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Our first glimpse of Tibet out of Tibet: Chiundu. We arrived here after more then 10 hours on a night bus from Xining.
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Wild pig?
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Off the bus, on the saddle cycling up our first tibetan pass over 4000 mt!
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It was not easy to climb up our first tibetan pass, having spent the last 24 hours traveling on a night bus! Legs sore and lungs suffer the altitude.
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But we made it, our first tibetan pass over 4000 mt! A quick shot, a kiss to the ground and we are off to the descent looking for a safe camping spot...the weather is preparing a lighting show tonight!
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Our first night on the tibetan plateau in Qinghai hasn't been really welcoming! Black clouds and a violent thunderstorm. One of the scariest night of the trip so far...
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The morning after the air was extremely quiet, we woke up and we found a sweet tibetan mastiff outside the tent checking attentively our morning actions.
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The ascent today shouldn't be though. It starts with a nice flat road heading to Shiqu.
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Sexusi lays on the side of a small mountain overlooking a wide plateau. The majority of the population are monks.
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We stopped to ask some drinking water. Not an easy task in this area. We asked to a couple of young monks, they took the bottles and disappeared. Returning from different directions 20 minutes later!
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We killed time taking pictures of local people. Smiling people whose face features are so astonishing similar to those of native Americans.
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It's not easy to get rid of garbage in these remote areas, so it's far mor easy to keep it all together somewhere on the side of the road.
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Climbing up our second tibetan pass. The ascent is luckily quiet short but still we haven't acclimatized to the altitude.
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These two men interrupted our ascent to take a picture with us! Although we are quiet far away from the hyper-civilzed China, almost everyone here posses a phone with a camera!
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Smiling and colourful tibetan people! Tashi Delek (safe ride) they scream when we pass by...
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Up to our second tibetn pass. This pass also signs the end of Qinghai and the beginning of Sichuan Province.
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Tibetan flags over the pass.
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Tibetan flags over the pass.
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Climbing up has always magnificent reward: the descent and a breathtaking landscape.
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While cycling downhill we noticed at the side pf the road this timid animal. At the beginning we thought it was a fox then we discovered it is a "dhole", an asiatic wild dog.
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Monks at the side of the road on the S217 near Shiqu.
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Shiqu, Garze, Sichuan.
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Tibetan prayer flags are all over.
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This young man followed us for a long stretch of the road. The loud music coming out from the motorbike cheered our cycling!
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The thin air of the tibetan mountains.
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Alternative routes over the Yalong River, Shiqu, Sichuan Region.
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Prayer flags. Shiqu, Sichuan Region
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This is the most common mean of transportation in this area. Most probably the driver doesn't know his passengers, he collected them on the road!
Yalong River, Shiqu, Sichuan Region
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A rainy pass. Since our first day in Qinghai/Sichuan we had heavy storm every afternoon. In Shiqu, Garze, Sichuan Region
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Monks and Sitting Bull?
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Wet and a bit cold we try to warm up into a small local restaurant. In Xiazhaxiang, Garze, Sichuan.
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No coal here just natural fuel.
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Roads are astonishing perfect, probably they were finished few months earlier. Along road 217 in Xiazhaxiang, Garze, Sichuan.
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Another pass along the 217 road in Qiwu, Garze, Sichuan.
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Our second photoreporter!
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Magnificent view over the Bayan Har mountains in Sichuan region.
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Reaching the top! The day started with rain and ended up with a warm sun!
In Qiwu, Garze, Sichuan.
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Storm is coming! In Qiwu, Garze, Sichuan.
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Still the weather is not very pleasant! the night before we pitched the tent on the humid field of a tibetan farmer. He then invited us for breakfast: flour, yak milk and yak butter all mixed together! That's all they have here.
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Road 217 from Yushu To Garze, Sichuan Region.
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Tibetan flags over the mountains. Qiwu, Garze, Sichuan Region.
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One of the few old construction in China.
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Cycling towards Hengduan Mountain Range. This part of tibetan Sichuan is called Kham Region.
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Road 217 to Manigango. Shiqu County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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After a few days of bad weather finally we can enjoy a bit of sun on the tibetan plateau in the Kham Region. At the side of the road we found some field mushrooms.
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Petit dejeuner sur l'herbe. Shiqu County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Petit dejeuner sur l'herbe. Shiqu County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Tibetan edelweiss. Shiqu County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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One of the many place of worship along the road 217, Zogqen village. Shiqu County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Road 217 in Zogqen village, Shiqu County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Good road seems to be over. Great asphalt turns into dirt track. On road 217 to Manigango, Shiqu County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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We are tired. Many days climbing and cycling over 4000 meters. The weather is nice, we found a good spot and we decide to finish the day earlier then scheduled. Since we have some spare time, we decide to do a bit of maintenance to our bicycle. Time to polish the chains!
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BeCycling, BeHappy! We love mountains..
Shiqu County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Our fist photographer: "Steve".
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Climbing up the 4500 meters of the Zogqen pass. Road 217, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Dirt steep track. Really tough, but it's just the beginning!
Road 217, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Since the government is building a tunnel, the upper part of the road is not maintained at all!
Road 217, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Road 217, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Yaks on the pass. Road 217, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Almost at the top! Road 217, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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We made it! Zengqen Pass, 4550 meters. Road 217, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Once on the top the monks use to throw prayer papers out of the bus windows, to pray goddess to keep them safe during the journey. That's why all tibetan passes are covered by colourful papers.
Zengqen Pass, road 217, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Sometime cycling down a pass can be as hard as climbing it. Dirt roads are bad either you go up or down.
Zenqgen pass, road 217, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Typical tibetan motorbike.
Manigango, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Monks shopping in Manigango. Here we leave road 217 to cycle up road G317 to Tro La Pass, the third pass of our project. We are getting closer and closer to the forbidden Tibet Autonomous Region.
Manigango, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Learning to drive in Manigango.
Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Starting the ascent to the Tro La Pass. The scenery couldn't be more dramatic: Que'er Shan (Mountain) and impressive glacier as background.
Road G317, Manigango, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Road G317, Manigango, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Everyone wants a selfie, even these two tibetan farmers. Then we discovered they also wanted to sell us precious stones.
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Road G317 goes up smoothly into the Que'er Mountains.
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Sunset over Que'er Mountains.
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Xinluhai Natural Reserve. One of the few touristic places we've met so far.
On the road G317, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.
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Xinluhai Natural Reserve. One of the few touristic places we've met so far.
On the road G317, Dege County, Kham Region, Sichuan.