Tibetan Wagon Train

There were not many vehicles in Tibet before the Chinese invasion. The Chinese have built roads and brought in trucks and cars; and they recently opened a railway connection too.

But, apart from Lhasa and the few towns, for the majority of Tibetans it’s not really a vehicular part of the world.

Tibetans use horses as personal transport and horse carts or wagons for carriage of goods. In mountain areas yaks are either ridden or used as a beast of burden. Pushcarts are used in the city. And Tibetans walk long distances. There is even a (secret) yogic practice that involves speed-walking long-distance in a trance-like state.

It took me a week to travel overland from Lhasa back down to Kathmandhu. I saw many of these wagons, and the bleak landscapes and primitive transport are a memory I treasure.

Rather than wooden wagon wheels, either bicycle or lightweight motorcycle wheels are used. But, as my only real point of reference was black and white cowboy films on TV from my childhood, the scenes evoked for me some sort of alternative American ‘wild west.’

Tibet, November, 1994

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Kathmandhu Bajaj People-Carrier

Throughout Asia, when not carrying goods, pick-up trucks double up as buses. This Bajaj 3-wheeler full of women has most likely come into Kathmandhu from a nearby village, and they were most amused at the sight of a long-haired westerner leaning out the side of the autorickshaw behind taking photos of them.

Kathmandhu, Nepal, April 2002
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VW Splitscreen Campervan Cocktail Bar

Thailand has many interesting vintage and customized vehicles. A trend developed in the late 1990’s to turn old splitscreen VW campers into cocktail bars. This one, which was parked for a while around the corner from the traveller hub of Koa Sarn Rd, has an miniature vintage Thai house perched on the back, covering the cocktail bar.

Bangkok, Thailand, March, 2002

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Camel Train, Xinjiang, China

Not everyone realizes that there are camels in deserts of the far western Chinese province of Xinjiang. This area has a large Muslim population, and it really doesn’t have much of a Chinese feel to it – the flavour is much more like the neighbouring ex-Russian republics.

I passed this camel train on my way from China down into Pakistan.

Xinjiang, China, April/May 1996

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Roto-tiller, Lhasa, Tibet

I’ve hitch-hiked in these roto-tillers in Tibet, and they are not uncomfortable – but only because they are ridiculously slow!

This one is driving through the main street of Lhasa.

Lhasa, Tibet, April, 1995

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3-Wheeler with a steering wheel

This tricycle carrier amused me because it has a steering wheel.

N. Sumatra, Indonesia, March, 1995

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Catering 3-Wheeler

Catering three-wheeler motorycles are a very common sight on Thai roads. This is Mai Sai, with the mountains of Burma in the background.

Like many border towns, Mai Sai is a one-horse one-street town. In the extreme north of Thailand, it leads into the very wild north-east area of Burma, which until recently was the personal fiefdom of the drug czar Khun Sa. Since he was officially ‘deposed’ it was taken over unofficially in the late 1990’s by the Burmese government – one of the most repressive regimes in the World – who, by the forced migration of most of the population, developed the area into one of the world’s largest producers of amphetemine, opium and other illegal drugs.

Westerners who fancy a day out can get an early morning bus up from Chiang Mai, cross the border into Burma, deposit their passport at immigration, have a few hours exploring the Burmese side (very depressing) and then cross back into Thailand with a new 2 months Thai visa.

Mai Sai, N. Thailand, c1998

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3-wheeler minibuses, Lhasa

These Chinese three-wheeler buses are common around the streets of Lhasa.

Lhasa, Tibet, April, 1995

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Rickshaws in Calcutta

As far as I know, Calcutta is the only city in India where you can still get hand-drawn rickshaws. It can be a shock the first time you see them waiting for you outside the station when you arrive by train. This one is being drawn by a youngster; but I remember most of the rickshaw-pullers being old men.

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Calcutta, E. Bengal, India, December, 1994

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Roadside garage, Kathmandhu

A typical roadside garage in Kathmandhu. This one was next to the ring road, a route I always dreaded riding on my motorcycle. All Nepali roads are a challenge, what with dodging pot-holes, dogs, cows, people, cars, and the extreme levels of dust. But the ring road is the Nepali equivalent of a motorway, despite being just a slightly wider pot-holed two-lane road, and Nepali trucks and buses don’t stop for anything or anyone.

Kathmandu, Nepal, April, 2002
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3-wheeler Delivery Trike

This typical Thai three-wheeler delivery motorcycle zooms down Koa Sarn Rd, past a bootleg CD/ DVD stall

Banglamphu, Bangkok, January, 2005

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Blacksmith in Kashgar

Keeping your horse on the road presents as many issues in Kashgar as we might have getting our cars repaired. Roadside blacksmiths are abundant, no doubt as they were in the West over 100 years ago. I had not come across this type of strange apparatus before, but I can see the logic of it; the horse did not appear unduly fretful, so I assume horses are used to it.

