Mt. Everest Base Camp

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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. I guess this is the first base camp so we took a bus to the next one. It looked like the cloud was going to stay and then all of a sudden there it was. The peak of Mt. Everest. What a site. I still can’t believe we were actually there. Mt. Everest, called Mount Qomolangma in Tibetan, is the highest peak on Earth at just over 29,000 ft.


We spent a lot of time watching the mountain and then had lunch in one of the tents that serves as a hotel at night and restaurant during the day. Our guide knows the owner of the restaurant/hotel and we met his wife on the ride up to base camp. They have a very cute but shy 2-year old daughter that was enjoying her snack as we had lunch. She was currently staying with her father at base camp until the mom came that night to let the dad go back to the house for harvest. They sure have a tough life but two good businesses.


In all we were at the base camp for around three hours and then we went down the road to the Rongbu Monastery. It was built in the 8th century and expanded in 1901. The monastery has the distinction of being the highest on Earth at 16,728 ft. and has a great view of Mt. Everest. We took a few more pictures at the monastery and then it was time to start the drive back down. One more stop coming back into Tingri to show our papers. We have discovered that our most valuable asset here in China is our passports. They are going to be worn out with so many people looking at them.

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Photos

Lunch
Our lunch was in one of the tents. It was nice and warm.

China Post
There was even a post office at base camp.

The road we drove on
What a crazy road