Northwest Tibet by bike

[JimK]

Northwestern Tibet is about as remote as it gets:

http://blog.nature.org/science/2013/04/01/expedition-to-northern-tibet-part-1-the-land-of-charging-blue-bears/

[John Saxby]

Wow!  And sometimes I feel beset by winter... (Here, we're more-or-less into July, a week of temps near 29.)  Hope the blue bears gain some protection, peace and quiet from their demanding environment.  Mind you, if climate change continues and Churchill warms up, there'll probably be some surplus "tundra buggies" on the market, so I don't fancy the blue bears' chances for a peaceful life.  Here's a link to one of those devices, confronting a your-adjective-goes-here polar bear:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra_buggy

J.

[Matt2matt2002]

Isn't Tibet still closed off to tourists? Unless you "buy" a government tour guide?

[JimK]

Looking at my Gizi map of Tibet... the biggest roadless area actually looks like it's in Qinghai province, which probably has different travel restrictions than the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

The folks on the trip I linked to probably have special permits for biological study or some such.

[JimK]

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1&page_id=294139&v=D8

Here is a fellow getting sent back by the police and he's not even that deep into Qinghai province.

Tianjun is at 99 degrees east and 37.3 degrees north.

[richie thornger]

http://freewheelinghimalaya.blogspot.co.uk/p/route.html
I havent checked this lately. But great info for anybody coming this way.
Just make sure you leave your dalai lama photo at home. A jailable offence.