TerraLiner:12 m Globally Mobile Beach House/Class-A Crossover w 6x6 Hybrid Drivetrain

biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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9. Landrover-Britain: Two PR Trips for Competition Winners, Catalonia and Finland

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It would also seem that unlike Landrover-Germany, Landrover-Britain does not have a long history running PR-trips that one can participate in for free, via selective competition. But even still, Landrover-Britain did run two PR-trips of this kind recently, to Catalonia in 2011, and Finland in 2012. The Catalonia trip received over 62,000 entries, from which Landrover-Britain selected 20 lucky couples:

[video=youtube;WOJQwMfnJOo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOJQwMfnJOo&index=21&list=PLFDBA2C4417DFA2 71 [/video] [video=youtube;fA9jwGoPQMc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA9jwGoPQMc&list=PLFDBA2C4417DFA271&index= 21[/video]
[video=youtube;1isuENTIp7o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1isuENTIp7o [/video] [video=youtube;dX5bc9eZg9Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX5bc9eZg9Q [/video]

Here are some videos about the PR trip to Finland -- see http://www.bathrugby.com/news/club-news/win-the-ultimate-nordic-driving-adventure-with-land-rover and http://www.motortradebook.com/videos/3673/3127/land-rover-experience-nordic-adv:

Finally, here is a bit more about "Landrover Experience", along with the fifth video in Landrover's "Essential Guide to Offroad Driving" series. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5igJYkSyfA&list=PL9B8951DBD129E132 for the full Playlist.

[video=youtube;Xqw0WiRcyPs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqw0WiRcyPs&list=PL9B8951DBD129E132&index= 5[/video]

For more than 200 Landrover videos, see the YouTube playlist at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUSX22m92Fb8T8UqyFbUw3hQ .

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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10. Landrover-Britain's "Discovery" Expedition, 2012, Birmingham to Beijing

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So overall, one might be tempted to conclude that Landrover-Britain is not nearly as ambitious in its "expeditioneering" as Landrover-Germany. But of course this would be a mistake. In recent years Landrover-Britain has conducted a number of very ambitious expeditions as technology demonstrations, or publicity stunts, or both; expeditions manned by expert crew, as opposed to contest winners or paying customers.

For instance in 2012, to celebrate the milestone of the One Millionth Land Rover Discovery, Landrover-Britain undertook a 50-day, 8,000 mile road trip from Birmingham to Beijing – see http://www.landrover.com/gb/en/rr/about-land-rover/land-rover-news/journey-of-discovery/ , http://www.landrover.com/au/en/lr/about-land-rover/news-overview/50-days-8000-miles-jod/ , http://newsroom.jaguarlandrover.com/en-in/land-rover/images?ipid=45253&altTemplate=Image Pack , http://www.broadcast.jaguarlandrover.com/stories/6405 , http://www.broadcast.jaguarlandrover.com/stories/6473 , http://www.broadcast.jaguarlandrover.com/stories/6584 , http://www.broadcast.jaguarlandrover.com/stories/6791 , http://www.interactivelandrover.com/lr4/DisplayRelease.php?itemID=414 , http://www.dailymail.co.uk/motoring...s-production-line-explore-new-challenges.html , http://www.examiner.com/article/lan...discovery-stirs-echoes-of-first-overland-trip , http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/one-millionth-discovery-built , http://www.carsuk.net/land-rover-discovery-one-million-discos-and-an-8000-mile-road-trip-to-beijing/ , http://cars.uk.msn.com/news/land-rover-completes-birmingham-beijing-run , http://www.roadandtrack.com/go/news...en-route-to-china-2012-geneva-auto-show-32851 , http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/02/land-rover-discovery-millionth-unit-celebrated.html , http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/...ition-visits-soviet-submarine-base-video.html , http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/03/land-rover-expedition-team-makes-a-stop-in-chernobyl.html , http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/...ery-reaches-destination-not-charity-goal.html , http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/01/land-rover-sends-millionth-discovery-on-transcontinental-fundrai/ , http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/02/land-rover-completes-8-000-mile-journey-of-discovery-from-birmin/ , http://www.motorbeam.com/cars/land-rover/land-rover-on-a-fundraising-journey/ , http://www.roverguide.com/14882/land-rovers-journey-discovery-expedition/ , http://www.roverguide.com/14843/1000000th-land-rover-discovery-produced-gallery/ , http://www.roverguide.com/15416/tracking-land-rovers-journey-discovery-google-maps/ , https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?m...6,2.373047&spn=11.146482,28.476562&dg=feature , and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE8E7C8E376FE8BE7 :

