Raog to Baiyi

I step out onto the balcony in the morning to find that the hotel is next door to a military barracks. Mayo Wenti (no problem). I head out to the countryside behind my hotel and take some photos.

The lake is incredibly beautiful and I take a note that this area also requires further exploration.

The parking lot was full of 4wd’s in the morning and as I’m eating breakfast I think about how nice it would be to traverse Tibet at my own pace, without fear of police in a 4wd.

I pack my bag, step back to reality and put on my disguise to continue the trip, aiming for the town of Baiyi, which is one day’s drive from Lhasa.

The Infamous Tibet Disguise.

I cross the unmanned police checkpoint a third time, this time on foot and flag down a lift five minutes later. A 4wd, one of a convoy five pulls over and gives me a lift to Bome.

Along the way, we take photos like lazy Chinese tourists; if you can see it from the car, you’re permitted to open your window and take photos from there. If the sight is especially amazing, you are allowed to open your door and take a photo from there, however at least one foot must be inside the car at all times. Photo stops will last no more than 30 seconds and you’re required to take at least three almost identical photos every time you stop.

The view from the road between Raog and Baiyi is my favourite within all of Tibet as you start out following the lake in Raog, until it turns into a river. The road leaves and rejoins the river at various points until you reach a forest. Snow-capped mountains complete the picture which makes for one amazing drive.

In Bome we stop for lunch in the restaurant of the most expensive restaurant of the most expensive hotel in town. Food is ordered and we begin to eat as the other cars arrive. In true Chinese fashion, they order far more food than is necessary and the members of my car have finished eating and left the table while the final few dishes are being brought out.

One of the members of my car turns to me during lunch and says “Please excuse me, but from here you will go by bus. So sorry.” Free lift and lunch, apology accepted. The man asks a guy on a motorbike near the car which way the bus stop is and he agrees to drive me there. I hop on, knowing full well I won’t be allowed on the bus so I’ll just walk from the bus stop. Just as we’re about to pull into the bus station, a minibus driver shouts out Baiyi, my destination for the day and I hop in.