Everest Found

6/3, 6/4 and 6/5/07

We love our tour guide, Lhasing, but every evening there seems to be a general confusion about what time we will depart the next day. Sunday morning we were up and ready at the last agreed upon time, but our guide was not to be found. As we waited patiently outside of the hotel with our driver, we watched as hotel employees streamed out of the building. We thought it must be a fire drill, but moments later it appeared that we were witnessing hotel employee boot camp. The employees came out of the hotel and lined-up in very straight rows. The hotel manager appeared to take roll, yelled something towards the hotel, and then music played over a very scratchy speaker. This was the employee's cue to move out and begin the morning group exercise activity. It was fun to watch, but even more fun to see Rainbow forming her own line at the back and joining in. She seemed to know the routine well, so I am not sure if she belongs to some Chinese exercise group back in the states.

Once Lhasing appeared we headed into town to obtain the travel permit to the Everest region. The operator of the office told us that she would be there at 10:00am. Of course when we arrived no one was there. We spent about an hour waiting for someone to show up and give us the permit. We were thankful that someone came down to issue the permit instead of telling us to wait in Shigatse until Monday and normal business hours.

We traveled four hours to our final stop for the day, Shegar (elevation 4050m). For the most part the drive was uneventful except for about 5 km of unpaved road. This section of road was at the top of a mountain pass and if felt like our driver was going 100 mph. There was no shoulder and at times the drop to the ravine far, far, below seemed much too close. I honestly thought there was a good chance that we could go over the cliff at anytime. Rainbow and Vivek were much braver and were focused on being the first to glimpse Mt. Everest. Shortly after making it through the treacherous bit of road, we had our first glimpse of the snow-capped Himalayas.

The breaking point..............

Our travel itinerary says, "Note: The meal, accommodation and road are not so good today." When we arrived in Shegar, we were able to confirm this statement to be partially true. The hotel room was not equipped with running water or electricity for most of the day. For Rainbow, this meant no hot shower. For Vivek, this meant a squat toilet in the middle of the night. Vivek's frustration with this reality was quite humorous to me, and I do suggest you ask him about it if you get a chance. We did have an active well just outside our hotel room (if you can call it a hotel).

After a very late lunch at the Muslim restaurant, Vivek, Lhasing, and I played a game of hearts. Lhasing was a very quick learner and did very well. The first time we passed cards to other players, he passed some of his best cards. I think it is a reflection of how Tibetans think. We let him know that he should definitely play to win and he had no trouble adapting to that motto.

Vivek and I had dinner in the hotel restaurant since Rainbow was still resting in her room and trying to figure out how she would survive without hot water. Rainbow did rally and I returned to the restaurant to keep her company while she ate. We met a very interesting traveler, Stephen Carver, who works both as radio journalist for the BBC and tour guide. He has been working on a radio program about Yetis which I hope to find on the Internet when we return.

Sound of the night: multi-lingual chatter of guides and travelers and a grumpy Vivek searching for the toilet.

Monday morning we were up and ready to head to Mt. Everest or Qomolangma as the locals call it. The entrance to the park was a short drive from Shegar. We had to stop at a Chinese military checkpoint and provide the very young guard with all of our travel documents. They took a written record of Tongue and Lhasing's information, but only reviewed our passports and visas.

As turned into the national park we still could not see Mt. Everest. There are so many other mountains around that the view of the tallest mountain in the world is easily obscured. We drove along bumpy dirt roads until we reach the top of a mountain pass, and it was here that we obtained our first good view of Mt. Everest. This was my second time seeing Mt. Everest. (The first time was with my mom on a Buddha Air plane flight around the summit.) We were very lucky to have a clear view of the mountain. Vivek filmed me dancing at the top and a couple of the local Tibetans girls came and joined me. We also hung a string of prayer flags here.

When we returned to the car, Lhasing informed us that we had just traveled up to the top of the mountain by way of 108 curves in the road. Just as I was wondering how many curves we would have to take down the mountain, our driver, without explanation, turned sharply left and started to drive straight down the mountain. This would be one of many off-roading experiences. I think we were all a little shocked, but ultimately thankful that we got down the mountain in a much more direct way. In order to return to the road, the car had to make it down a 45 degree incline. We all got out of the car and let the driver do this last bit on his own.