[video=youtube;zPJ9OVQmSL8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPJ9OVQmSL8&index=12&list=PLE8E7C8E376FE8B E7[/video]
[video=youtube;vE7YKg1fg3s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE7YKg1fg3s&list=UUSX22m92Fb8T8UqyFbUw3hQ& index=165[/video]

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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The Landrover "Discovery" expedition raised more than 1 million GBP for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies -- see http://www.landrover.com/gl/en/lr/a...urney-of-discovery-raises-one-million-pounds/ , http://www.redcross.org.uk/About-us/News/2012/February/Land-Rover-Birmingham-to-Beijing-expedition , and http://www.autopulze.com/automobile...frc's-water-and-sanitation-project-in-uganda/ :

[video=youtube;Cx5xscCJFBY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx5xscCJFBY&index=14&list=PLE8E7C8E376FE8B E7[/video] [video=youtube;_ubUmjlRy6o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ubUmjlRy6o&list=UUSX22m92Fb8T8UqyFbUw3hQ& index=206[/video]

The commemorative coffee table book is viewable on-line as a flip-book – see http://www.fpcreative.com/project/journey-discovery and http://issuu.com/fpcreative/docs/journeyofdiscovery . And see the extensive YouTube playlist at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE8E7C8E376FE8BE7 .

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11. The Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition, London to Singapore, 1955 - 1956

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One purpose of the "Discovery" expedition in 2012, Birmingham to Beijing, was to recapture the spirt of trans-Eurasian adventure, as exemplified by the "Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition", London to Singapore, that took place over 50 years earlier, 1955 - 1956. The young Oxbridge students who undertook the trip, now popularly known as the "First Overland" expedition, initially hoped to travel London to Hong Kong. But it was the height of the Cold War, and so they "settled" for London to Singapore instead:

[video=youtube;lDeSC7m_EXI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDeSC7m_EXI&list=UUSX22m92Fb8T8UqyFbUw3hQ& index=208[/video] [video=youtube;77487qPkey0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77487qPkey0&index=15&list=PLE8E7C8E376FE8B E7[/video]
[video=youtube;4TXg6UlwpDc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TXg6UlwpDc [/video]

See http://www.roverguide.com/14882/land-rovers-journey-discovery-expedition/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_and_Cambridge_Far_Eastern_Expedition , http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/excessbaggage/index_20061014.shtml , http://www.firstoverland.com , http://www.aetherapparel.com/journal/2011/10/11/oxford-cambridge-far-eastern-expedition-1955/ , http://www.classicdriver.com/en/art...d-oxford-and-cambridge-far-eastern-expedition , http://www.nickt.com/info/landrover/GoldenOverland_FirstOverland_LRW200403.pdf , http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspa...ney&token=journey,oxford,cambridge,rover,land , http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspa...bridge&token=cambridge,rover,land,slessor,tim , http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Overland-London-Singapore-Land-Rover/dp/1904955142 , https://www.safarious.com/en/posts/2025-land-rover-first-overland-from-london-to-singapore, and https://www.safarious.com/en/posts/2025 .

Again, such expeditions demonstrate that crossing Eurasia is an abiding passion for European overlanders. But the "Discovery" expedition's route in 2012 ran considerably to the north of the Tibetan Plateau, and the route of the "First Overland" expedition 1955 - 1956 ran to the south of it, through India. So neither expedition should concern us further here, in this sequence of posts dedicated to central Eurasian altitude.

