<!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> Beijing part 1 - until the group leaves After we arrived at the station, the group stumbled off the train with all our gear and headed out of the station, following Steve and Sissi like sheep. Our hostel was supposedly right next to the station, but when we got outside they worked out that it was actually Beijing central that it was next to and we had arrived at Beijing West. So, off we w...

<!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> Drove through some more valleys this morning and got to Qinghai Lake before lunch. We stopped in a town near the lake and bought lunch, then drove down to a spot beside the lake for a picnic. The lake is saline but is still surrounded by grassy plains. It was sunny but a cool breeze made it feel like a day at the beach in winter. We drove for the rest of the afternoon into the city of Xi...

<!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> Today we headed into some slightly more green desert and got to a town about lunchtime where they were having a festival of some sort. We stopped for some street food - I got some cold noodles with yummy garlicky sauce and Shane had meat onna stick. We drove on and into some rolling green valleys again and out of the desert. We had to stop for a while late in the afternoon because a truck...

4 nights to get over the plateau to Golmud <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> We drove along the Friendship Highway again away from Lake Namtso and alongside the railway line. Drove for the rest of the day through rolling green valleys and passed an endless procession of army trucks. We passed another 4800m pass and stopped to camp in a valley on the other side near a river. There are huge rodents around that look kind of...

<!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> This morning we left Lhasa and were out of town by the time the solar eclipse was due to start at about 9. Unfortunately it was really cloudy but we managed to get a glimpse of the crescent sun through occasional gaps. It didn't go on for long. We drove through some grassy plains with rolling hills around. We were heading generally north and then turned off the highway after lunch toward...