Day 1 - Arriving in Chengdu

Our group!

Our Tourguide?

Our Bikes?.......

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We can´t wait to go to Tibet. Spending the first day in Chengdu(China) was exciting, but we are ready for Tibet.

.....Everything is so bright here.....

Day 3 - Restdday in Lhasa

We arrived yesterday in the afternoon in Lhasa and everybody got headache, that´s normal!

Lhasa is 3600 meters high! So we have the restday to aclimatise.

Today we felt better and did some sightseeing, the old town of Lhasa with its markets, the Jokhang Temple and the Potala Palace.

The hundrets of stairs up to the Potala Palace took our breath away.

Group at the Potala

Day 4 - Restday ride to Namco Lake

Our first riding day was just perfect. Going to Namco lake, the highest lake of substential size in the world, we got the first impressions of the landscape in Tibet, snowcovered mountains, green valleys and on top our first 5000 meter pass - breathtaking!

New Edelweiss friends

Tourguide got a new bike!

The road down to the lake - what a view!

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Exactly 5180 meters(ca. 15600 ft)

Fotoshooting at the lake with a Yak

Day 5 - Lhasa-Bayi

Today we said good bye to Lhasa and headed east to Bayi on scenic roads. It was a long riding day with over 450 km and our first gravel experience. Our second pass road over 5000 meters, the Mi La, offered us some great views.

But the highlight of today was a sidetrip in the morning on a fantastic gravelroad up to a small monastery at 4400 meters. The whole mountain was covered by prayer flags and from the distance it looked like a giant spider net.

Prayer flags at the top of a pass

Jörg and Warren install our Edelweiss prayer flag

Gravelroad up to a monastery

Mountain covered with prayer flags

Day 6 Bayi - Lanxian

2930 meters, that is the altitude, we reached today, the lowest on the whole trip. We saw a 2600 year old cypres tree and had a wonderful lunch at a Chinese restaurant, before we rode the 250 km on a great motorcycle road to our destination Lanxian. The absolute Highlight was a small old monastery, where we could have a close look and inhaled the special athmosphere.

Lunch with Chinese Family

Sanddunes? Yes!

Typical landscape along the Yarlung Tsangpo

Day 7 - Langxian-Tsetang

Today was the ultimate ride! A really challenging offroad section over 130 km with deep sand alternating with very rough rocky parts.

This road climbed up to a 4930 meter high pass where it was snowing. After that hard riding day we reached the hotel exhausted, dirty and happy.

Aloy from Brasil enjoying the sand

Petra and Jörg at our Chinese Picnic

Leo from Austria dirty and happy

Day 8 Tsetang - Gyantse

Motorcycle riding at its best at the Kamba-La pass. A mountain pass like in the alps with plenty of curves and good pavement, but 4800 meters high. The view from the top to the Yamdrok-tso lake was just incredible. In the afternoon we made another 5000 meter pass, the Karo-La, very close to a glacier.

At the top of Kamba-La pass

Group picture at Lake Yamdrok-tso

Approaching the glacier of Nojin-Kangtsang

What´s on the Menu tonight?

Day 9 Gyantse - Tingri

Today we did the highest pass road on this tour, the Lhakpa-La, 5270 meters or 17570 feet! One bike had some trouble at that altitude and we had to tow it. I won´t tell you what brand it was...

We saw the Mount Everest for the first time, it was overvalming. Some side trips on dirt made the day complete and the beer at the hotel in Tingri tasted fantastic.

Yaks going to work

Petra and Jörg enjoing the scenery

Side trip to a lookout

Little Yamaha is towing the big GS Adventure

After ride beer at the hotel

Day 10 Loop to Mount Everest Base Camp

This was the day of the days, that was what we came for. 113 gravel hairpins one way and the world highest mountain in front of our bikes.

Standing that close to the mighty Mount Everest at the base camp, the whole group was about to cry. What an experience!

The ride over more than 200 kilometers of gravel in high altitude was hard and exhausting, but it was worth every single meter.

Yaks crossing the road

Road to Base Camp

Monks from the world highest monastery checking out the bikes

Mount Everest

Group at Mount Everest Base Camp

Day 11 Tingri - Shigatse

After that amazing day yesterday, we were ready for a kind of rest day.

Doing the highest pass again today was like a peace of cake. Even the GS Adventure made it without any problem. Only one flat tire held us up for a while. The third one on tour.

Arriving in Shigatse with its huge monastery was quite exciting. Many people on the road and no visible traffic rules.

Petra and Michael having a cigarette at 5230 meters

Fixing another flat tire

Group waiting for the tire repair

Break at a local shop

Day 12 Shigatse - Lhasa, last riding day

Unfortunately this was our last riding day and we have to say good bye to Tibet. In the morning the hotel staff in Shigatse made a really nice leaving ceremony and we headed east to Lhasa on the Friendship Highway. The lunchstop was something special, together with hundrets of Chinese bustourists. They really made a mass in the restaurant and everybody wanted to take a picture fron us or with us. We should charge for these pictures and make a lot of money.

Arriving back in Lhasa we celebrated our finish with real Italian coffee and chocolate cake.

It is hard to say good bye to Tibet and to our riding buddies, who really became friends.

It was a memorable trip and a once in a lifetime experience.

Thanks to everybody, beeing such a nice group and making life as a tourguide pretty easy.

Take care everybody! Hope to see you again!

Michael

Leaving ceremony at Shigatse Hotel

Carol from Australia enjoying the scenery

Strange motorcycle brand

Lissi and Leo enjoying the wellfare Capuccino