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12. Landrover-Britain's "Silk Trail" Expedition, 2013, Birmingham to Mumbai, with Hybrid Range Rovers

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But that's not all.

Just last year, in 2013, Landrover-Britain also ran an expedition from Europe to Mumbai that crossed the Tibetan plateau, an expedition whose route was in some ways similar to Landrover-Germany's "Silk Road Tour". Because both expeditions occurred in 2013, causal bloggers sometimes confuse the two, and will mix images of these expeditions in their posts. But these were separate and distinct enterprises, using different vehicles, and with different objectives.

As already described in detail, Landrover-Germany's "Silk Road Tour" was in effect a super-intense version of its long-standing sequence of "Landrover Experience" PR-trips: a freebie adventure holiday that also generated publicity for the new Evoque. Whereras Landrover-Britain's "Silk Trail" expedition was staffed exclusively by professionals and journalists, not contest winners; and it was primarily intended as a technology-demonstrating field test of Landrover's new Range Rover Hybrid prototypes:

biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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13. The Landrover Hybrid Expedition's Pioneering Route across Tibet: Chinese National Highway 219

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Now the maps available on-line that trace the route taken by the Landrover "Silk Trail" Hybrid expedition are not that good. They are not detailed enough to give one a sense of how, exactly, the expedition crossed Tibet:

Silk Trail Hybrid Expedition Route Map.jpg

As suggested earlier in the thread, we now live in an age of easy-to-use "race-tracking" and "route-tracking" software, standard in nautical circles for over a decade. So it is almost inexcusable that it should be so difficult to geographically visualize the route taken by the "Silk Trail" expedition with greater precision -- see http://fastnet.rorc.org/2013-fleet-tracking.html , http://fastnet.rorc.org/blog/race-information/tracking/index.html , http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/racetracker/rdc.html , http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/ports.html , http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/race.html , http://caribbean600.rorc.org/2014-fleet-tracking.html , http://caribbean600.rorc.org/2013-fleet-tracking.html , http://caribbean600.rorc.org/blog/race-information/tracking/index.html , http://hackingfamily.com , http://hackingfamily.com/Cruise_Info/TrackFiles.htm , https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa...=5.115244,7.03125&z=7&source=embed&dg=feature , and https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa...=5.081762,7.03125&z=7&source=embed&dg=feature .

If the RORC Fastnet race, the Volvo Ocean Race, and the RORC Cariibbean 600 Race can track large fleets in detail, and make the data easily available on-line; or if the Hacking family can log the worldwide travels of their catamaran across open ocean, posting detailed tracks, then surely Landrover should have the manpower and technical ability required to log with precision the route taken by the "Silk Trail" Hybrid expedition, on a bunch of roads??? Is it only me who thinks it is somehow "sloppy" or "unprofessional" when major overland expeditions that are well-financed and technically advanced, do not automatically do this? For further discussion, see post # 245 at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...pedition-RV-w-Rigid-Torsion-Free-Frame/page25 (standard ExPo pagination), and post #305 at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...pedition-RV-w-Rigid-Torsion-Free-Frame/page31 .

Be that as it may, it is worth emphasizing the fact that the "Silk Trail" expedition did not take the easy route across the Tibetan plateau. It did not take the asphalt, paved China National Highway 109 that runs across the center of Tibet -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_National_Highway_109 and http://www.tour-beijing.com/blog/ti...-driving-along-the-national-highway-no-109-2/ . The two Mercedes trips in 2011 and 2012 described in "High Altitude Heating" did in fact take this easier central route, as did the Landrover-Germany "Silk Road Tour" just described in previous posts.

