Friendship highway
20th May 2020
In: Places
The Friendship highway stretches from Lhasa in to Kathmandu in Nepal. The 12000km Journey can be completed in three days. We used a reputable travel agent in Kathmandu and picked up a Chinese Visa from the embassy and flew from Kathmandu to Lhasa using Southwest China Airlines.
The flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa was pretty spectacular over the Himalayan mountain range, passengers on the left hand side of the aircraft had a stunning view of Everest.
Arrival at Lhasa airport was an absolute free for all, with the airport arrivals area and subsequent customs checkpoint being absolutely manic. Once through customs we met our guide in Lhasa airport and were loaded onto a minibus which took us to the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
After three amazing days we boarded a four-wheel-drive vehicle which would take us all the way back to Kathmandu. Out trip would take us over the Himalayas, through the Tibetan plateau and eventually back into Kathmandu.
We left Lhasa and followed the aptly named Lhasa river and off onto the Tibetan plateau, the journey was quite stunning. We travelled in a convoy of four Toyota land cruisers, reaching a high of around 16,000 feet on the plateau. Two of the land cruisers headed off to Everest base camp one, we carried on over stunning mountains onto our first stop for the evening.
An early start the next day and another long day of travel through amazing scenery brought us to the China/Nepal border. On arrival, we found the border crossing had closed 20 minutes beforehand meaning we had to stay overnight at Zhangmu. After an amazing night in the border town, we set off on the final part on this amazing journey back into Kathmandu. We navigated through landslides, waterfalls which crossed over the roads and the various amounts of livestock which also took the route back into Kathmandu. All in all, a pretty spectacular six days.
The flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa was pretty spectacular over the Himalayan mountain range, passengers on the left hand side of the aircraft had a stunning view of Everest.
Arrival at Lhasa airport was an absolute free for all, with the airport arrivals area and subsequent customs checkpoint being absolutely manic. Once through customs we met our guide in Lhasa airport and were loaded onto a minibus which took us to the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
After three amazing days we boarded a four-wheel-drive vehicle which would take us all the way back to Kathmandu. Out trip would take us over the Himalayas, through the Tibetan plateau and eventually back into Kathmandu.
We left Lhasa and followed the aptly named Lhasa river and off onto the Tibetan plateau, the journey was quite stunning. We travelled in a convoy of four Toyota land cruisers, reaching a high of around 16,000 feet on the plateau. Two of the land cruisers headed off to Everest base camp one, we carried on over stunning mountains onto our first stop for the evening.
An early start the next day and another long day of travel through amazing scenery brought us to the China/Nepal border. On arrival, we found the border crossing had closed 20 minutes beforehand meaning we had to stay overnight at Zhangmu. After an amazing night in the border town, we set off on the final part on this amazing journey back into Kathmandu. We navigated through landslides, waterfalls which crossed over the roads and the various amounts of livestock which also took the route back into Kathmandu. All in all, a pretty spectacular six days.