A ride through tibet on cycles....more at: http://www3.utsidan.se/corax-e/ct2003.htm

In 1997 I took my first ride on the Chang Tang. I was there in the winter time and only cycled a bit in the outskirts of it. I really got intrigued by the vastness, desolation and grandeur of nature. An obsession was born.

Year 2000 it was time for a crossing of the whole plateau from the north to the south. Due to incorrect route descriptions from a wannabe mountain guide/expedition leader, we ended up being stuck in the northern parts of the Kunlun mountain range for two weeks. No way to even get up unto the plateau.

In the year of 2002, we tried again. First we wanted to make some “warm-up” cycling. We planned to go along the standard route from Kashi/Kashgar on the Xinjiang highway onto the plateau and over the Kerriya Shankou/Pass. We did, but underestimated the difficulties and we ended up in a very dangerous situation in areas where for example great explorer Sven Hedin had had to turn around. Bowen, another explorer lost many men there and we were actually happy to get out of it alive. After that episode, we were in no condition to continue with our plan to cross the whole of the Chang Tang, but as a reward we had made the first un-supported crossing of the Kerriya-route.

2003. Still obsessed with the idea, we made another try. Started from Gansu province and continued through the high altitude deserts of Qinghai province. Had some minor trouble with “forbidden areas” due to oil prospecting and lost contact with an expedition member because of Chinese protective interests.