the height of the tourist season (July, August, September and holidays), the cost of services can be equal, and sometimes exceed the cost of the ticket itself. Therefore, in summer groups traveling to Tibet from China, it is recommended to fly by plane: fewer problems, faster, lighter acclimatization and not much more precious to trains to get two days.

The second complexity of arrival in Tibet by train is acclimatization. This applies to all trains to Tibet, as they all pass through the Sinin and on the same Qinghai-Tibetan railway climb into Lhasa to Tibet. Why is the acclimatization by train going worse? Because the body begins to feel the height and adapt to it, overcoming 3000 meters above sea level, and everything that up to 3000 is felt like the sea level, there is no difference. Arriving on a plane in Lhasa, you get a height of 3650 meters, and quietly one night acclimatize. Observing the elementary safety rules on the first evening (a little move, not to take alcohol, smoking less and not take a shower), you can easily acclimatize and you will feel at the morning. On the train differently. First, the train in the second night, when you are already pretty tired of the road, overcomes the height of 5,200 meters above sea level, driving Pokangulov. This is a serious test for any body, even for people who lived in the mountains for many years or having experience trips in highlands. Secondly, oxygen is supplied to the train, which interferes with the body to adapt to height by naturally. If you immediately "put on" on oxygen, then upon arrival in Lhas, it will also be required, and the head will be sick without it and all the symptoms of mountain sickness will be yours. Thirdly, the train has only a few stops, no opportunity to go out, breathe fresh air. Fourth, in the trains that two days go there are still a nurse, which in the first-aid kit except the greencraft there is nothing good. And in the trains going one night there are no doctors. Often, health problems and conductors run through the wagons in search of any doctors among passengers.

I had funny caseIn my Pick on the entrance to Tibet wrote that I am a doctor, but it is not, I have no medical knowledge to help. So, at night, in the train, Sining - Lhasa wakes me a guide: "Girl, girl, are you a doctor?" I remember that I remember that in the pit it says it is written, quickly reacting that it is written, I must say "yes", suddenly she checks me (which also happens). "Doctor," I say. - "Urgently, there in another car the child died boiling water, help!" ".... a baby, boiling water .... no, I can't help in such cases, I decide, and I answer:" Sorry, I can't treat such problems, "and sleep further. After 20 minutes, the eight man comes to me in the coupe, with a crying child in my hands, the skin has all the skin, he yells, well, what can I help, no doctor in the train !!! The frightened Uigurka-mother begging me to help them ... called it Gruz. - Fly in the body. I had to say that I do not understand the psychologist, and I do not understand such matters ... Neighbors on the car began to give folk tips: attach the cucumber and the like, but in fact the situation with the burn was already in the stage when a specialist was required, so My conscience is clean, because I did not give folk tips, the only thing you can do in such cases is to survive the night, wait for the next day, get away from the train and run to the hospital in Lhas.

So, about the trip from Sinine to Tibet

From Beijing to Sinin only 6 flights a day. Airplanes are small Boeing 737. The most suitable flight, of course, the earliest thing is not to sleep in Sinine. Arriving at the earliest flight from the airport you can immediately go on the railway station and after lunch to leave the Xining Lhas train. Sinine Airport, despite the fact that this is a large transport knot, very small. If you fly to Sinin, you will meet at the airport with a sign. Meeting stand right after the zone of obtaining baggage. There are no Russian-speaking guides in Sinine, so an English-speaking man will meet you. Level of English language It is not necessary to hope here. Still, the Sinin in terms of the level of development of tourist services is far behind, for example, Beijing or Lhasa.

If you are planning excursions in Qinghai (Taeri Monastery (Cumbum) or Lake Qinghai), then you can fly on any Beijing Lhasa flight, settled in the hotel in Sinine and traveling in Sinin.

If you immediately want to go to Tibet, then Beijing Sinin arrives at the earliest flight from the airport, you must immediately go to the railway station. Train Xining (Lanzhou) - Lhasa number 917 leaves in 15-04. If other trains. 3 hours before the departure of the train, tickets stop writing out. Therefore, for example, if you travel yourself and decided to resolve the issue of our railway tickets yourself, say, you have tickets discharged over the Internet, then they must be obtained at the checkout until 12 o'clock in the afternoon. And for this you always need to defend the gigantic queue, to present the PermT in Tibet and the originals of passports. If you use the services of travel agencies, we will do everything for you without the original of your passport. In Sinine, we have direct links with professional expendiles of railway tickets. Often they are creating miracles. But they are also powerless when political restrictions are entering the game.

