Day 17 - Tingri



Today we are driving across the Tibetan plateau to Tingri which is the turn off for Everest - as established by the Mallory (and others) expeditions of the early 1920s. Tingri was described as 'a place of unimaginable filth, with people wile in their habits. They are indescribably dirty and beyond words ignorant and superstitions'. It will be interesting to see if it has changed!

 

First up is a bit more shopping in a remarkably chilly Nylam - in the early morning it is pretty much only us and some animals on the street - before we set off for Tingri.

 

Wrapped up for the morning chill in Nylam!

Cows wander about in the street

Some dogs and another cow!

 

As we drive across Tibet, we are struck by the comparison to Nepal. Nepal is a terribly poor country with most people living in very poor and unhealthy conditions. It seems that earlier in this century, according to the early Everest literature, Tibet was even worse. In much the same way as the famous 'What have the Romans ever done for us sketch', the investment of Chinese money into the infrastructure is impressive. We see remains of old yak dung buildings and, down the road, new brick ones with concrete roads, heating, electricity and even solar powered lighting! The Chinese, in a few decades, have done far more for the average Tibetan than the old religious orders did for them in centuries. Our logistics in Tibet are being organised by the Chinese / Tibetan Mountaineering Associations (CTMA) so we don't have the normal access to a local guide to discuss such things with and most Tibetans speak no English which is a shame as we can't get an idea of a possibly alternative view of Chinese rule here. 

One of the world famous bike rides was Lhasa to Kathmandu - a hugely long and rocky road at significant altitude and dealing with the fierce plateau winds. Unfortunately, the Chinese have now tarmacked the whole route which, whilst great for everyone who needs to drive it and the people who live there, somewhat lessens the appeal of such a notoriously tough ride.  

 

 

New village (not made of yak dung!) - with power and solar lighting

Another new village

 

 After a while, we get to the high pass that marks the edge of the Himalayas and from which the road leads down into the Tibetan plateau. As everywhere in this part of the world it is covered with prayer flags and there are a few cows and a mangy dog hanging about. It is incredibly windy up here so we don't stop for long but there is an excellent view from here as well.

 

Getting out of the minibus into the wind!

 

High pass, prayer flags and Himalayas in the background

 

Fantastic view back towards Nepal

 

Mountains, prayer flags, cows and a mongrel. Tibet!

 

The Tibetan plateau - wide and flat so presumably sculpted by glaciers



Broad expanse of the Tibetan plateau

After a few more hours we get to the notorious Tingri to find that it has been cleaned up a lot. It is pretty much a one street concrete town with shops, hotels and restaurants. When the strong sun isn't shining, it is pretty chilly and whilst the cows are the same, the mongrels here have a pretty bad reputation for aggressiveness to we need to wear our boots and or carry a walking pole as protection - there are too many stories of climbs being aborted for bites and rabies to take a risk here! There are a huge range of vehicles from very basic tractors, lorries heading out to Nepal and pretty swanky Land Cruisers for the Western and Chinese tourists.

Tingri

Tingri

The obligatory cow for any photo of a Tibetan village or town

The parking lot for our hotel - standard great scenery in the background

Day 16 - Tibetan Border 2

After a tricky night we are assembled at about 08:30 to head to the border. Our escort seems pretty efficient and the border itself is pretty quiet so we get through fairly easily and quickly - although it can't be said to live up to its name; the Friendship Bridge. 

Unloading the van

Not happy about something!

Heading up to the border

Heading up to the border

Friendship bridge from the Tibetan side - no photography allowed anywhere near it and we aren't going to risk our cameras with Everest round the corner and no way to replace them!

Loading our trucks on the Tibetan side

Once through we are reunited with our main bags and all the rest of the group gear which is being loaded onto a lorry (photo). We head into the small border town, Zangmu, on the Tibetan side for some tea and an early lunch whilst various bits of paperwork are completed. The infrastructure is so much more advanced than on the Nepalese side - amazing what difference there can be by being born on one side of a valley than the other!

After a rather good lunch (Chinese food!) we set off for a place called Naylam where we will probably stay for the night, buy final things for camp (pillow, local SIM card etc). Then off to Tingri to buy fresh food before the final run in to BC.
 

Supper in a really rather chilly Nylam

Getting a Sim proves a real challenge as the options are rather strange for foreigners and the chap in the China Mobile shop speaks no English. I really have no idea quite what I have got when I leave the shop - nor more worryingly how long it lasts for; expiry seems to be a real but unclear issue! Later on it turns out that he has given me an incorrect SIM card for my iPhone. Luckily the shop is still open so I go to exchange it but apparently it was my fault and I have to use my last remaining yuan to buy a new one.
 

