Day 329 - Goodbye Mount Everest

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As the alarm went off early we were not too keen to get out of the warmth and into the cold air, but a sunrise over Mount Everest should make you move, and it worked a treat as we witnessed a clear view of the summit of Everest warming up. Quickly getting some warm food down us and of course the compulsory at least 5 cups of Chinese tea, we set off on our walk to Base Camp proper. Declining the many horse drawn carriages for a ride up to the camp (Ed has worked out that the fixed price is too high and so supply exceeds the quantity of tourists that require a lift up and down, and so many of the men and horses are idle - so we know his education did not go to waste!). We had a colder walk up than yesterday as the sun had not reached over the high peaks around us and so we were in shadow.

The camp even though it had not changed since yesterday was still as amazing, what was special was the view of the light on Everest from a different angle which accentuated the different ridges and crags. We wished we could have put our hands on a telescope so we could have had a look for any climbers.

Sorry to turn our backs on the view, the walk back was broken up with turning around to make sure the mountain was still there, well I am sure you can guess who actually did that - yes Edward! We made our way down for a final meal and the news that our driver and guide had managed to find a replacement for the shattered shock absorber. The driver that we had helped on the pass yesterday happened to be walking past the car seeing Pasang and Poo Poo trying to fix the thing with an old tyre inner tube, mentioning he had a spare we were ready for the bumpy road out.

The 3 hour journey was different to that of the way we came in as a left turn off the track onto an even less of a track allowed us to cut the corner. We passed a number of dwellings and settlements which I am sure are cursing the day that 4x4’s tried a more direct route. But we were thankful for some of the most amazing scenery, which reminded us of Bolivia.

Hitting the sealed road was a comfort however short lived as we arrived to Old Tingri, our destination for the night about 5 minutes later. Pulling into a Guesthouse, we were shocked that the travel agency had not prepared us for the dire condition the place was in (that sounds not the way we meant it to be put, just that on the itinerary we have been told if accommodation was in poor condition or not, and most of the time we have stayed in places classed as this but we thought were actually of adequate condition, until today and no mention of poor condition for this place). Bringing this up with Pasang we learn that this place is cheaper than the one noted on our itinerary as he can get a discount for us. Asking how this benefited us as we had already paid for the trip, we had quite a hard time and many phone calls later trying to figure out where we were supposed to be staying. In the end all was resolved but Pasang noting that is was our fault for not bringing it up when we arrived rather than his travel agency not clarifying what was written on our itinerary on his and his attitude found us retreating back to our dismal room where we watched Casino Royale for comfort.

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