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Published: August 13th 2008
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So what do I say about spending time at the highest point on earth? First, as a disclaimer, I must say that I am not sure I can quite put it into words...
We began our drive to Everest Base Camp at 10:30am not quite sure how long it would take. The road itself had amazing scenery that was constantly changing from green hills, to lakes, to desert like conditions to dirt roads. Due to all the new regulations after the unfortunate events that occurred in March, we had to go through about 8 checkpoints to even get to base camp. Our big joke with our guide was the second we stopped saying "passports" and whipping them out as fast as possible since that is exactly what they needed each and every time. Our guide had to show our permits and they had to look at our Chinese visa in our passports. It seriously got very tiring. At one of the checkpoints there was a large herd of children that approached our land cruiser begging for money. Chris decided it would be a better idea to show them a movie on his ipod. So he handed it to me and
we put on the Simpsons movie showing it to them through our window. They loved it! I was then forced to get out of the car to give my passport to the Chinese military once again and I decided to take the ipod with me. I was crouched down with the Simpsons in front of me and a group of 10 Tibetan children crowded around grabbing at me to get a better view. It was so fun and one of those moments I will remember forever. I was the crazy white girl with a magic box that played cartoons to these children... how random?
From there the drive continued to get worse. It was 102 Km's to base camp, all on bumpy dirt roads! I can't even explain this. We literally drove our car through rivers and bumped along the highway, zig zagging our way up higher and higher into the Himalayas. The weather kept changing on it to, which made it worse. It would rain, hail, lightning, thunder and everything in between. We finally made it to Everest at 8pm (9.5 hrs later!) and got settled in our tent. Yes, tent! They were actually pretty nice and we
Everest on arrival
It should be right in the middle behind the clouds were greeted by our local Tibetan tent owners who provided us with warm water and tea. Everest base camp is at 5200 meters (17,333ft) so we were a bit worried about the altitude, but did fine. The clouds where Everest should be were thick and knew there wouldn't be much chance of seeing the mountain. This is why we had planned to stay two nights. We knew the mountain was fickle and the weather makes it hard to see. We used to hot water to make some of our ramen type noodles. My meal was ended early however because I was being beckoned by Chris and Jeff outside who said the clouds over Everest were clearing. No way, I thought- we had only been here 45 minutes. Within the next 15 minutes the clouds cleared and there it was- HUGE and standing there in full view. Yes, there were clouds around it, but we couldn't believe it. We all went running screaming and we all even shed a tear! It was an amazing moment and we couldn't believe how lucky we were to see the mountain so quickly. Later that day, the Chinese military came in to check our passports
and to give us a verbal warning. "These are sensitive times and we do not want you doing any anti-Chinese activities." We all agreed and had a little laugh when they left. So weird! This really is a different country!
That night at Everest Base Camp we spent the night drinking some Lhasa beer and playing cards with our guide, driver and Madeline. We wanted to buy a beer for our guide, but he doesn't drink. He told us a Tibetan Buddhist proverb. "There was a monk who had to choose between one of three things: 1. Kill a goat 2. Lay with a woman or 3. Drink alcohol. Well he knew he could not kill the goat and if he lay with a woman he could no longer be a monk, so he decided to drink the alcohol. Then... he did the other two!" I thought it was a pretty good story. The guides also let us share in their dinner. Tsampa with soup and yak butter tea. We had our first taste of yak butter tea and nope- I was not a fan. It tastes like funny melted butter in a cup. With about 8 blankets on
me, we went to bed; ready to wake up at sunrise for hopefully another view of Everest. The sunrises at 7am so we got to sleep in a bit. We awoke and things were pretty cloudy, but looked hopeful. By 8:30am the clouds had cleared again and it was an even BETTER view of the mountain. Gorgeous and huge. I cannot put into words how it really looks in real life. After seeing tons of pictures and watching "Expedition Everest" we couldn't believe we were there. The clouds moved in again quickly so we decided to have some breakfast and see if we could then make the 4km hike to the next base camp for even better views.
After breakfast, we started the hike not realizing the altitude made the 2 mile thing a bit harder. We huffed and puffed our way and finally made it to the base camp. Our guide was not allowed to go with us, so instead they sent a member of the Chinese military with us to accompany us the rest of the way to a small hill for better views of the mountain. He told us he was there to "protect foreigners who
come." Not sure that was the case... I am sure they were more worried about us doing some crazy pro-Tibet activity. We sat there for quite a while, clouds still in, no sight of the mountain. We were just about to give up and start the hike back to our camp when the clouds began to clear. There she was... again... this time 2 miles closer. You were able to see the Hilary step, the ice fields, the entire Nepal side and the top. It was a crazy view. We sat there while the military guy told us his stories of heading to advance base camp- 17km's away from where we were. It is a two day trip- crazy! Maybe someday we will climb the mountain and really experience all the craziness it has to offer. We made a pact- 10 years and we are coming back to climb. I think that is a crazy dream considering we all have no mountain climbing experience!
We finally decided to head back, Everest in full view, to pack up our bags and head out. We had been so lucky; we didn't find it necessary to stay another night. The mountain was
completely in view the entire hike back, while we packed our bags and our drive out of base camp. I cannot believe it. The view lasted for hours and hours! Everyone kept saying how lucky we were. I guess I didn't mind that Yamdrok Lake wasn't blue because we saw Everest a million times!
Our drive back to Shigatse was equally long and tiring. Since it was not raining the dust from the road got kicked up into the car and the entire 9 hours we got to breathe dust. I think my lungs are brown by now! We finally arrived in Shigatse tired, but we still felt the need to grab a beer and toast to our great Mt. Everest adventure. I am probably more fascinated with the mountain now, more than ever. The whole experience, from seeing the mountain, to hiking, to sleeping in the cold, to the awful toilets was amazing and I would not have traded it for the world. I am so glad we paid too much money to come here! I am so lucky and I think it finally hit me- staring at the highest point on earth that I am finally here,
on the trip I have been saving for for so long. I made it!
Interesting facts:
The first man to climb Mt. Everest was Sir Edmund Hilary and his Sherpa. They named one of the toughest parts of the climb on the Tibetan side the Hilary step in his honor. You can see it in the pictures on the left side where the mountain steps up quickly and very steep.
The peak is at 8850m (29,000+ ft)
The other side of Mt. Everest is in Nepal. This is the right side in pictures and heads pretty straight down.
The local Tibetan name for the mountain is Mt. Qomolangma.
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Courtney
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YEAH!
I am sooooooooooooooo thrilled for you... Tibet and Mt. Everest... all of your dream adventures are reality! Travel safe!