It happens that tickets are ordered and paid, but they never did it on sale, and the trains will go empty (!), But tickets will not be on sale! You can never understand these reasons for this situation. Why? For example, the other day, a provocative campaign will be held in some village, in which national minorities of the PRC (Tibetans, Uigur or DR) will take part. In such cases, the Government often limits the entry into problem areas. Tibet from this suffers constantly! For example, when in April 2012 I was driving the train Sinin - Lhasa, according to rumors (and usually it is rumors, in the news they will never tell about it), in the village of Yuishu "something like this happened." So 5 days after our arrival tickets Xining - Lhasa did not go to sale, and the trains went half empty.

Here I want to explain to travelers, why train tickets in China, especially on trains to Tibet, it is always problematic, and until the last moment, tourists are not issued to tourists. In China, it is such a situation with railway tickets. Therefore, do not torment themselves with questions "Why?", "And we don't have it ...". This is a feature of China, if you choose a trip by train, there is always a risk of race problems. If you do not want these problems - it is better to fly by plane, there are no such problems with such problems!

I especially appeal to pilgrims and tourists on Mount Kailas. The journey is not simple, will require physical and moral forces from you. If the budget does not allow you to fly by plane to Tibet and back, you will choose this option: in Tibet Avia, from Tibet railway. So you do not coming to Tibet tired from the train, do not damage acclimatization, and railway tickets to trains, traveling from Tibet, is always easier to get than on trains entering Tibet.

The idea to visit Tibet excited the imagination for a long time, and the decisive reason for the implementation of the idea was the opportunity to drive through the Qinghai Tibetan Railway. Each of the huge army of railway workers sometimes becomes the consumer of services of native transport, so it was interesting to look at the overseas miracle - the most high-mountain railway in the world.

Even before the departure, we were sent to in electronic format Travel Documents: A small (size of a cigarette pack) Pink Ticket, from which it was possible (most of the text is chosen in Chinese) understand only the date, time, train number, car, places, station of departure and arrival and its cost. You could identify your ticket at the point below left of the passport number. We had to give the tickets themselves on arrival, but about it later.
So, the suitcase, airport, aircraft and transfer to Beijing Railway Station (there are five of them five, four of which are called the name of light - South, North, East and Western). The Beijing Station is located in the center of the capital, and the huge stationary area met us is not just an ordinary train station, and the crowd of the people, through which we squeezed, watching the movements of the guide.

He ordered us to give him a passport and moved to the small pavilion, located before the station itself. In the cash window, he set the print at the originals of tickets and returned to us with our passports. He told us hard to keep them in her hands and not to lose. Next, in the crowd of the same passengers, we passed through the turntable, presenting a passport with a ticket to the controller. Almost immediately we get into the open doors of the station, enter which you can only through the "enlightenment" of baggage, as at any airport. We put things on the ribbon, there is a manual sting - praise with common sense, shoes and jackets do not need to shoot. Check the ticket again, and here we are already in the holy of saints - at the station itself! Here it should be explained that without a ticket not only to drive, but also to go to the station is impossible, the check is quite serious! The security system, operating in China in transport, implies on the territory of the railway only the "target audience" - passengers. I arrived, left, or expect your train, and there is nothing to do at the station - no one will miss anyone. And indeed, strict controllers are vigorously watching documents. Guide has a special ticket for a seeker. For reference: the station can accommodate 8,000 people at the same time, and its architecture has simultaneously traditional and modern styles.
Next, the next attraction begins - it is necessary to find on the scoreboard (not all the information has an English setproof) number of your train, next to which the number will be indicated ... Waiting room. Our hall was on the first floor and turned out to be crowded, to sit down, speeches did not, actually, and stood with things among passengers it was problematic. The guide grouped us near himself and said we follow him. Large Hall with a high ceiling literally won us with noise and gam, what can be said that the ads were useless for our hearing. After half an hour, the standing, clamped among their and other people's suitcases, we felt the next shock - they were silent from the places and from the floor everything, who was sitting and lying there. This movement meant the beginning of the skipping platform. And here again - the controller and the turntable, squeezing through which we get into the transition and running around the whole crowd, then down the stairs, passage through the tunnel, the rise on the stairs up - and we have the goal - our train. We find our car, the conductor checks the passports with tickets, and we go to the car.

