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