Traversing Tibet
From the capital Lhasa across the Himalayas to Kathmandu
Prologue
In August 1994, my friend Mr O and I spent about a month riding 1,000 km from Lhasa, the largest city in Tibet, to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on MTBs with full camping gear.
On the way, we suffered from altitude sickness symptoms (headache, nausea, etc.) that we had never experienced before, but the weather was good, partly because it was summer, and we were able to complete the ride safely.
However, a friend who was on the same route in October 1997 posted a postcard from Sigatse.
It contained the following message.
According to information from Japanese people I met in Lhasa, in June this year, one of them died of altitude sickness in Tinley when he tried to ride his bicycle from Lhasa to Kathmandu.
I was a bit scared, but I’d like to take it easy … .Oct.1997 From M.H.
To cycle on the Tibetan Plateau, you need to be well equipped and experienced in touring and camping. In addition, it is not true that physical fitness does not guarantee that you will not suffer from altitude sickness. It seems to depend largely on each person’s cardiopulmonary functions, their physical condition and the climate at the time.
We hope that those who go running in Tibet will bear this in mind and plan and act carefully.
December 1997
Touring Map
Tibetan side Touring map
As of 2023.1.9, the route across the Himaraya that straddles the border between Tibet and Nepal is not shown on the Google Map.
Travelogue
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