Thorn Tree travel forum

Damn landcruisers.... and cameras.

Just got back from cycling from Kashgar to Lhasa - it was a wonderful trip.

The curse was all the tourist landcruisers - most other drivers (trucks and military) are courteous and competent, but the landcruisers are unbelievable. They drive incredibly fast on terrible dirt roads, don't slow down or move over for cyclists, and from what I saw, crash fairly regularly. Saw three overturned at the side of the road which had obviously happened in the last few hours.

The worst is when one of them overtakes way too close, showering you with stones, then skids to a halt in front, all the windows come down and loads of camera lenses appear. Click click click and without a word they're off again. Made me understand how awful it must be for the locals when insensitive tourists keep shoving cameras in their faces - it made me feel like a zoo animal.

So if you're travelling in Tibet by landcruiser, for your own safety, insist they drive a little less psycopathically and get them to treat cyclists with a bit of courtesy - there aren't that many of us after all. You're paying their wages so they have to listen to you. And don't take pictures of people without asking them first, it's really rude.