I've been out of access for most of this epic adventure from Lhasa to the Nepal border. Here's the abridged version.
Day 1 An intrepid foursome of Jim the Brummie, Rochelle the Kiwi, Shoen the Japanese girl and myself set off once our guide turned up hours late. Off we went destined for Gyantse, and monastery after monastery after monastery. Fun but nothing sensational.
Day 2 We arrived in Shigatse, following yet another monastic stop-off, to discover that our permits would take much longer to process than expected. Damn. Ended up staying the night, although that did spare us from another monastery in Sakya. Don't get me wrong I'm totally up for the culture, but it's easy to get out-monastried...
Day 3 Permits in hand and Phil's soon to expire visa in mind we set off for Everest Base Camp a day in advance. What a place! Lots of pointy white mountains were visible, but shy Mount Everest kept herself well and truly hidden behind the clouds until the last minute. From Base Camp the view was stunning, as were the stars that night. We slept in a hut under several blankets, warmed by a belly full of noodles.
Day 4 Our intrepid crew rose at the ungodly hour of 5:30 and made the walk through utter darkness to catch sunrise at the world's highest peak. Oddly enough there was nobody else there and she was all ours. Just amazing, words can't do it justice, etc etc, just have a look at the pictures - if I'm ever able to upload them...
Day 5 Left EBC along a bumpy road, to Tingri, then Nyalam, and this is where the story starts. Due to landslides or a controlled explosion or god-knows-what the road to the Nepal border was closed. It would have to be open tomorrow or I would overstay my visa... Anyway, this was the final day of our 5-day trip...wasn't it?
Day 6 Visa deadline day, and still the road was closed. Fuck. A group of Tibetans and Koreans had decided to hike over the mountain, avoiding the roadblock, and walking to the border in the coolest way imaginable. 'Ave some of that, thought Jim and I. Dickheads. After the arseholes supposedly leading the expedition had got us lost (again) and we had nearly died countless times by sliding down rocky streams into 500 metre ravines, 8 hours or so had passed. Not only was that 7 hours longer than it was supposed to take, we were forced to turn back and ended up right where we started after the only sane members of the group decided that sliding down a rope onto the road and certain death was probab;y not the best course to take. So we trudged back up the long and all-too familiar road, were taken in by a group of Tibetans, and driven back to don't-ever-go-there Nyalam for another night.
Day 7 Showered for the first time in a long time, washed clothes, and heard that finally the road was open. Rushed by helpful but annoying Tibetan woman into the jeep, we slowly, slowly edged our way to Zhangmu and the Nepal border, after it had closed, and bed.
Day 8 Now 2 days over my visa, we went to the Police Station and then customs, to say hey, the road has been closed for ages, nobody knows what the hell's going on and it's not my fault. No problems!! Back to the hotel, loading bags into the truck organised by Tibetan woman, we cruised through customs into the no-man's land between China and Nepal, and breathed a sigh of relief. How much to Kathmandu? 1500 RUPEES??? EACH??? FUCK THAT FOR A LARK! Kind but annoying Tibetan woman had apparently thought that in return for her help we would all like to pay about 5 times over the odds to get to Kathmandu, to pay for a removals truck to carry HER shit, which doubtless we would have to unload at HER place. No thanks, love. Bags were unloaded, curses were spat, and finally we were taken for a sane price to Nepal immigration. From that surprisingly cheery place we took a car through some of the most stunning scenery imaginable to the chaotic fun of Kathmandu, a decent hotel, and the first meal of the day at 4:30pm. Spices, meat with no bones, and no more @&$#ing noodles. This place is fantastic.
