The road to Everest Base Camp (EBC) definitely wasn't easy. We left Lhasa on Wednesday morning, and it wasn't until late afternoon on Saturday that we arrived at EBC. We were taking the southern route through the country, and our journey was hampered by constant stops to register at police checkpoints where they would check the permits for our guide and driver and our passports. God forbid that Tibetans be free to travel within their own country.
We drove all day and spent our nights in increasingly run-down hotel/ hostels in Gyantse, Shigatse and Shegar, and we learned quickly to stop expecting toilet paper or heaters or bathtubs/sinks that didn't leak gallons of water. The villages were usually tiny and looked abandoned. It's entirely possible that there were more stray dogs than people.
Since this is Tibet, we visited several temples along the way, such as the Palchoi Temple, famous for its Kumbum Stupa.
Off in the distance, we could also see the famous Gyantse fort.
We also checked out Tashilumpo Monastery, but my guidebook warned that some of the resident monks were stooges for the Chinese government and we should watch what we say. We resorted to speaking pig-latin and gibberish to each other to vent - that part was actually pretty fun. =)
Our last temple of the trip was Sakya Monastery, which is different in that it is painted black to symbolize power. There were more pilgrims than tourists for once, but we couldn't look around much as the monks were in a hurry to close up shop so they could eat lunch. I guess meditating makes you hungry.
The food we ate along the way took some getting used to, and some of us never did. B took to the yak and ordered yak sizzlers at every meal. Apparently, once you go yak, you never go back. I subsisted wholly on the cup o'noodles that I had stockpiled from the supermarket in Lhasa, and N ate just plain rice for every meal. The food hygiene definitely wasn't the best, and quite a few of the restaurants we went to had cats randomly roaming around in them.
Tibet isn't the best place to be beset by stomach troubles as the "bathrooms" leave a lot to be desired. It usually consisted of a few flimsy planks set over a pit, and I think the lowest point was when you looked down and could see stray dogs sniffing around the pile of poo. For reals. The better alternative is to go in the wild, and you'll probably have a better chance at privacy in the open air than in the communal bathrooms. And I learned never to go anywhere without my trusty roll of tp and hand sanitizer.
N was hit pretty hard by altitude sickness, along with pretty much everyone else we met, and we popped into a Chinese medical clinic to stock up on rhodiola extract (cures anorexia and internet addiction as well as altitude sickness, go figure) and cans of oxygen. I also picked up some ginger extract to snort since I had picked up a pretty bad cold in Lhasa that I just couldn't shake. Btw, that ginger extract was amazing at clearing up sinuses!
After battling the increasing cold, altitude, and tumultuous digestive tracts, we finally caught our first glimpse of Everest. We stopped for quick photo ops, and I also got to chase some goats in an attempt to stretch my legs and acclimate to the change in elevation.
It was another four hours and 70 km of off-roading before we actually reached EBC. Along the way, our car was requisitioned at one of the police checkpoints to deliver bags of rice to the officers at base camp. Not like we offered, but I got the feeling we also didn't have much of a choice.
With rice in tow, we finally arrived at our yak tent hotel (yup, you read that right), and our view of Everest made it all worth it.
We drove all day and spent our nights in increasingly run-down hotel/ hostels in Gyantse, Shigatse and Shegar, and we learned quickly to stop expecting toilet paper or heaters or bathtubs/sinks that didn't leak gallons of water. The villages were usually tiny and looked abandoned. It's entirely possible that there were more stray dogs than people.
Since this is Tibet, we visited several temples along the way, such as the Palchoi Temple, famous for its Kumbum Stupa.
Off in the distance, we could also see the famous Gyantse fort.
We also checked out Tashilumpo Monastery, but my guidebook warned that some of the resident monks were stooges for the Chinese government and we should watch what we say. We resorted to speaking pig-latin and gibberish to each other to vent - that part was actually pretty fun. =)
Our last temple of the trip was Sakya Monastery, which is different in that it is painted black to symbolize power. There were more pilgrims than tourists for once, but we couldn't look around much as the monks were in a hurry to close up shop so they could eat lunch. I guess meditating makes you hungry.
The food we ate along the way took some getting used to, and some of us never did. B took to the yak and ordered yak sizzlers at every meal. Apparently, once you go yak, you never go back. I subsisted wholly on the cup o'noodles that I had stockpiled from the supermarket in Lhasa, and N ate just plain rice for every meal. The food hygiene definitely wasn't the best, and quite a few of the restaurants we went to had cats randomly roaming around in them.
Tibet isn't the best place to be beset by stomach troubles as the "bathrooms" leave a lot to be desired. It usually consisted of a few flimsy planks set over a pit, and I think the lowest point was when you looked down and could see stray dogs sniffing around the pile of poo. For reals. The better alternative is to go in the wild, and you'll probably have a better chance at privacy in the open air than in the communal bathrooms. And I learned never to go anywhere without my trusty roll of tp and hand sanitizer.
N was hit pretty hard by altitude sickness, along with pretty much everyone else we met, and we popped into a Chinese medical clinic to stock up on rhodiola extract (cures anorexia and internet addiction as well as altitude sickness, go figure) and cans of oxygen. I also picked up some ginger extract to snort since I had picked up a pretty bad cold in Lhasa that I just couldn't shake. Btw, that ginger extract was amazing at clearing up sinuses!
After battling the increasing cold, altitude, and tumultuous digestive tracts, we finally caught our first glimpse of Everest. We stopped for quick photo ops, and I also got to chase some goats in an attempt to stretch my legs and acclimate to the change in elevation.
It was another four hours and 70 km of off-roading before we actually reached EBC. Along the way, our car was requisitioned at one of the police checkpoints to deliver bags of rice to the officers at base camp. Not like we offered, but I got the feeling we also didn't have much of a choice.
With rice in tow, we finally arrived at our yak tent hotel (yup, you read that right), and our view of Everest made it all worth it.
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