Thorn Tree travel forum

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I haven't gone exactly that route, but I did go from Golmud to Ruoqiang, in Xinjiang. The route from Golmud is the same as far as Daquaidam.

This gentleman took a shared taxi from Dunhuang to Golmud, for Y100, and it would have been 10 hours except for a little incident:
The long route into Tibet

You might ask around if there are cars with an extra seat headed your way. They would go somewhat faster, and are usually more willing to stop for a bio break or for a great photo op.

The following page seems a bit out of date, so I think the bus price is high, but probably the 13 hours for the bus is still on track. Your bus ticket will probably be less than Y200.
SILKROAD - Dunhuang
"Golmud Y406 for foreigners (13 scenic hours across the Altunshan Mountains"

From Golmud to Dunhuang, foreigners are required to get an Aliens Travel Permit from the PSB, because some of the route is otherwise closed to foreigners before the bus station staff will sell a ticket. I expect it is the same process in reverse. This is a simple process of going to the PSB, showing your passport, signing the request book, and paying Y50. In Golmud, the PSB is closed on weekends and for two hours at lunch, but with many more tourists, the PSB in Dunhuang may have longer hours. If you happen to need to leave over the weekend and the Dunhuang PSB is closed, you might be able to arrange for a local to buy your bus ticket for you. The bus ticket seller checks the permit, but it is not checked on the bus.

You may arrive in Golmud very early in the morning. The train station is directly across from the bus station. I don't know if the train ticket office is open 24 hours.

You might do a search here at ThornTree to check if you still need a TTB permit to get a train ticket to Lhasa. I think I recall reading that it has been rescinded. In any case, if it turns out you still need one, perhaps you can ask someone else to buy your train ticket for you, because, again, if you need the permit, they check it when you buy the ticket, but not when you get on the train or anywhere while you are on the train.

Every train from anywhere to Lhasa goes through Golmud, and most of them stop there, and most of these likely have hard sleeper berths open. But even so, for some reason, they may not sell you tickets on most of the trains, and they may tell you there are no hard sleeper tickets for many days. You probably really, really do not want to do this route on a hard seat. The trains are packed full of local workers and familiies and children, with more than 100 people to one or two toilets for 1,200 kilometers. So what are your choices?

You can wait in Golmud until a hard sleeper seat is available.
Or you can buy a hard seat ticket and ask the attendant if you can upgrade once you get on the train.

You might want someone in Dunhuang (where there are many more people who speak English than in Golmud) to write you a note in Chinese for the ticket agent:

I want a hard sleeper ticket to Lhasa, the first available train today or tomorrow.

(fold here)
(turn if the ticket agent says there are no hard sleeper tickets in the next few days)

I want to buy a hard seat ticket, and upgrade on the train.
Please recommend to me which train, today or tomorrow, is most likely to have empty hard sleeper berths.

-- Cat www.centralasiatraveler.com

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Hi,

I go to Lhasa from Dunhuang last year, Dunhuang is my hometown. Asia traveler's advice is very good and profound. If you have any other questions, you can let us know. I am local, have more info. I am in Xian now.