Out of Nepal and into Tibet
Posted by Karen on September 5th 2006
Written on the 2006 London to Sydney expedition
So far…
Our last few days were spent in Nepal, up near the Tibet/Nepal border, waiting to cross through. We were finally allowed to proceed up to the Friendship bridge (Border) where we had to wait the entire day. Last thing, as we were preparing to camp on the bridge (we had got this far and we weren’t moving)! They allowed us through to the other side, where they then locked our vehicles in their compound, took our passports off us and made us wait in a horrible little two-bit town, with a filthy, smelly, expensive hotel to stay in, for a total of 4 days, while our Chinese guide (compulsory to have when travelling through China on private vehicles) had a ‘paper war’ with them. FINALLY!!!!! We were allowed to go through, very begrudgingly, when they clearly couldn’t find any other ’so called’ necessary ‘permits’ for us to obtain.
Tibet has been amazing. The views are some of the best in the world. We crossed over a plateau and then proceeded onto Mt Everest Base Camp, The North Face side. We took the four-wheeled drive access road (what’s the point in having a 4 wheel drive if you don’t use it)! And it was incredible. The views and surroundings were unlike anything we had ever seen, miles and miles, in every direction, of the most beautiful scenery imaginable, unique to this area.
Physically it has been the toughest part of our journey so far, here is where we got into real ‘Overlanding’ The truck was bogged down a few times and it took us hours and hours of digging and sand matting to get it out.
We then had to sand-mat hours through areas of impassable terrain, dragging sand mats thick with mud, gathering a million rocks (well it felt like it)! And digging constantly. All in all, it only took a couple of days to get through, but the thing that made it most difficult was the fact that it was all done at an altitude of over 5000 meters!
Everything is physically harder to do at this altitude, simply breathing and moving about can be difficult for most people, let alone digging a 18 ton truck out of the mud for two days straight. Most people were fine (although it was very difficult to sleep at night and we all had at least a bit of a headache) but a few suffered from altitude sickness, nothing serious, but it was very unpleasant for them.
The longer we spent at the height and the more physical exercise we did (not that we had a lot of choice in the matter)! the more acclimatised we all became, so it got easier for most people.
Driving to the last village at the foot of Mt Everest, no vehicles were allowed past this point, so it was either walking the last two hours or taking a pony and trap to Base Camp. The views were great and being that close to the highest mountain on earth was a wonderful experience.
That night we bush camped at 4900m half way up a pass as it got to late to carry on. The next morning we were completely blown away by the views we were treated to. We had inadvertently camped at a place with the some of the most spectacular views in the world. All of Mt Everest was on show in it’s full glory, bathed in the morning sun, and as if that wasn’t enough, the Himalayan Mountain Range was in complete view as far as the eye could see! It was simply incredible, and a perfect end to a few very challenging but very satisfying days.
Currently on route to Lhasa, were we can get out of the high altitude for a while and relax.
Until next time…
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