High altitude train ride

We were blown away as we were dropped off in front of the new Lhasa train station. It felt more like we were about to enter an airport than a train station I am accustomed to! In 2006, the train route to Lhasa opened (ahead of schedule!), connecting Tibet with the rest of China...or better yet, the rest of China with Tibet. The train was packed for the 2000km train journey (and it continued on past our destination for perhaps another 2000km). We had booked a 'hard seat' for the 34 hour journey. Our options were hard seat, hard sleeper, and soft sleeper. Our rash decision was based on a quick glance at the time table. Train leaves at 10:30....arrives at 20:30. Our quick calculation told us that we could easily handle a hard seat for a 10 hour journey. Once we were committed, we realized that we would be arriving at 20:30 the next day...and were in for the long haul cruising across the Tibetain plateau. But when our bodies began to feel achy or we were feeling anxious to climb off the train, we simply had to think about our 9 hour journey in the luggage rack of the second class unreserved car in India, and our circumstances seemed quite luxurious. The train was sleek and clean and the huge windows captivated our attention for most of the ride. We chugged slowly over permafrost amidst snowy peaks and grazing yaks. Fluffy white clouds appeared to be within reach and the setting sun shimmered its golden hue off irregularly shaped lakes. The whole first day, we saw virtually no people and the landscape was largely untouched. As the sun came up the next morning, we began to encounter civilization again. Villages became cities, and barren land was replaced by perfectly square agricultural plots...the browns and grays of the landscape had become bright shades of green. The day and a half we spent on the drain slipped through our fingers. While I must admit we were hugely relieved to climb off the train, it was a beautiful experience to bask in more Tibetan landscape.