Instead, the "Silk Trail" Hybrid expedition took the much more challenging Chinese National Highway 219 (the "G219"), which connects Xinjiang province with Tibet in the far west, along the border near India -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang . The G219 runs from Yecheng on the edge of the Taklamakan desert, all the way to Lhasa (2,743 km) or Lhatse (2086 km), depending on which web-article one is reading (

) -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_National_Highway_219 , http://www.tibetguru.com/tibet-transportation/xinjiang-tibet-highway.htm , http://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-overland-tour/xinjiang-tibet-highway.html , http://www.greatwalltravel.net/Tibet-Tour/Xinjiang-Tibet-Highway-Info.html , http://www.tibettour.com/tibet-travel-information/tips-for-driving-on-state-highway-g219.html , http://www.tibettour.org/how-to-get-to-tibet/travel-tibet-by-road/1092.html , http://www.tibettravelplanner.com/road-map-tibet.htm , http://www.tibettravelguides.com/Roads-in-Tibet.html , http://windhorsetour.com/tibet-culture/tibet-map-where-is-tibet , and https://www.google.com/maps/dir/37....034668,6z/data=!4m5!4m4!1m1!4e1!1m1!4e1?hl=fr :

....

.....

The border with India is contested, and the G219 runs through the disputed region of Aksai Chin -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aksai_Chin :

The Chinese built the G219 from 1951 to 1957, only letting the Indians know they had built the highway once it was completed. The disputed region of Aksai Chin was one of the triggers of the Sino-Indian war of 1962 -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Indian_War :

For a complete YouTube playlist, see https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL25092F05928001C3 . No doubt the Chinese built the G219 to consolidate their territorial claim on Tibet, in a bid to create "facts on the ground". But this bid soured Sino-India relations for decades following -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China–India_relations .

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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Most of the extreme-altitude portions of the G219 in the far west, above 5,000 m, are still unpaved. At its highest point the G219 reaches somewhere between 5,380 and 5,450 m above sea-level:

But the entire highway is passable, and the G219 is either the highest, or one of the highest, motorable roads in the world.

The Hybrid Range Rovers used on Landrover's "Silk Trail" expedition are the first non-Chinese vehicles to travel the full length of the G219 since it was first completed over 50 years ago, a pioneering achievement -- see for instance http://newsroom.jaguarlandrover.com/en-in/land-rover/news/2013/10/lr_rr_hybrid_silk_road_no6_031013/ , http://newsroom.jaguarlandrover.com/en-in/land-rover/images?ipid=68752&altTemplate=Image Pack , http://www.farnell.guiseley.landrov...ID-PROTOTYPES-BECOME-FIRST-FOREIGN-REGISTERED , http://www.overlandtravel.org.uk/34.html , http://landymag.co.za/land-rovers-silk-trail-expedition-reaches-destination/ , http://www.lro.com/news-reviews/2013/10/hybrids-on-high-in-tibet/ , http://www.sytner.co.uk/guy-salmon-...rive-on-chinas-xinjiang-to-tibet-highway.aspx , and http://www.automobilesreview.com/au...-completes-silk-trail-expedition-video/72460/ .

A bit of research reveals that the G219 has recently become popular with extreme-altitude cyclists. There are at least 10 blogs currently accessible on the web detailing trips by bicycle the full length of the G219. Yes, that's right, huffing and puffing the whole way at 15,000 - 17,900 feet, for 2000 + kilometers!

