Riding the highest highway in the world
“It’s now or never and no second chance" was how one journalist described the travels of English novelist John David Morley to Lamalera, a remote fishing village in Indonesia. Although John Morley had heart problem and was using a pig’s valve to replace one faulty valve in his heart, he was still game to risk his condition together with the attendant dangers associated with the remoteness and inaccessibility of the destination. And all for his heart’s, desire to observe the near extinct practice of hunting sperm whales as a subsistence living.
Our overland journey into Tibet was nowhere so dramatic but counting all the odds, it felt quite comparable! The overland journey would pose a challenge for anyone but more so for our group of ten elderly participants (the average age was 65 with the oldest members at 78 and 77)if we consider the long hours on the road, the high altitudes we had to reach, and the fear of being trapped for hours on the mountain passes.
With mountains rising up to 7000m and peaks topping 8000m above sea level Tibet, has achieved fame as the Roof of the World. It is indeed not a land for the faint hearted or the old. And if Tibet is the Roof of the World, then Qinghai, which is the remote and equally forbidding province sitting on top of Tibet must be its Rooftop! And we were to traverse across this bleak and treacherous region known as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau into Lhasa. On the plus side, land travel into Tibet may be the best way to go, not only for the spectacular scenery en route but because it can help spread the altitude gain over a few days.
What then drove us to embark on such an “expedition"? It was not a rite of passage. We were not out to prove our strength in the face of halting youth nor were we marking our aging. Unlike Morley I did not have heart problems but suffered from aches and pain. However I had long been enamoured of the Qinghai/Tibet Highway lured as I am by the evocative place names of Kunlun, Tanggula, Re-Ye Shan, and Feng Huo Shan, and the giddy heights associated with these remote mountains.
The idea of retracing Princess Wenchen’s journey into Lhasa was another strong pull. Among other sweet dreams I had been nursing about Qinghai and Tibet was this strange one. I fancied myself as a pilgrim taking the arduous overland road and tolling my beads all the way into Lhasa. Never mind if I could not emulate pilgrims who prostrate and kneel, at least I would not be arriving on a jet plane. Was this the meaning of embracing hardship or what the Chinese call the spirit of “jian ku"?
What the 78 and over 70’s in our group were seeking I do not know. Perhaps they did feel “time’s winged chariot" drawing near but from the positive energy they generated no one was having a death wish! They were a tough old bunch, these oldies. Not unlike the mountains we were to traverse. 
The Highway winds through high mountains and rugged terrain
The Qinghai-Tibetan Highway which leads into Lhasa is a paved road covering 1947km and is the highest highway in the world passing through mountain roads above 5000m with the highest pass at Tanggula at 5231m. A journey along this highway is truly one of those one in a life time trips.
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