Sky train to Tibet - June 2010

Tibet seemed to be more exotic than China. 

We got on the train in Xi'Ning.

As we pull out of the city, we see farms and as we get to the high plains, sheep and yak.

We watch the herders with their dogs and on foot.  Then surprize, on motor bikes!

The high plains didn't look like verdant pastures.  But the animals obviously survived here.

And more surprizes around every bend.  Now the yak herders are washing clothes in the stream.

Just miles away the steams are icy. 

I expected more soaring peaks, but the plains are so high most peaks don't appear so high.   The display in the train told the tale.   The highest point was 16,640 feet/5071meters.   It got down under freezing before night. Maria, Renata, Lorene(laying-hidden) and Leslie share a four person cabin with two lower bunks and two upper bunks.  We spent 25 hours on the train.  Watching the terrain and the people who live here helped me to start to understand the culture.  Independent, self-sufficient and profoundly religious.   Prayer flags dot the countryside, towns and Lhasa.