These blogs not only describe the road in detail, many are packed with beautiful pictures of extreme-altitude scenery en-route. See in particular http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eurasien/satellite-images.htm , http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eurasien/profil-yecheng-tibet-kathmandu.htm , http://www.betzgi.ch/en/route-info/western-tibet/xinjiang-tibet-hwy/allgemein/ , http://www.betzgi.ch/en/route-info/western-tibet/xinjiang-tibet-hwy/map/ , http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eur..._kunlun_shan_aufstieg_truckleuchtspuren.ht m , http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eur...a-xinjiang/27-29-xinjiang_kunlun_shan_tal.htm , http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eur...nlun_shan_aufstieg_strassenbau_schlucht .htm , http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eur.../27-39c-minox3-21-xinjiang_im_schneesturm.htm , http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eur...a-xinjiang/28-05-xinjiang_kunlun_shan_tal.htm , http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eur.../28-27-xinjiang_kunlun_shan_nach_xaidulla.htm , etc. etc. , https://www.google.com/maps/@32.501655,80.100546,8862m/data=!3m1!1e3 , https://www.google.com/maps/@33.385156,79.730122,2193m/data=!3m1!1e3 , and https://www.google.de/maps/@35.980307,79.191148,2126m/data=!3m1!1e3 ;...http://pedalglobal.net/view/touring/himalayacycling/4ktour/index.jsf?redirected=true , http://pedalglobal.net/view/touring/himalayacycling/4ktour/photogalleries.jsf , and http://pedalglobal.net/view/touring...eryName=4KTOUR_TIBET&pageNumber=0&ctryFilter= ;... http://www.mundubicyclette.be/info.php?lg=en&date=20050912 , http://www.mundubicyclette.be/itineraires.php?lg=en , http://www.mundubicyclette.be/lib/maps/06-himalaya.htm , http://www.mundubicyclette.be/photo.php?lg=en&date=20050912 ;.. http://www.mountainbike-expedition-team.de/Tibet/XinjiangTibetHwy.html , http://www.mountainbike-expedition-team.de/Tibet/acrosstibet05.html , http://www.tozekangri.de/e/bericht.html , http://www.mountainbike-expedition-team.de/Tibet/pics_xinjiang.html , http://www.panoramio.com/user/797488/tags/Xinjiang-Tibet Highway , http://www.tozekangri.de/e/offroad.html , http://www.tozekangri.de/e/offroad_info.html , http://www.panoramio.com/user/797488/tags/chang tang , http://www.panoramio.com/user/797488/tags/toze kangri , and http://www.panoramio.com/user/797488/tags/tagchagpuri ;... http://www.charliewalkerexplore.co.uk/blog/xinjiang-and-tibet-part-1-of-2 and http://www.charliewalkerexplore.co.uk/blog/xinjiang-and-tibet-part-2-of-2 ;... http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=3033&v=U9 , http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1&page_id=64841&v=DU , http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1&page_id=64875&v=CM , etc. etc.;..http://www.goneforawhile.net/en/xinjiang-tibet-highway/ ;.. and http://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-travel-advice/cycling-in-tibet.html .

The following is a small "sampler" of photographs of cyclists on the G219; will post more later. Notice the readings on the altimeters....

And some videos of cyclists on the G-219:

[video=youtube;CRsZLD6Hu9c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRsZLD6Hu9c [/video]
[video=youtube;_4RJ40qbSmI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4RJ40qbSmI [/video] [video=youtube;KNn9b07JR_g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNn9b07JR_g [/video] [video=youtube;jNkrT9o7HGM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNkrT9o7HGM [/video]
[video=youtube;NZXwjdtnEE8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZXwjdtnEE8 [/video] [video=vimeo;42671681]http://vimeo.com/42671681 [/video]

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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Western Tibet is thought to be the geographical origin of the "Bon" religion that preceded Buddhism, and hence, is seen as the cradle of Tibetan culture. Although much of the G219's route seems bleak and desolate, Western Tibet was the center of the Zhang Zhung kingdom in the first millennium A.D, and then the Guge Kingdom from the 10th century onwards, whose capitals were Tholing and Tsaparang. The latter are now ruins, but many of their splendid frescoes have miraculously survived. Seems like well-executed "Buon Fresco" can survive even the worst depredations of China's cultural revolutionaries.....

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tibet , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Zhung_culture , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guge , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tholing , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsaparang , http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/19/travel/echoes-of-a-fallen-kingdom.html , http://www.pbase.com/asianodyssey/guge , http://www.pbase.com/asianodyssey/image/83821930 , http://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-travel-guide/xiangxiong-kingdom.html , http://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-photos/tourist-attractions/relics-of-xiangxiong-kingdom.html , http://www.greenkiwi.co.nz/footprints/frames/gu_art.htm , and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buon_fresco .

The following are photographs of the ruins at Tsaparang:

800px-Tsaparang-ruins_of_ancient_capital_of_Guge_Kingdom_03.jpg

There's also a terrific G219 photogallery at https://www.flickr.com/photos/nalati_1/sets/72157602909120777/ , but none of the photos are downloadable.

