Blogs from Everest, Tibet, China, Asia - page 3

We're on yet another diversion. This time its not due to roadworks its of our own making. Our ultimate target is Beijing so we should be heading north-east but instead we are riding south on a gravel road with 100 or so switchbacks that take us up, very steeply, from 4300m to 5200m and back again. Why? To see Mount Everest up close from Base Camp. It's worth every inch of the 134 mile round trip to stand underneath the towering peak. From Dingri it's a great ride up and down the mountain passes and its made more enjoyable by the good gravel and lack of sand!!. From the top of Pang-la pass (5200m) the views are spectacular, precisely how you imagine the Himalayas. We are so, so lucky - there's clear blue skies and 4 ... read more

Due to the flight disruption in Europe our Tibet tour only had 1 other person, a small "group" then. Having cleared the formalities of immigration we were then allowed to meet our Tibetan guide, Ms Pema, and our driver Mr PuPu (pronounced as you would imagine)! After Nepal, Lhasa was a surprise; modern, clean, well ordered, a relaxing place to wander around. Although, as it's at an altitude of 3,600m, we didnt exert ourselves too much. The highlight here was the iconic and magnificent Potala Palce (winter home of the Dalai Lama; now a museum). It towers 117m above the city and is 13 storeys high, divided into the white and red palace with some of the rooms dating back to the 7th Century. A wonderful place to wander aimlessly around for a few hours. A ... read more

Meine Reise zu den höchten Bergen dieser Welt Eigentlich kann man Tibet nicht in einen Blogeintrag pressen und es ist schwierig nur anhand von einigen Fotos und meinem Gekritzel hier einen möglichst authentischen Eindruck zu liefern, deshalb werde ich nur die wichtigsten Ereignisse schildern und versuchen die Bilder erzählen zu lassen :) Ich kann jedoch behaupten dass es DIE Reise schlechthin war, in das faszinierendste Land dieser Erde! Die wichtigsten Reisestopps in Tibet Lhasa (3650m) Potala Palace Jokhang Temple Barkhore Street Namtso Lake (4740m) Der Nam Tso ist der größte See in Tibet, der höchstgelegene See der Welt und der zweitgrößte Salzwassersee Chinas. Hot Springs in Yangbachen In Yangbajain steht das größte Erdwärmekraftwerk Chinas. Es ist das größte und am frühesten erschlossene Erdwärmefeld in... read more

This morning we are up at 5am and leave at 6:15am. We seem to be making good time as the road is fairly smooth and the views keep us entertained. Yak, horses, sheep, goats, the locals - it's all post-card beautiful. Everybody is in a fairly chipper mood because we are excited about seeing Mt. Everest but honestly no one is looking forward to the rough riding we know is coming. We drive all morning, take a break at 10:15pm to stretch, find a rock, etc. The girls have it much rougher than us guys simply because there are few bathrooms, if any, on our road so they have to find whatever cover they can. We joke with them saying "But at least it's not freezing like it was at the Karola Glacier...", they are not ... read more

Monday 10th - Our trip to everest today, Rox woke feeling ill....not a good start plus an 8hr drive climbing to 5000m - poor Rox. We stopped for lunch and had curried rice......... little did we know Rox would be seeing this again! Lots of stops on the way - passport checks... Our first sighting of Everest was really cool we were so lucky the weather was perfectly clear. Pretty damn impressive. A few photo stops went by and then we made it to base camp - hmmmmm what can we say, not quite what we had anticipated. Just a desolate piece of land with a sign saying toursists go no further. The view was great though..... we were disappointed there was no snow on the ground. It was a great experience running up the hill ... read more