It turns out that one of us has a ticket in a different coupe, and the Chinese grandfather goes with us on the top shelf. Our guide leads to negotiations on the possibility of exchanging. The tricky grandfather pulls down the bottom shelf, otherwise he disagrees to leave our coupe. And at the same time pretending to do not know that the cost of the lower and the upper shelf is different. Well, the old age must be respected, and we thank grandpa for his kindness.
The combination itself in the Chinese train turned out to be akin to our minus there was only a lack of a rugger for baggage. The lower shelves did not rise, had free space, but at the same time height from the floor with difficulty allowed to squeeze the average suitcase. We barely managed to place the luggage, as the train moved, that is, the entire planting procedure was put in minutes 20-25 after the start from the waiting room. That's where the Chinese from the Chinese, for which we barely slept.
Having come across such a test, we inspect the coupe and detect a large thermos. Soon the conductor comes and takes our tickets (with a magnetic strip) on paper and gives plastic cards in exchange. Formalities are observed, and we can study the car, mastering the territory of the daily passage.

Here is a new discovery: Unlike our trains, the jewel car has not our 9 standard coupe, but 8. In the released space, three shells are equipped, which is very convenient and solves the question of the ever-employed toilet on the way. By the way, toilets, located on the part of worker and non-working tambouri, are different - one with a high toilet (European type), and the other with outdoor, or "Genoa" (Asian type).

The most amazing was wide tamburas and transitions from the car to the car, not chutting our narrow and uncomfortable. With an inoperative side, except for the toilet, there are also three sinks.

And there is also a conductor room and luggage storage room. From the working side of the car, there was also a small compartment for the conductor and a boiler, in which we filled the thermos hot water. In the course of the following follows, a trolley was driving with a proposal of packed fruits and hot food from a restaurant car.

The stop where we had to go out was not the ultimate, and we were worried about not to drive, and in vain. The conductor for half an hour before arrival returned to us paper tickets, taking plastic cards. Vagon did not meet us, and we, warned about it, descended from the platform down. There is again checking tickets and the guide that meets us, whom we asked what will happen if you do not present a ticket at the exit. The answer was brief - pay for the passage and plus a fine.

A few days later we had a longer journey through the railway: we had to drive from the city of Chengdu to Lhasa (the capital of Tibet) on the most famous high mountain road. Time on the way is 48 hours.
Stress began on the stationary area, which was clogged by people as during the demonstration. The local guide issued us tickets, Permites (special permissions to visit Tibeta), and wished us a happy way. Of course, we already had Peking experience, but there was a guide, and we expected us that we would bring us to a car and put it, make sure that Russian tourists were safely left. The girl did not speak Russian, but the taratoril in English and, although her speech was quite intelligent, the stupor did not allow to immediately appreciate the situation. We began to worry, asking her once, at once, how to find your train. Of course, we coped, and it even became a certain adventure. Everything was here for the already well-known Peking scenario - baggage scanner, checking tickets, information board, searching for waiting room. We had enough time before departure, and fortunately, we even managed to take free spaces. In the depths of the waiting room there were peculiar gay-passages with numbers, and next to the scoreboard with an indication, through which gates will be landing. We defined our gate, at the same time noting a large group of Tibetans who returned home, and sang choral songs from joy.

The people nearby next to our goal have already served, by time their train had to go after 10 minutes, but they were not yet allowed yet, and they were still patiently waiting for "SIM-SIM, OPERATION." After short reflections, we decided that you could stand half an hour, but be the first at the entrance and moved closer to Tibetans. We were launched twenty minutes before departure, and what was it running with obstacles!

Everything turned out later, the cute Tibetans had tickets to the common car, perhaps without places, and they hurried to take the best of them to go to relative comfort for 2 days. In general, as soon as we are in the coupe, the train got smoothly.
In addition to this car, this car surprised LCD monitors in the population of each bed. However, they didn't come to know the screens for the whole way, and the water in the washbasin was present only in the first half of the day. The train with the report of Chengdu -LHASA belongs to the Type of Express Types with a maximum speed of 140 km / h. His distinctive feature - Minimum number of stops that objectively explain the loading of passengers to the entire route from the initial to the end station. The wagon is a soft sleeping, while in the presence of one-time sneakers of the service in the form of a towel and soap are not provided.
Of course, we read that the train on the road overcomes a height of 5000 m above sea level, but the questionnaires issued to us slightly shocked. A small piece of paper was a kind of insurance for the railway receipt of each passenger that the decision made by him follow the train to the high-altitude plateau area is voluntary and conscious that you are fine with your health, and you understand what you do it at your own risk .