By far the most exhaustively detailed photographic record of the G219 that I've been able to find online so far, is a sequence of pages that document the highway as travelled Lhasa to Ngari to Kashgar, in 2012: http://www.yaohua2000.org/2012/20120926/en-1.html , http://www.yaohua2000.org/2012/20120926/en-2.html , http://www.yaohua2000.org/2012/20120926/en-3.html , http://www.yaohua2000.org/2012/20120926/en-4.html , http://www.yaohua2000.org/2012/20120926/en-5.html , http://www.yaohua2000.org/2012/20120926/en-6.html , http://www.yaohua2000.org/2012/20120926/en-7.html , and http://www.yaohua2000.org/2012/20120926/en-8.html .

For a good blog packed with pictures of Chinese motorcyclists driving Harley-Davidsons across Tibet, on a route that includes the G219, see http://www.harley-davidson-hangout....ng/99514-charity-riding-event-china-blog.html , http://www.harley-davidson-hangout..../99514-charity-riding-event-china-blog-2.html , http://www.harley-davidson-hangout..../99514-charity-riding-event-china-blog-3.html , http://www.harley-davidson-hangout..../99514-charity-riding-event-china-blog-4.html , etc. etc., and see http://www.harley-davidson-hangout.com/forum/hdrcgb-960926-post24.html for the G219 in particular. These motorcyclists travelled 40,000 km tracing much of the perimeter of China, and their official website is at http://blog.sina.com.cn/harleydavidson2012 . But it's in Chinese.

Here are two videos of the G219, the first rather poetic, the second quotidian, demonstrating the corrugation of many sections of the highway:

[video=vimeo;80452808]http://vimeo.com/80452808[/video]

The second is particularly relevant to this thread overall, because it shows smaller 4x4 SUVs passing large, 6x6 and 8x8 trucks on the G219. In other words, the G219 was built large enough and stable enough to handle such large vehicles, even though it's often just a dirt road.

The G219 is usually open, except when the snowfall is particularly heavy:

[video=dailymotion;xire0p]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xire0p_xinjiang-tibet-highway-reopens_news[/video]

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14. Landrover-Britain's "Silk Trail" Expedition, 2013: Professional Photography

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What then follows below are some of the very beautiful photographs that the "Silk Trail" Hybrid expedition produced en-route. Like Landrover-Germany's "Silk Road Tour", Landrover-Britain's "Silk Trail" must have employed professional photographers, because the images are superb.

Brief Disclaimer: As per the "Silk Road Tour", I tried to arrange the images in sequence, to the best of my ability. Arranging the images of the "Silk Road Tour" was much easier, because the German blog-record is so extensive and detailed. Whereas arranging the images for the "Silk Trail" Hybrid expedition sometimes proved a challenge, because many images were lumped together in "image packs", packs that sometimes did not have clear descriptors. If some of my guesses as to sequence or geographic location turn out to be mistaken, my apologies in advance.

When crossing the Tibetan plateau, for instance, I surmised that the photographs of the Hybrids tackling dirt roads were taken earlier, when they were still on the G219. Whereas photographs of endless stretches of asphalt unfolding over vast Tibetan spaces seem to have been taken later, when the G219 and subsequent roads became paved. The bicycle blogs just mentioned were helpful, because they suggest that the G219 begins as a paved road near the Talkamakan desert; becomes a gravel road once it climbs the plateau in earnest; remains a gravel road as it heads south; and then becomes paved again when it swings east, heading towards Lhasa.

Leaving England.....

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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Across Europe, the Black Sea, Russia.....

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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The Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan, the Aral Sea, Uzbekistan.....

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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The Walls of Khiva, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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Kyrgyzstan, the Switzerland of Central Asia

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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Kyrgyzstan, then China

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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Taklamakan

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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Climbing the Tibetan Plateau

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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Crossing Tibet with the G219

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biotect · Jun 17, 2014

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Crossing Tibet's vast spaces

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