Everest

 Everest

We left our hotel in Shigatse. I was sorry to leave. It was a standard building from the outside but its internal decorations made it a gem. The ceilings were traditional patterns in red, gold and blue. The wall decorations were intricate traditional patterns and motifs picked out in reds and golds. The furniture had smilar patterns with thick lacquer over the top. The carpets were deep weave traditional patterns. Everything reeked of opulence. 

The entrance to the hotel.

We left the urban sprawl and were soon in the countryside.Along the sides of many of the roads in Tibet were ribbons of trees.

They were planted in regular rows and evenly spaced. They were of different ages and there were occasional gaps in the planting as if some of the saplings planted hadn't survived.

They were everywhere.

And on stoney ground or where there was insufficient water for agriculture, there were whole forests of saplings. I asked our guide who planted them and why. The government had planted them to provide shade. It helped to protect the land from fierce winter winds especially where a crop had been harvested and the soil was bare. The trees helped to soak up some of the rainfall and act like a sponge to prevent excessive rainfall causing floods. It would evetually provide a valueable timber crop.

There seemed to be many noble reasons but the one I most expected was omitted. There was no mention of carbon capture or carbon offset.

The vallet bottoms were largelt flat and turnd over to agriculture. The country is arid but there is sufficient rainfall to provide irrigation water. Where there is plenty of water, the fields are green. The altitude is too high for wheat to grow but the major crops grown are barley and rapeseed.

We were following the G318. It starts in Shanghai and runs west for over 5,400 kilometres to Zhangmu on the border with Nepal. Adverse weather conditions are common including ice and snow for weeks. One notable section is the Sidu River Bridge due to its vertical clearance, the highest in the world when completed in 2009. It is a 1,222 metres long suspension bridge with a clearance of 496 metres. The section from Lhasa to Zhangmu, is called the Friendship Highway. The highest section is at 5,248 metres above sea level.

We were following the road alongside a river into the mountains. At a small village in the mountains is a popular stopping point. This is the point where the road tips over the 5,000 kilometres mark.

We continued up the valley until we reached a high rolling plateau. At the top of the pass is the start of the Qomolungma National Nature Reserve, Qomolungma being the local name for Mount Everest. It is Tibetan for Goddess Mother of the World. 

There is a mass of prayer flags at the top of the pass.

More prayer flags,

A picture of me at the top of the pass marker showing 5,248 metres.

We continued along G318 as it descended from the top of the pass. We turned off the road to enter the North Gate of the Qomolungma Reserve. We were at an elevation of 4,300 metres and would soon be crossing a pass at 5,200 metres via a lot of hairpin bends.

Looking into the distance can be seen five of the tallest mountains in the world, each over 8,000 metres.

More prayer flags at the top of the pass.

Then it was a descent down to the next valley via more hair pins and a short tunnel. And then another climb to reach base camp and our first close view of Everest.

Me with Everest behind.

And again.

Besides the Everest height marker.

Besides the base camp marker stone indicating 5,200 metres.

A yak in camp.

The Rongbuk Monastery, the highest temple in the world...

...and some of the prayer flags behind it.

We camped overnight and had another stunning view of the mountain before we had to leave in the morning. The hit in the foreground is the police post that checks that only mountaineers with the correct paper work can go further. The permits can cost tens of thousands of dollars a head.