Part 2: Shanghai - Delhi | The Great Overland Adventure

3

Countries

66

Hours on trains

5259 m.a.s.l.

Highest mountain pass

6945

Kilometers

Trip overview

The second leg took us back to the final destination of Leg 1: Shanghai! From Shanghai we took the The Qinghai–Tibet Railway from Shanghai to Lhasa, the highest railway line in the world. The highest crossing was at 5072 masl, and coming straight from sea level in Shanghai we could certainly feel the altitude on our bodies with all it’s strange symptoms (like sneezing – a lot!!).

From Lhasa we travelled overland in a group with Tibet Vista. Traveling in Tibet is only possible in an arranged group, and we had chosen a tour that was going to take us to see spectacular lakes, several mountain crossings over 5000 meters, a visit to Everest Base Camp before driving down from the mountain plateu, through some of Nepals horrible roads before ending the tour in Kathmandu.

From Kathmandu we took the bus to Pokhara, and from Pokhara we travelled to the Indian border at Sonauli by bus, then by taxi to Gorakhpur, then by train to Varanasi. A long and ardous and very adventurous journey with interesting stories to tell for years to come 🙂 After a few days in Varanasi we did the final leg by train to Delhi, from where we flew home.

An absolutely amazing overland trip with endless experiences and highlights as Tibet, seeing Mount Everest up close, driving the crazy roads of Nepal and then India certainly never disappoints when it comes to adventurous travel either.

Map

Itinerary

Oslo – Shanghai

Shanghai – Lhasa

Lhasa – Shigatse

Shigatse – Everest Base Camp

Everest Base Camp – Gyirong

Gyirong – Kathmandu

Kathmandu – Pokhara

Pokhara – Indo/Nepali Border

Indo/Nepali Border – Gorakhpur

Gorakhpur – Varanasi

Varanasi – Delhi

Delhi – Oslo

Planning

As always this trip involved A LOT of pre-trip planning, research and visa preparations. In fact we started doing research almost a year upfront. The biggest challenge this time was that Norwegian citizens were not allowed to enter Tibet between 2012-2018, due to political unrest between China and Norway. Luckily this ban was lifted in February 2018, 6 months before our intended departure. Hooray!! However we did not have our Tibet permit in hand until 1 day before we were due to jump on the train to Lhasa, so we never really knew for 100% if this itinerary would work. But it all worked out nicely!