The train from Chengdu to Lhasa was to take 44 hours and instead of riding in the loud and very cramped quarters of the hard sleeper I decided to treat myself and pay a little extra money for the roomier and quieter soft sleeper. At the train station in Chengdu there was even a separate waiting area for those with soft sleeper tickets, much like a VIP area. This was a very welcome sight since most train waiting areas have been cramped and covered with litter all over the floors.
Chinese train ticket to Tibet
After boarding the train I was required to fill out a health declaration form stating that I was in good health and able to travel at high elevations. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the world's highest railway with an average elevation of 13,000 feet.
The soft sleeper compartment was nice… the mattresses were bigger and more comfortable and I could actually sit up in my upper bunk. There was a door to shut out the noise from the hallway and each bunk even had a TV but they didn’t work. I was living it up… unfortunately I witnessed plenty of Chinese and Tibetan passengers that weren’t as fortunate. They were stuck riding in a hard seat for the entire 44 hour journey. I can think of nothing worse!
The comfortable "soft sleeper"
After 20 hours on the train we crossed from mainland China into Tibet. The change was apparent. No longer were there little villages and big cities scattered about. We were now greeted by brown, barren, and empty land with the occasional wandering nomad with his herd of sheep or yak.
Tibetan landscape
After 36 hours the landscape begins to change and we pass snow covered mountain ranges, turquoise lakes, and frozen rivers. For as populated as China is, Tibet is not. This entire time we have passed only a handful of tiny villages consisting of at most 5-10 houses.
Tibetan landscape
Overnight I awoke several times to find myself uncomfortably gasping for air. I could only assume that we were going over the pass that was at an elevation of 16,500 feet. Luckily for those passengers that were having real difficulty breathing the train did supply oxygen masks (much like in an airplane) in each compartment.
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