Day 15 - Tibetan Border

04:30 comes round all too soon and we start to get ourselves together. Obviously things don't go as planned - there is no hot water for a shower and then the electricity in the hotel fails which makes finalising packing and getting our bags downstairs rather tricky!

Still we are all assembled for 5am but unsurprisingly there is no sign of the bus. This trundles in after about 15 mins and after packing and some other faffing we finally head off at 05:30. We get to watch another 'excellent' movie, Ghost Rider, and sleep a little until the road becomes too poor for either but get to the final town before the border at about 10am. Unfortunately it turns out that the border has a big backlog at the moment and so we need to wait there until our fixer and his man on the other side can get them ready for us. This doesn't happen speedily and it soon becomes apparent that we aren't likely to be going anywhere today so get some lunch and then some rooms to rest in.

Later we are told that we aren't moving today and so settle in for the rest of the day. I am feeling pretty ropey still - the twisty, bumpy road seems to have reignited my stomach problems and spend the rest of the day in bed. We are probably leaving tomorrow at 10am so the morning should not be rushed either.

Day 14 - Kathmandu

Next morning we do a bit more shopping for last minute items and to replace those that got 'borrowed' or broken in the past couple of weeks. The afternoon is organising our gear, picking up laundry, a steak supper and then early bed as we are heading for the border tomorrow at 5am!

Day 13 - Back to Kathmandu

Up early to finish the walk back to the road head which we manage by about 10am and then start back to Kathmandu at about 11am.

The team setting off for the last time on this section of the expedition

Following the river back down the valley

Last time over one of these bridges

The roads are full and there are quite a few sets of roadworks (some even have people working on them!) so it is a long, bumpy and dusty journey getting in at about 18:30.

I am feeling pretty rotten again having felt travel sick for much of the journey and just go to bed when we get there. The others head out for a meal which (I learn when Gus stumbles in at 5am!) turns into an all singing and dancing night out.

Day 12 - Down to Bamboo (2,000m)

Today we are going to trek pretty much all the way back to the road head leaving only an hour or two to finish off tomorrow before driving back to Kathmandu. The weather is great and we make good time. I am in fact coming down at about the same speed as I went up. Quite a bit of the descent is steep and covered in loose gravel which makes for prime slipping terrain so I am being very cautious.

Team getting ready for another day on the trail

 

 

Passing through the high altitude villages

Back over the suspension bridges

Back down to tree level

The cascading river near Bamboo



A (well earned) beer at sunset

A stomach bug seems to have been doing the rounds in the group but I seem to have avoided it so far however as the afternoon wears on I am starting to feel the tell-tale strains - we'll have to see where this one goes.

We get to our destination 'Bamboo' which is a small group of teahouses perched on a plateau next to the river which has a great view down the river. We only have an hour or so tomorrow and as a reward for the past few days have a beer as the sun sets - it is all very pleasant but this seems to be the final straw for me and soon I have a fever and an acrobatic stomach and so head for an early bed. I don't have any clean clothes left so decide to take a rather large dose of Imodium to get me through the night.

Day 11 - Back to the Valley

Next morning we wake to blue skies and sunshine which helps somewhat to deal with the disappointment of not being able to make a summit bid. A huge amount of snow has fallen over night and this is bound to make the descent tricky as a few inches of soft, wet snow mask what is underneath and is also slippery in its own right.

This leads to a fairly ungainly descent by everyone - porters and Sherpas included. Being a bit heavier than the rest I struggle more than the others as I continue to break through the thin crust of snow / ice. This comes to a head on a steep section when I take a small ice shelf together with the rocks in it with me and inland awkwardly on my right foot which then folds pitching me headfirst down the slope. I don't go far as the soft snow cushions my fall but I have twisted and hurt my ankle pretty badly. Once we get back to Kathmandu there are a few rest days before we start doing much on Everest but we are at 4,500m and it is a long way down so a long way over which I need to protect my ankle.

The next couple of hours are pretty fraught as the going remains very slippery and I descend very slowly, doing everything possible to avoid a big slip leading to a wrench on my ankle which could be pretty terminal for my summit chances this year. But eventually I make it back to Kanjin Gumpa where we decide to rest for the remainder of the day before heading back down the valley over the next couple of days.

I have also (and perhaps rather less unsurprisingly that my ankle injury) managed to sunburn my lower lip which means that soon it will be a bit scabby and rather unattractive. I thought I had been being careful with the sun up in the mountain but the sun has been so strong there that it was obviously not enough - not exactly what you need just before some R&R in Kathmandu!