Page 214 - Udaan Trial Book

An hour after the journey started the first marvel to come by was the turquoise-azure blue watered
Qinghai Lake running parallel to the rail tracks for several kilometres. The sense of barren beauty is
the most profound in this region as the mountains are devoid of any major vegetation except grass.
Traversing plains, mountain ranges ,rivers and lakes, grasslands of Amdo,densely populated cities like
Xining, Golmund and the desolate Gobi, the scenery along the Lhasa railway is majestic and of
various types. The altitude rises to 16,000 ft. at points and on an average passes through altitude of
above 12,000 ft.

Qinghai Lake, Kunlun mountains, Tanggula, Hoh Xil nature reserve, origin of the Yangtze River, etc.
with the rare wildlife like the Tibetan antelopes, Yaks, and Tibetan folk houses and prayer flags, and
mani stones, they reward tourists with lifelong unforgettable memories.

Challenges: A modern engineering wonder as it overcame unstable permafrost, harsh climate, and
protection of local environment by taking care of 33 major migration routes of the wild animals that
inhabit this vast plateau.

Lhasa: Capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, rising atop the Red Mountains at an elevation of
3700 mts and lies in the centre of the Tibetan Plateau and surrounded by mountains rising to
elevations of 18,000 ft. The air contains only 68% oxygen compared to sea level. Lhasa is the
Forbidden City of the world. Lhasa means “place of the gods’. Originally Lhasa was called Rasa, it
was a town built by the Otang lake, and it was so called because when the waters of the lake were
stirred by the winds it would make the sound ‘Rasala’.Made the capital of Tibet under the reign of
Songsten Gampo.The city was romantically imaged to possess inconceivable treasures, to preserve
ancient wisdom and to be home to great mystics and saints.

Potala Palace : The red and white Potala Palace in Lhasa is a Dzong ( Fortress) originally built by
Songsten Gampo in 637 CE and was originally called the Mount Potalaka (The mythical abode of the
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara)once served as the winter retreat for the various Dalai lamas from 1649-
1959. The Palace has 1000 rooms, including the Dalai Lama’s living quarters, murals, 10,000 chapels
and tombs (Chortens) and 200,000 statues of all kind. The climb is steep and one has to negotiate 700
+ stone cut steps to reach the door of the Potala. There is a 1 hour time limit once you enter the palace
and there is a heavy penalty if that time is exceeded including the cancellation of the guide’s permit.
Inside the palace one has to negotiate more ladder-like stairs to reach the next higher floor and there
are five floors inside the palace. It is rigorous work out that no gym can provide inside the palace with
no water source available inside the palace for the tourists.

The Potala Palace