Page 41 - Cornice_Grade 7

My Atlas Journey

(Kathmandu to Wuhan)
Hello, I am Suranshi Shrestha. Last year, I went on a vacation to Wuhan from
Kathmandu. I went with my parents on a tourist bus. We had taken a route from Kath-
mandu to Zhangmu(Khasa Bazaar)-Zhasa-Wuhan.
We left our home at 6 a.m. We took a tourist bus to the Koteshwor area. We then
headed to Kodari, North of Nepal. Along the way, we saw landforms such as Mt. Tise(Mt.
Kailash) and lake Mapam Yumtse. It took us 72.6 km, 1 hour 50 minutes to reach there.
Kodari is a part of Tatopani. When the bus stopped there for a while, my family and I
took a bath there. Tatopani is famous in Nepal for its hot, steamy natural bath.
The other side of Tatopani is Zhangmu. It is located in Tibet, China. Nepalese
even run restaurants in Zhangmu. We ate instant noodles and other Nepali cuisines. We
shopped for blankets, kitchen items and some Chinese snacks. All these items were avail-
able at cheap rates. We saw common Chinese style buildings and colorful Nepali houses
which were full of Nepali traditional customs. Some local Chinese businessmen asked us
if we wanted to exchange Nepalese Rupees for Chinese Yuan. As Zhangmu is a mountain-
ous city, we came across amazing scenery of hills, mountains like Mt. Everest and rivers
like Bhotekoshi. This town borders Nepal to the South. Zhangmu is always crowded with
foreigners and businessmen. Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge is only 10 km away from the
town.
The climate of Khasa was mild, beautiful scenery with flowers blooming. As we
were visiting places on that day, we stayed in the Zhangmu hotel. The next day, early in
the morning, we were ready to leave for Lhasa. The distance from Zhangmu to Lhasa is
741.6 km so the estimated time to reach there was 19 hours by road. As we reached there,
we crossed through Nelong, Lhatse, Gadong, Shigatse, Darhoka, Nimu, Duilong Dech-
en and finally to Lhasa. We stopped by in Shigatse for the toilet and lunch break. As the
distance was long, we had to stop by a highway hotel as our bus driver had already driven
for 9 hours. All the passengers were tired and exhausted by the road trip. The early morn-
ing view of Shigatse was mesmerizing. We could get an amazing view of Mt. Everest and
Nianchu River. That place was famous for Mangpu hotspring.
After breakfast, we took our route to Lhasa which was 27.5 km and our estimated
time to reach there was 7 hours 5 minutes. On the way, we passed by breathtaking hills,
mountains and monasteries.
After three and half hours, we stopped by in Nimu for lunch. After lunch break,
lunch. We had authentic delicious Chinese food. After one hour, we again started
our journey and reached Lhasa in 3 hours. When we reached Lhasa, we went to hotel
Shangri-La and checked in for the night. Next day, we left the hotel and visited Potala
palace which is one of the famous attractions of Lhasa which was a 7 minutes’ drive from
the hotel. We also visited the Tibet museum near the hotel. These places were fantastic.
After lunch, we set our journey for Wuhan. We headed to Chengdu. The distance was
2004.7 km and the estimated time that it would take was 35 hours. After lunch break, we
stayed there in a hotel overnight. The next day, it took us about 12 hours and then again
we stopped in another hotel. On the third day, it took us about 11 hours to reach Cheng-
du. In Chengdu, we fed pandas in the research base of giant panda breeding. We stopped
at Buddha Zen hotel for the night. The next day, at about 8 in the morning, we headed
straight to Wuhan. It took us 13 hours to reach there. Finally, we were in Wuhan at 8 p.m.
So, my atlas journey from Kathmandu to Wuhan ended here.

- Suranshi Shrestha