Guesthouse lounge
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
With no place to go to and no heat in our rooms, we hide in the guesthouse lounge/restaurant where it was smoky and filled with locals.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Tibetan Motel
Tibetan Motel
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Tingri was another dusty windswept town, at least in the afternoon. We didn't have showers again (no hot water as it was the end of the high season). We did go for dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant for our last meal. When I say "nice", I mean, it had windows and a door, and we were in the sunlight. It was still pretty dusty. It was a short drive to Tingri, only four hours.
Rongphu Monastery's Guesthouse
Rongphu Monastery's Guesthouse
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
This is the crappy guesthouse where we stayed. The pink building in the back is a government-run hotel, but no showers or hot water or heating and cost 200 RMB a night!
Rongphu Monastery
Rongphu Monastery
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
This is the monastery 7 km north of the base camp. Everest is a pilgrimage site for Tibetan Buddhists and this is where they come.
Deserted base camp
Deserted base camp
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
You can see where the footprints of the tents once were a few months ago. The building on the right is an outhouse. There are three or four of these around the basecamp (about three or football fields in size).
New height for Qomolangma
New height for Qomolangma
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
The actual height of Everest has been debated. In 1954 it was measured to be 8848 m (29,028 ft) and then 8850 m (29,035 ft) in 1999, but the Chinese remeasured it again this past summer to be 8844.43 m.
8 am hike to Everest Base Camp
8 am hike to Everest Base Camp
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Seven kilometers away and 200 meters higher, it took us almost three hours to hike to EBC from Rongphu Monastery in the freezing cold. The sunlight didn't hit the valley until almost two hours later.
Freezing morning
Freezing morning
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
At 5000-m, breathing isn't too easy. Some of us had a tough night resting and were glad when 0700 came. It was a chilly minus 7 C in the room. We quickly bundled up and set out to hike to Everest Base Camp (EBC).
The restaurant at the monastery
The restaurant at the monastery
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Smoky and poorly lit, it was the warmest place miles 'round.
Seeking warmth in the restaurant
Seeking warmth in the restaurant
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
The restaurant this "guesthouse" sucked. You could have fried rice with egg for 10 RMB or noodle soup for 10 RMB. For an extra 5 RMB you could have a few bits of Chinese cabbage. We brought together our meager supplies we had been carrying. Annabel and Simon had garlic and sardines from Russia, peanuts, and we had some crackers, and fermented soybean paste. I think the rest of the travellers looked at us with envy. In the evening, a bunch of Tibetans showed up look at us enviously. I think we were sitting in their sleeping room. No heating for the rest of us staying in the 40 RMB a bed dorms. Brrr!!
A closer look as we approach Rongphu Monastery
A closer look as we approach Rongphu Monastery
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Our third day brought us to Rongphu Monastery in the national park and 7 km from EBC. There were no other accommodations here other than the monastery's sad excuse for a guesthouse. During the climbing season you can stay in tents at the base camp for 25 RMB. Now that the tents are gone, the prices at the monastery have risen to 40 RMB a bed. Ouch! These Tibetans were rolling in the dough from the tourists, but the toilets were in shambles. Oh, but what a sight to behold through the windows!
Me and the Mountain
Me and the Mountain
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Breathing fine at 5200 meters, but with cold face and fingers! This was the same elevation as Everest Base Camp!
Mt. Everest (8843-m)
Mt. Everest (8843-m)
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
The majestic peak is windtorn in the afternoons.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
The Anglo-American-Israeli Team
The Anglo-American-Israeli Team
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
From left to right: Roei ("One yuan, one yuan!") from Israel, Emily, me, Simon, and Annabel (from the UK). We were secretly in competition with the Dutch-Austrian team in a newer Landcruiser who beat us everywhere because their driver was older, and our driver didn't want to pass him. We beat them to Kathmandu, though, and for half the price. Ha!
Crossing the pass
Crossing the pass
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Passes are strewn with prayer flags. This one was no different. Whenever we passed a set of these, our driver made a sound like, "Shoo-shoo-shoo..."
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