We drove another two hours through very scenic valleys. There were many small towns and a few were cultivating barley, which added an unusual touch of greenery to the normally dry, brown landscape. We encountered many people using horse drawn carts to transport items along the road. For most of the drive, we could not see Mt. Everest.

We finally arrived at Rhongbuk Monastery (elevation 4980m), which would be our "base camp" for our visit to Mt. Everest. We had a perfect view of the mountain, but were hungry, so we headed straight for the only restaurant to devour a heaping bowl of noodles. Once our stomachs were filled, we were ready to take the "90 minute" walk into Everest base camp. Although vehicles can take you part of the way, I was determined to add a small trek to this trip. Unfortunately, our guidebook was slightly off on the estimated time to complete the trek. The walk in took us approximately three hours. In order to make the trip faster, Vivek and I moved off the road and took a more direct path through the rocky terrain. Rainbow probably made the best choice and hired a horse drawn cart to carry her up the last portion of the trail. At the midway point we encountered a row of tents offering a place to sleep or a hot meal. Automobiles were not allowed past the midway point.

We were quite excited to finally arrive at Base Camp (elevation 5,200m). Unfortunately, the Chinese government requires visitors to pay $100 USD per person for anyone who would like to walk the final 100 meters to the official camp of the climbers. We could see the bright yellow tents not far from where we stood, but it was disappointing not to be able to walk the final 100 meters without paying the fee. Instead, we decided to spend our time hanging our string of prayer flags, on which we had written the names of many family members and friends. Our guide recommended placing them in a location that received a lot of wind, so that our prayers could be blown over and over again.

Determined to make the trek complete, Vivek, Lhasing and I decided to walk back to the monastery. Rainbow took her horse drawn cart to the mid-point where she joined us for the last bit of the walk. The return trip was shorter as much of it was downhill, but by the end of the walk, my feet were burning. I was in quite a bit of pain.

Upon returning to our humble quarters at the monastery, we piled into our small room with three beds. Vivek had secured us a room with a view of Mt. Everest. He wants me to write that they were "amazing" views and indeed they were, but the room was also next to some locals' campsite and the moment we arrived, they were peering in our window. We opened up our sleeping bags, and due to a very bad headache, I hopped right in. I was definitely feeling the effects of the altitude sickness. My headache was similar to a migraine, but even the back of my neck hurt. Rainbow and Vivek, were much stronger than I on this account. And, they both seemed to be doing OK with the fact that we did not have running water or toilets. Vivek took very good care of me that night, escorting me out when I felt sick or needed to go to the bathroom. He also brought me Jasmine tea to sip in hopes of calming my turbulent stomach.

Sound of the night: my restless thoughts as my headed pounded from the lack of oxygen.

This morning we woke early to watch the sun rise over Mt. Everest. The sky was crystal clear and we had a picturesque view of the mountain peak. Vivek and I watched as the morning sky slowly turned a pale shade of pink. It was a peaceful morning and I enjoyed spending the early morning hour with my husband. After a Tibetan "pancake" breakfast we were packed back in the Toyota Land Cruiser and headed back to Shigatse. This was going to be a long day of driving. For the first three hours of the trip, my main focus was on the road. I was still not 100% and it took most of my concentration to keep from getting car sick. I was relieved when we finally exited the park and hit paved roads again. We stopped in Shegar for lunch and I had a bowl of vegetable soup for lunch. I also had my first cup of coffee in hopes of getting my intestines back to work again. The noodles and momos have not been too good for my digestion.

We spent another four hours in the car driving back to Shigatse. As luck would have it, the hotel where we were supposed to stay was fully booked. (I can't imagine how our why), but this meant that we had to go to an alternative hotel. Rainbow has dubbed it the Tibetan Westin. We were so thankful to have hot water, a clean bed, and free Internet access! After a long hot shower, we ventured back to the same Chinese restaurant that we ate at the last time we were in town. We had a heaping serving of Chinese spinach, BBQ pork ribs, spicy tofu, and vegetable rice. We took Lhasing along with us and he and Vivek had not problem finishing off all of the dishes. I've decided to try some Chinese medicine to encourage my intestines to get working again, because the coffee didn't help as much as it should have!

We are off to Gyantes tomorrow. No more altitude sickness to worry about.

Sound of the night: The movie King Arthur and eventually silence.