About me, the traveler

Travelogues

Trip 1 - India, Nepal, and China

Trip 2 - Southeast Asia

Trip 3 - Mongolia to Eastern Europe

Trip 4 - Middle South America

Trip 5 - Southern Africa

Trip 6 - Scandinavia, the Baltics, and Greenland

Trip 7 - The Balkans

Trip 8 - Morocco and Southern Spain

Trip 9 - Western India

Trip 10 - Outer Indochina

Trip 11 - Ethiopia and Dubai

Trip 12 - Iceland

Trip 13 - Japan

Trip 14 - Caucasus

Trip 15 - Central & East Asia

Trip 16 - Inner Indochina and Japan

Tales From the Tour (a running travelogue)

Top-five lists

New York City excursions

Cheap East Coast bus alternatives

Links


Trip 1 - India, Nepal, and China

5 August 1997 to 6 September 1997

I'd wanted to visit India for a long time. I am quite a fan of large cities, and some of the largest and most fascinating are in India. I am also fond of Indian cuisine. I hadn't planned to spend much time in Nepal (I had planned only to pass through on my way to Tibet), but I ended up spending a whole week there, awed by the amazing countryside.

I'm not sure when I became interested in Tibet. I think I was inspired by a picture of the Potala a couple of years before the trip, and the effort involved in getting there gave the place a peculiar attraction. As for my route out of China, everything I've ever read about Golmud and about the bus ride there from Tibet has described the experience as perfectly awful, so of course I had to go there. And as a train enthusiast I was all too eager to take a series of overnight trains through Inner Mongolia to Beijing.

Part 1: India
5 Aug Subway: A line, 42 St-Times Square to Howard Beach-JFK Airport
5 Aug–6 Aug Air: Air France #7, New York JFK to Paris De Gaulle
6 Aug Air: Air France #134, Paris De Gaulle to Mumbai Sahar
6 Aug–9 Aug Mumbai
9 Aug–10 Aug Train: Rajdhani Express #2951, Mumbai Central to New Delhi
10 Aug–13 Aug Delhi
13 Aug Train: Shatabdi Express #2002, New Delhi to Agra Cantonment
13 Aug–14 Aug Agra
14 Aug Train: #8, Agra Fort to Fatehpur Sikri
14 Aug Fatehpur Sikri
14 Aug Bus: Fatehpur Sikri to Agra Igdah
14 Aug Agra
14 Aug Train: Shatabdi Express #2001, Agra Cantonment to New Delhi
14 Aug–15 Aug Delhi
15 Aug–16 Aug Train: Rajdhani Express #2306, New Delhi to Calcutta Howrah
16 Aug–18 Aug Calcutta
18 Aug–19 Aug Train: Darjeeling Mail #3143, Calcutta Sealdah to New Jalpaiguri
19 Aug Train: Miniature railway, New Jalpaiguri to Kurseong
19 Aug Bus: Kurseong to Darjeeling
19 Aug–21 Aug Darjeeling
21 Aug Bus: Darjeeling to Siliguri
21 Aug Jeep: Siliguri to Raniganj
Part 2: Nepal
21 Aug–22 Aug Bus: Kakarvitta to Kathmandu
22 Aug–23 Aug Kathmandu
23 Aug Bus: Kathmandu to Barabise
23 Aug Bus: Barabise to Kodari
23 Aug Car: Kodari to Zhangmu
23 Aug Zhangmu (China)
23 Aug Car: Kodari to Kathmandu
23 Aug–28 Aug Kathmandu
28 Aug Air: Kathmandu to Lhasa
Part 3: China
28 Aug–31 Aug Lhasa
31 Aug–1 Sep Bus: Lhasa to Golmud
1 Sep Golmud
1 Sep–2 Sep Train: #604, Golmud to Xining
2 Sep–3 Sep Xining
3 Sep Train: #202, Xining to Lanzhou
3 Sep Lanzhou
3 Sep–4 Sep Train: #204, Lanzhou to Yinchuan
4 Sep Yinchuan
4 Sep–5 Sep Train: #44, Yinchuan to Hohhot
5 Sep Hohhot
5 Sep–6 Sep Train: #90, Hohhot to Beijing
6 Sep Beijing
6 Sep Air: Air France #129, Beijing to Paris De Gaulle
6 Sep Air: Air France #8, Paris De Gaulle to New York JFK
6 Sep New York (USA)
6 Sep Subway: A line, Howard Beach-JFK Airport to 42 St-Times Square