Leaving Tibet.
I'm in Zhangmu, the town on the Tibet side of the border with Nepal. Turns out I was unable to find any Internet access for the whole five days of my trip from Lhasa so I've been unable to post since I left. Rather than my usual multi-post catchup I'm doing the whole thing in one big post. There are 38 pictures in this monster and it was tough whittling it down that far so bear with me.
Day I: A Lake, Some Mountains, And Some Mud.
The first day was a long drive from Lhasa to Gyantse. The highlight was Yamdrak Tso, a large lake (shaped something like a scorpion) midway between Lhasa and Gyantse.
Late in the day our driver managed to get the Land cruiser stuck trying to cross a river while detouring around some construction. It took almost 3 hours to get the car unstuck of which the first 2 were mostly random flailing about from the driver and others who came to watch/help.
Day 2: Several Monasteries And A Fort
We had several hours to look around Gyantse on the morning of the second day before leaving for Shigatse. This turned out not to be enough time to see everything though so I didn't have a chance to explore everything I would have liked to see.
After leaving Gyantse it was only a few hours drive to Shigatse. The scenery was probably the plainest of any day on the drive. We arrived with plenty of time to explore the Tashilhunpo monastery, although Shigatse was another town that could have used another solid day of exploring.
Day 3: Sakye Monastery, And A Big Bump On The Horizon
The main stop on day three involved a detour to see Sakye monastery. Sakye was interesting and quite different from other monasteries I'd visited in Tibet as it is built like a fort and on flat ground rather than spread along the side or top of a ridge.
After Sakye we countinued on the Shegar. On the way we caught our first glimpse of Everest. Most pictures I've seen of Everest are from the Nepal side where it is almost lost in other big mountains so I was quite surpried at how it loomed over everthing else from the Tibet side.
Day 4: The Granddaddy Of All Rocks.
The fourth day revolved around the highlight of the whole trip, Qomalangma (or Everest to you and me). In the morning we drove up to Rongphu monastery where we were to spend the night a few miles below Everest base camp. The afternoon was a long hike up to EBC and back to Rongphu monastery (much better than driving, although we did catch a lift part of the way up). Everest has been on my list of things to see for longer than I can remember and I was impressed (awed, overwhelmed) to say the least. To cap off the day a few of us sat outside and froze while watching the sunlight slowly creep up the peak.
Day 5: Falling Off The Roof Of The World
Yesteray we got up early and left Rongphu at 4950 meters for the drive down to the Zhangmu at 2300 meters on the Nepal border. The whole day was simply spectacular as we had to drive right through the Himalaya range to get to the border and were in view of 7 and 8 thousand meter peaks the whole way. The end of the day was spent driving down the side of a stunning valley as we left the Tibetan plateau. Unfortunately much of this last part was in the dark due to construction and slow trucks (we will not speak of the traffic jam coming into Zhangmu last night).
The rest of my group left for Nepal this morning but I decided to stay in Zhangmu for an extra day just to have one last day in Tibet (although Zhangmu feels nothing like the rest of Tibet - there are tall green things growing here for one thing).
Tomorrow morning I'm off to Nepal so my next post will be from Khathmandu. I'll try to do a wrap-up post on Tibet, hopefully with a few HDRs if any of them come out, when I get there.
Day I: A Lake, Some Mountains, And Some Mud.
The first day was a long drive from Lhasa to Gyantse. The highlight was Yamdrak Tso, a large lake (shaped something like a scorpion) midway between Lhasa and Gyantse.
Late in the day our driver managed to get the Land cruiser stuck trying to cross a river while detouring around some construction. It took almost 3 hours to get the car unstuck of which the first 2 were mostly random flailing about from the driver and others who came to watch/help.
Day 2: Several Monasteries And A Fort
We had several hours to look around Gyantse on the morning of the second day before leaving for Shigatse. This turned out not to be enough time to see everything though so I didn't have a chance to explore everything I would have liked to see.
After leaving Gyantse it was only a few hours drive to Shigatse. The scenery was probably the plainest of any day on the drive. We arrived with plenty of time to explore the Tashilhunpo monastery, although Shigatse was another town that could have used another solid day of exploring.
Day 3: Sakye Monastery, And A Big Bump On The Horizon
The main stop on day three involved a detour to see Sakye monastery. Sakye was interesting and quite different from other monasteries I'd visited in Tibet as it is built like a fort and on flat ground rather than spread along the side or top of a ridge.
After Sakye we countinued on the Shegar. On the way we caught our first glimpse of Everest. Most pictures I've seen of Everest are from the Nepal side where it is almost lost in other big mountains so I was quite surpried at how it loomed over everthing else from the Tibet side.
Day 4: The Granddaddy Of All Rocks.
The fourth day revolved around the highlight of the whole trip, Qomalangma (or Everest to you and me). In the morning we drove up to Rongphu monastery where we were to spend the night a few miles below Everest base camp. The afternoon was a long hike up to EBC and back to Rongphu monastery (much better than driving, although we did catch a lift part of the way up). Everest has been on my list of things to see for longer than I can remember and I was impressed (awed, overwhelmed) to say the least. To cap off the day a few of us sat outside and froze while watching the sunlight slowly creep up the peak.
Day 5: Falling Off The Roof Of The World
Yesteray we got up early and left Rongphu at 4950 meters for the drive down to the Zhangmu at 2300 meters on the Nepal border. The whole day was simply spectacular as we had to drive right through the Himalaya range to get to the border and were in view of 7 and 8 thousand meter peaks the whole way. The end of the day was spent driving down the side of a stunning valley as we left the Tibetan plateau. Unfortunately much of this last part was in the dark due to construction and slow trucks (we will not speak of the traffic jam coming into Zhangmu last night).
The rest of my group left for Nepal this morning but I decided to stay in Zhangmu for an extra day just to have one last day in Tibet (although Zhangmu feels nothing like the rest of Tibet - there are tall green things growing here for one thing).
Tomorrow morning I'm off to Nepal so my next post will be from Khathmandu. I'll try to do a wrap-up post on Tibet, hopefully with a few HDRs if any of them come out, when I get there.
