Break for the Border

Our sojourn in Lhasa was brought to an abrupt halt when we received word that the Chinese authorities were revoking our permits to ride through Tibet. The system of permits allowing foreigners to travel in China using their own vehicles is a complicated and involves a long-winded, time-consuming application process. This is part of the reason so few motorcycle companies venture this way. Getting the permission to also ride the length of Tibet is even more fraught and this year, GlobeBusters were the only group to get this hard-sought permission.

We’d behaved impeccably but due to civil unrest in an Eastern town, the Chinese powers that be decided that 13 motorbikes posed too much of a risk to them especially as our visit was coinciding with the 90th anniversary of the mighty Chinese Communist Party.

We looked at our options, which included trucking the bikes east following our planned route and the riders flying, in the end we had to make a break for the northern border out of Tibet which lies just over a day’s ride from Lhasa. For many it was a relief to hear that we would only be facing tarmac on this final ride through the Himalayas. We passed nomads and their yak herds as we rode north seeing pilgrims prostrating themselves as they travelled hundreds of miles along the road to Lhasa. Convoy after convoy of Chinese military trucks went by us in the opposite direction; it looked like trouble was brewing so probably best to get out.

The temperature rose as we headed out of the mountains and the roadside yaks were replaced by camels, the bleak yet beautiful tree-less landscapes were supplanted first by desert then by lush greenery. The return of normal levels of oxygen in the air was welcomed by us all as we re-discovered acceleration on the bikes and we were no longer breathless. We started to encounter traffic-filled streets, dominated by lorries, and in the towns small scooters nipping around with their silent electric engines. The driving was the worst we had encountered (yes, even worse than the Iranians), we’d listened to the stories and dire warnings from veterans of last year’s trip, but no matter how much you heard about how bad the driving is in China, nothing prepares you for the reality of cars, bikes, scooters and even trucks suddenly swerving out in front of you from a side road, doing U-Turns without warning or just driving in the wrong direction on the dual carriageway, we all had many close calls and one rider actually came off their bike, after a particularly foolhardy stunt by a moped. A quick hospital visit to check no breaks and they were back on their bike within a day.


Our route through China took us past such awe-inspiring sights as the Giant Buddha statue and the Giant Panda Reserve with its unique opportunities to see the pandas up close in the wild. The highlight was probably the Terracotta Army in Xian, the immense multitude of clay warriors buried underground for hundreds of years, a whole day was spent wandering around the marvels that have been uncovered. Some also took to the city walls surrounding Xian, exploring using a very different form of two-wheeled transport, on tandem bicycles, with some hilarious results.