Blogs from Everest, Tibet, China, Asia
April 11th 2012
We woke up this morning at Everest Base Camp (EBC) to find the clouds were still covering Everest. It was soo cold last night that our half drunk cups of tea were frozen solid. It was probably in the low 20’s, but it was pretty cozy sleeping under sheep wool blankets. Our guide said that we would wait a bit to see if the sun burned off the cloud cover, so I happily stayed under the blankets for an extra hour until breakfast and coffee appeared. We poked our noses out again at about 0900, and the clouds began to lift to reveal about ¾ of Everest. We jumped into the Land Cruiser and drove out to a hilltop overlooking Base Camp 2. By the time we arrived, the clouds had completely lifted to reveal Everest ... read more
Tibet - Everest Base Camp – A distinct lack of oxygen and possibly the scariest drive I’ve ever had the misfortune of taking. And all finished off with an Earthquake, I’m just a hard-core thrill seeker.
Published: September 24th 2011Asia » China » Tibet » Everest
September 17th 2011
Everest Base Camp – A distinct lack of oxygen and possibly the scariest drive I’ve ever had the misfortune of taking. And all finished off with an Earthquake, I’m just a hard-core thrill seeker. After a few days sightseeing and acclimatisation to the altitude in Lhasa, it was time to begin the final drive to Everest Base Camp. Needless to say this didn’t get off to a great start. Our guides decided to go to a club the night before and therefore didn’t make it to the permit office until 10:30am the following morning, the original plan was to leave at 10am so it was clear to see that wouldn’t be happening. Nothing moves quickly in Tibet and at 2:30pm they arrived at our bus with the permits and the reception they got from our group ... read more
June 14th 2011
Second and last blog about Tibet :D We went to go visit Tashilumpo Monastery on the morning of the 23rd of May. It was the Monastery I had walked around the day before, so it was nice to go inside and actually see it properly. Founded in 1447 by a nephew and disciple of Tsongkhapa (founder of the yellow hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism); who was retroactively named the first Dalai Lama. The original building was built above a sacred sky-burial site and is one of the four great Geluk monasteries in Tibet and at its peak, housed 4700 monks. It is still the largest functioning monastic community in Tibet today (probably because the Potala isn't allowed to be used). The Tashilumpo monastery is the seat of the Panchen Lama, second only to the Dalai Lama ... read more
November 10th 2010
This is the epitome of Spirituality.... however you may define it. The shining eyes and smiles of the Tibetan people are the most concentrated group of pure, happy ones that I've had the pleasure to meet. So vibrant..... the colours of their cloth, their energy, the sound of their language.... The whole place is an enchanting medley of people, animals and majestic mountains. The only down side seems that it's not easy to be a vegetarian in this part of the world though one can't blame the climate for such things. It's certainly quite dry out here. The good news is the locals are becoming quite savvy with greenhouses to grow more veg and solar is in abundance. After a magnificent rail journey, our guide welcomed us to the 'Roof of the World' at the train ... read more
September 23rd 2010
The ride to Everest base camp started at 8am in the morning. This was it, we were all nervous, tanked up on ams pills, but excited, really excited. Before long, the scenery had turned from green lush mountains to snow ridden triangles in the distance. We stopped to take few loo breaks and it was really weird to feel the crunch of snow under my boots when the day before I was getting sunburn. Every time we stopped, the Tibetan women selling goods started snowball fights with us. We stopped for lunch at some little hamlet, and after a meal of vegetable fried rice and a (luxury) bar of chocolate we, turned off the highway to Rongbo. The road was a crazy rollacoaster and sooo bumpy. For four hours we endured the up and down and ... read more
September 21st 2010
Mount Everest and its surrounds must be every British persons dream come true? The vistas are without compare, the locals are incredibly friendly and like nothing more than sharing stories over a hot cup of Yak butter tea, for history buffs ruins abound and the wildlife would be enough to satisfy David Attenbrough for at least a whole series. Perhaps greatest of all however is the weather which would keep most of us in conversation for a life time. Arriving in the blistering sun we faced rows upon rows of mountains. While I thought I would have had no issue at all identifying this iconic mountain - after all it was a constant fixture on the wall of the geography class room - embarrassingly I could not work out which one Everest was. I decided that ... read more
September 19th 2010
We were sorry to be leaving Lhasa especially since we had just been moved to a better room in our hostel. The improvements in standards were most welcome because now when we washed our hands, our feet didn’t get a wash at the same time. We also realised that the dungeon look was not a theme running through the hostel after all. Our small group of 5, that’s including the driver and guide, left Lhasa for a long journey, which would eventually result in our seeing Mount Everest. The initial day’s drive was a long but beautiful one with nonstop scenery and stunning views. Little did we know, when we embarked on this mini trip that we would be suffering from repetitive strain syndrome by the end of it, after taking so many photos. As the ... read more
September 8th 2010
9/8/2010 Wednesday - We started our journey this morning and at Tingri’s boarder we had to get out and show our papers (I’m seeing a pattern here). We actually had two more of these stops on the way to base camp. The trip is about 60 miles each way on a very bumpy dirt road. About an hour into the ride we stopped at the first observation area, OK the only official one before base camp. There was a persistent cloud just over the peak of Everest so we waited for a while and then headed down the road. We stopped in front of a farm that had a nice view of Everest and took a few more pictures of the same cloud and then off to base camp. After about 4 hours we were there. ... read more
August 22nd 2010
Yep, havent had a shower in awhile. Feeling very dusty and gross. I love our local guides who travel with us through Tibet and China. (Because China is crazy control freak paranoid) you must have a local guide at all times. So Myles (Chinese) and Lobsong (Tibetan) met us at the border. Noel and Dan are cool too. Had a very rough few days. the altitude got me again at the same pass on the way to our first bush camp. I thought i was going to die - if not from the altyitude then definitely from the plastic bag that I had permanently wrapped around my face! At 5100 metres the plastic bag really is your best friend. I think I went through about 5. I couldnt even make my tent without spewing and support ... read more
July 21st 2010
Got to BC last night, stayed at 'Everst Guest House' - well equipped tent owned by local 'Champi'. Havent had showers or toilets in days, and have another camp tonight. James, one of the guys in the group, and I are cooking dinner tonight....vegetable soup...yum Had a great view of the summit last night at about 9pm. So warm in the tents. Head hurts a lot! - Altitude Got up to go to the loo (rock) a bit later last night and was surprised when I walked to the door and it was dark out but all the local Tibetans had congragated and were chanting in a circle and dancing. It was cool that they were just doing it for themselves and not for tourists. Ill never forget that. At first I was a bit worried....well....it ... read more
