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Campsite
Amazing weatherã Ok,this is the second time I am writing this entry。 Not sure what happened to the first one but it is gone。
For this entry I will fill you in on the trip from Nepal into China (Tibet) and the side trip to Mt Everest basecamp。 I am currently in a town halfway between Mt Everest and Lhasa。 Sorry I do not have my map handy and do not remember the name。
About 10 days ago met the new group I am travelling with along with the new crew。 They all seemed nice and I can confirm they are now that we have been travelling together for 10 days。It‘s an even mix of women and men, some couples some older than me and som younger。Seven different nationalities so the accents are pretty confusing at times。
We left Kathmandu none to soon。 It is a nice town but can be overwhelming after a week。 From there we went to a campsite ona deep gorge called (The Last Resort)Those of you that know me will laugh because the only way to the campsite is across a steel suspension bridge not much wider than I am。 And of course this bridge
is so high that they have a bundji jump platform in the middle。 Insane but I made it across。NO I did not jump off。Anywyas we spent the night in safari type tents which were really comfortable。 I should have known that the comfort level would change once we entered China。
Anyways, the next day we headed to the border and can you believe it, it took 8 1/2 hours to go 23 km’s。 It seems getting into China can be a little difficult at times。We crossed from Nepal ok but the CHinese side took a little time even though we had a local guide and the required permits。 Are bags ere searched and anything to do with the Dahli Lama was seized。Oh yeah speaking of time, we gained 2 1/4 hours while crossing the border。 Normally time changes happen when you travel from east to west but here they happen whenever the government wants。The other crazy news about the border is after we were through customs and imigration our truck had to be fumigated but suddenly it was lunch time so we had to wait three hours。 We were stuck on the Chinses side while our truck was in
quarentine until after lunch。So we found a small, and I mean small, local cafe and had an awesome bowl of soup and some tea with the locals。
Eventually we made it to the first town and relaxed while our guide did the final sorting of permits。 It seems that even though China does not recognize Tibet, the Tibetan government still requires you to have a permit which you cannot get until you enter Tibet which you need to have a Chinese permit to do。 Got it all straight now?
The next day we started are climb into the mountains。 We had 4 days to climb up to 5,000 meters with the eventual goal of reaching the Mt Everest basecamp。This was an interesting prcess of driving along cloff like mountain roads and crossing high passes during the day and sleeping at lower altitudes at night。 We all had lectures on Alltitude sickness and watched each other closely。I had headaches for the first three days and was really dizy on one of them。We had one passenger that ahd t be sent to the hospital in Lassa because he was just not aclimatizing。I should also point out no booze durig this
High mountian roads
We were up in the clouds most of the day time as booze and altitude do not mix。
I got some great photos of the high passes, not much vegetation and very little wildlife but great scenery none the less。Our first glimpse of My Everest was breathtaking eventhough we were over 100 km‘s away。
Finnaly we made it to the basecamp for Mt Everest。 This was after a final 103 km drive over a few other mt passes。 The weather was amazing with almost no clouds in the sky。 We stopped and had lunch on a hillside and over looked a valley that led right to Mt Everest。 Almost impossible to describe。 After reaching basecamp at 5150 meters we relaxed for the afternoon and evening to get used to the altitude。 The next morning we went the final 2 km‘s to the actual basecamp。 There were 7 teams of climbers set up at the base。 We could not see anyone on he mountain but a this is peak climbing seaon we are going with the belief that there are climbers on the mountain as we were taking photos。 Weather was awesome and I took almost 200 pic’s of the mountain。 One will be the “money shot” I am
sure。
The veiw took everyones breath away and I do not mean just be the altitude。 For those of you at BDHQ。 I did a little bit of Kettle Bell as promised ( I picked up a huge rock)as well as kicked around a soccer ball with a few soldiers and then did the 2 k walk back to camp。I know it does not sound like much but remember the altitude was over 16,000 feet so breathing while standing still was a challenge。 The walk back to camp (2km’s) took just over 1 hour。 Any faster and I would have been really sick。
After the base camp we started the drive back to the main road stopping half way to camp。 We woke up with snow on the ground and could not see any of the mountain tops。 It turns out we were really lucky to have great weather for three days and see Mt Everest as our guide had been there 5 times and this was the first time he had seen the mountain。 It is usually fogged in。 Great news for us。
Oh yeah I also caught a lamb at this campsite but the hearder
4ï¼000 meters up
Camp site to aclimatize wouldn‘t let me keep him。
The next few days have seen us travelling along the hjighway to Lhassa。 Expect to be there in another 3-4 days after a sidetrip to a high alpine lake。If you want to follow along we are on Highway 318。
That’s about it for now except a few things I forgot to mention before。
For my coworkers I did not find the CRA Call Centre in India but did see the IT help desk office for PacRegion。
For those of you following on Facebook I am sorry but no updates there as it appears to be banned in China。
That‘s about it for now, not sure when the next update will be。
Ciao, Mike
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Deanne
non-member comment
LOL
lol@IT help desk comment!!!!