Kashgar, Xinjiang, China, April, 1996

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3-wheeler Taxi in Shigatse

Here is another variety of three-wheeler motorcycle taxi, and this type is prevalent in Shigatse, the second city of Tibet. This one is passing the Tashilhunpo Monastery, one of the main monasteries of the Tibetan Gelugpas (Yellow Hat Sect), which has ruled Tibet since the 16th Century, with HH the Dali Lama as its head.

Interestingly, the Gelugpas came into power by converting the Mongol Khan rulers to Buddhism. With such powerful allies, they subdued (and therefore united) opposing Tibetan sects, as well as the Chinese – who had to pay annual treaties to Tibet in order to keep the Mongolians off their backs.

Tibet had occupied the capital of China centuries earlier when, with the help of the Muslims of western China, they defeated the Chinese army. The Tibetan king took a bride from China’s Imperial dynasty (as well as one from Nepal’s Royal family, whose army they had defeated too). Both of those countries were Buddhist, and this helped to establish Buddhism as the national religion of Tibet.

What goes around, comes around, as they say…

Shigatse, Tibet, May, 1995

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Nepali 3-Wheeler Carrier

This strange three-wheeler carrier has no seat for the driver – either the driver sits inside the rear pick-up bed or, when it is full, it is pushed like a hand-cart.

It’s in the renovated medieval city of Bakhtapur (not far from Kathmandhu) which is a World Heritage Site.

Bakhtapur, Nepal, April, 2002

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Royal Enfield, Kathmandu, Nepal

This Royal Enfield motorcycle rental sign was in the tourist area of Thamel, Kathmandu. For British motorcyclists, India, Nepal and Thailand are excellent places to rent motorcycles – they drive on the same side of the road as us, only usually cost £3 or £4 a day, and in the right season the weather is ideal for two-wheeling.

I’ve also enjoyed a sport in Nepal that can best be described as motorcycle trekking – riding your rented motorcycle up mountain paths to the top. But don’t do what I did: I forgot that it also takes a long time to drive down again; after enjoying the most sublime sunset on top of the mountain, my passenger and I had 3 hours of downhill motorcycling to contend with …in the dark.

Kathmandu, Nepal, April, 2002

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Chiang Mai Temple Car

Anyone would be hard put to describe Thailand as a religious place: it has one of the most violent societies in Asia; although most tourists don’t know this, as the violence is Thai-on-Thai. For example, the government’s 3 month schedule in 2002 to eradicate the problem of amphetamine trafficking was a worthy cause; but it included the proviso that the governors of the provinces making the least drug arrests would be replaced.

The police and army run crime in Thailand. So they appreciated the opportunity to remove opponents. As a result, 3000 ‘addicts’ and ‘dealers’ were killed by police hit squads around the country in 3 months; a bullet in the back (’suspects killed during arrest’) is how Thailand’s police have always traditionally avoided extra paperwork and over-crowded prisons.

Nevertheless, on the surface, Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second city, is a serene place, with more wats (temples) than any other place I’ve visited. It also has over 50 vegetarian restaurants, and I enjoyed living and working here for many years.

This is a temple car, used as a float in parades.

Chiang Mai, Thailand, February, 2002

Cyclo in Lhasa

This cycle-rickshaw is similar in style to the Nepali ones. It is pictured in the main street in Lhasa. While recovering from altitude shock on arrival in Lhasa, and much to the amusement of passing Tibetans, I spent a fair amount of my time standing in the centre of the main street photographing traffic.

Lhasa, Tibet, April, 1995

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Pakistan High Pass

I snapped this from the bus window as we scaled a high pass between Peshawar and Chitral.

Most of my photos taken between 1996 and 2000 were slides, as I was submitting them to a photgraphic agency in London for sale. So scans of reproductions to print, as here, are not great. I prefer to keep the best quality versions of my work away from the internet to protect my copyright.

On the road to Chitral, N. Pakistan, May 1996
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Temple Chariot

Like the Jagganath Temple chariot in Puri, Orissa, India, this temple chariot is pushed through the streets of Bakhtapur, Nepal once a year. I’m not sure if it fulfills a similar purpose as the one at Puri, which transports the temple deities (statues) to a new resting place for their annual ‘holiday.’

But I do know that it’s a dangerous journey for locals and local buildings alike. There are no brakes, and the giant wheels of these chariots have crushed people to death. When I lived in Nepal there were pictures in the newspaper of an 18th century Bakhtapur house on this chariot’s route with the entire front caved in where the chariot went off the road.

Bakhtapur, Nepal, April, 2002

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The Barkhor, Lhasa, Tibet

Tibet’s heart is the Jokhang, its most holy temple, in the centre of Lhasa. There are always pilgrims circumambulating – walking in a clockwise direction around it.
It is surrounded by a large Tibetan market known as the Barkhor. this is the most vibrant Tibetan part of Lhasa.

This woman arrived early in the morning to set up her stall. I suppose that in the heirarchy of traffic represented on this website, the human porter is the most basic medium of transportation.

Lhasa, Tibet, April, 1995

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