To Namtso

We left at 9:10 on our way to fill our bikes with fuel in preparation for our ride today. At the first gas station they told us that motorcycles were not allowed to fill directly from the pump, rather they need to fill available jugs from the pump , and manually fill the motorcycles.

We thought of this being ridiculous, and decided to go to the next pumping station instead. Well what we found out is that there is a regulation for safety reasons motorcycles need to be filled with fuel manually away from the bumps and this regulation covers all of China. As I could understand they are afraid of fire as a result of the gas touching the hot engines. Who ever made such a regulation undoubtedly didn't understand the nature of gas vapors and modern fuel delivery pumps.

We managed to fill our bikes manually, and then went on our way to visit the highest salt water lake in the world. On our way Husain felt sleepy so we stopped in a grassy field and took a nap in the drizzle.

We reached the town of Damxung where we had lunch, and checked in to the hotel, then we went 60 km to Namtso, Ali and I on Motorcycles, while Husain was in the car with our guide.

The road went through a high altitude pass, but the scenery was magnificent with all the mountains fields, and clouds. We also saw Tibetan Nomads with their tents mad from Yak hair, and herding their sheep.

We rode back , and while we had dinner Husain asked our guide to translate the medication given to him by the doctor in Lhasa two nights ago, since he has been taking it for almost three days with no significant improvement in health. It turned out to be Vitamin C, no wonder Husain wasn't feeling better, as a matter of fact he had a fever today. He finally got the right medication, and hopefully can ride tomorrow since it will be a long day.

Bike Maintenance

After Breakfast we took our motorcycles to get their oil changed, Husain wasn't feeling well so Tashi one of our guides rode his bike to the repair shop where we managed to get semi synthetic oil for our bikes from one of the bike clubs stock.

While we were changing the oil a Tibetan girl who spoke English told Ali that her father wanted him to see his motorcycle. Ali agreed and followed the girl and her father. He entered a small courtyard filled with bikes a 4x4, then he found out that the Father owned a Hotel that catered to motor enthusiasts.

Ali told the father that we all needed to see the place once we finished with changing the oil on all our motorcycles.

When we entered we found that owner had wildly decorated the hotel as a mix of Auto , Tibetan, Nepal, and some European. He had two bars, and each room was decorated differently. He also had a room for group motorists with bunk beds and lockers.

He gave us the grand tour, and told us that many motorcyclists know his hotel, and make a special effort to stay there. Had we known we would have stayed there as well.

We then took the bikes back to the Hotel, and had lunch at a Muslim restaurant.

We then went in town to see the souvenir shops, and took a bicycle taxi to the Potala Palace, which had 400 steps to get inside.

Our license to Lhasa

We woke up early since we needed to get to the traffic department before they opened. We needed to get our motorcycles inspected, and then we went for our riding test to get our Temporary Chinese License.

The formalities took most of the day, and by 12:30 pm, while still not quite finished; the traffic department is off for Lunch until 3:30 pm. So we went to lunch and waited, we were ready to leave for Lhasa at 4:45 pm with our all our papers in order.

Between Xigaze, and Lhasa is about 270 Km, however to control the traffic there are 5 check posts where your arrival time is stamped at each post, and if you arrive earlier than the time required you get a ticket. Luckily this does not apply to motorcycles so we managed to make the journey in 3 and a half hours, our guide took much longer in the car.

Still having problems with the internet, can't access my blog.

To Xigaze

After a leisurely morning we packed the bikes and left for Xigaze. The road was very nice and Ali had a field day with the camera stopping every 10 minutes to take a picture of something.

Also Xigaze was at a lower altitude than Sakya which made me feel better, once we got there and checked in to the hotel, we went and had lunch at a Muslim restaurant.

We also walked in town since this was the first time we got to see a real city since Kathmandu.