By signing such a sentence, we pulled: Actually we expected that such acclimatization would be easier because of the gradual entry in the highlands of Tibet and its capital at an altitude of 3600 m N.M.
The first day of the way we just slept, preparing themselves to a height difference. At night, I woke up from the headache, looked out in the window and frown - white-white, and they went out - it was +25 degrees. Near the coupe of conductors there is a dashboard, on which height indicators are guessed above sea level. Still a head did not hurt - 4200!

It immediately becomes clear that we are in the subnet me, and naked statistics confirms that almost 1000 km of the path will take place at this height! In the evening, a certain box was examined in the headboard, produced by an individual appliance for supplying oxygen. The air in the Tibet is discharged, and to assist passengers in the fight against the "miner" in the wagons are supplied with oxygen (centrally, through air conditioners). His receipt was tangible even on rumor - such a hiss. For particularly suffering there are individual tubes that can be inserted directly into the nose. It is a pity that there was no clear schedule in the car, and we could not understand when we drove the highest point on the Qinghai-Tibetan route in 5200 m. 4900 meters) with a length of 1338 meters.
The next morning met steppe species outside the window with scarce yellow green vegetation. The road from Chengdu in Lhasu goes the loop, initially it is a two-day, turning into one in one.

We are already moving around the territory of the marzlot, or cryolitozone, and that is exactly the biggest problem in the construction of the road. To strengthen the railway canvas, the upper layer of the soil, "floating" in the summer, fell asleep with a large number of stone and rubble, and many sites are simply raised to bridges.

It was these bridges that accompanied us all the way, especially beautifully they look at turns. Then I read on the Internet that the construction of this road was used by Russian experience in the conditions of permafrost. The windows float the deserted landscape and rare buildings, we wonder who lives in them and for what purpose they are generally built here in the steppe.

Next to single houses necessarily arranged solar batterywhich we are unsuccessfully trying to take a picture. It turns out that the windows are tinted with a protective ultraviolet layer to save from the bright light of the sun. This fact does not allow you to make decent photos, and there was something to shoot! The slopes of the railway canvas are covered with a mesh or patornly laid out stones. High supports of bridges are raised by the train above the ground, along the way they grow first hills, and the mountains with snow-covered tops of the vertices appear. There are tunnels, there are practically no stops, and it is impossible to determine what's overboard. Tangly headache, but it does not prevent us from a snack, and jump out on the street when the train has done the stop. It was a Na QU station at an altitude of 4500 m, as evidenced by the platform pointer. After this station, the views outside the window became stunning, and even reinforced by the sun. Without breaking down from the window, forgetting about the headache, we enjoyed magnificent views Mountains Yaki, sheep appear, the sheep, some birds hide over the ground, jumps along the steppe hare. In our car, besides us still the Trinity of the Dutch, and we occupy the windows of the corridor, admiring the beauties. After some time, the Chinese were saturated from the coupe, they are "watching watching", that is, for us, assessing our enthusiasm with satisfaction. I remove the hat before the work of the Chinese and no longer surprise that animals were not forgotten during the construction of the railway, whose traditional migration paths it crossed. To solve these environmental problems Special passages for animals were arranged.
Exactly on the schedule, we arrived at the final station of the Qinghai Tibetan Railway - to the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China, Lhasa.

At the exit from the station - the traditional check of tickets, but not only. Without Permites, you are not allowed to be empty to the territory of Tibet, here it is strictly here. Lhasa Station architecturally decided in a typical Tibetan style, has 5 floors (it is written on the Internet), but I immediately wondered why such a large building for the station with 6-7 couples of trains, because in China stations are used strictly functionally, and after arrival Trains, this station will quickly empty until the next train.

Or maybe built with perspective? After all, the construction of the railway continues and soon, tourists will be able to get from Lhasa not only in Shigatse, but also in the capital of Nepal (Kathmandu), as well as to the Indian Calcutta.