Tour de Tibet - Part 3
Trip Start
Aug 25, 2003
1
44
55
Trip End
Jul 18, 2004
Kathmandu,
Nepal
Saturday, May 15, 2004
"Hotel California," our yak-hair tent/gueshouse, was a little colder in the morning than it was the previous day. It had two rooms, one with a dung burning stove and one without. We opted for the one without the stove to avoid a night of smoke inhalation. Of course this made getting out of bed that much harder. To give you and idea of the cold, my warm tea from the night before was now a tea slushie. After getting up I realized how nauseous I was from altitude sickness, Sarah wasn't feeling great either so we took the jeep to a lower altitude to warm up and get some oxygen before biking again.
At base camp, we found that the Tibetans there were dressed extremely nicely - often better than us. Top of the line North Face seemed very popular. We read that this was because when climbing groups leave, they often leave their equipment behind for the sherpas
Baby Goats
. This may explain why our jeep was usually surrounded by several Tibetans who looked like they were window shopping as they peered into the jeep to look at our stuff.Leaving Base Camp, we opted to ride out via the Ding Valley. This route is normally a trekking route but since the ride is much shorter we actually saved a day getting to Dingri and gained another rest day (a rest day near a hot springs, no less). So from the pass out of the Ding Valley to Dingri we had a fun ride over dried up river beds, and through a beautiful valley. Actually I should say I had a fun ride. Sarah was really suffering from the altitude and was not having a fun ride at all. I think she perked up a little when we stopped at a river crossing and a group of baby goats approached me and then proceeded to climb on top of me. The shepherd nearby thought I was trying to steal them until our guide explained, I guess, that no, they were just climbing me. I can only imagine what how their conversation went:
Shepherd: "Hey, is he stealing my goats!?"
Gompo (our guide): "No, they wouldn't be able to use a goat, they're probably just taking pictures. It looks more like one is.... climbing him?"
Day 13 Dingri (Rest Day)
Our bonus rest day in Dingri consisted of a trip to the nearby hot springs where we have a much needed soak and wash some clothes. We took the jeep to the springs and sat in the hot, steamy, inviting springs for at least an hour (we splurged and got a private room). On our way back we saw Monika, who we had met first in Shigatse. She was hitchhiking so we pulled over to say hi and wish her the best on the rest of the way to Kathmandu
Closing in on Nepal
. Day 14 Dingri to Km Marker 5254
Not much to say about this day. Some headwinds at first and some dust. No passes. Not a bad ride - proving that nice rides do happen in Tibet.
Day 15 Km Marker 5254 to Nylam
Our last big pass, actually a double pass, and I'm happy to say that this pass we absolutely caned. Climbing from 4415 meters to 4845 meters (Lalung La) to over a 20 km distance we hardly even stopped for a breather. The downhill from the first pass was actually fast paced and fun, we dropped 150 meters in 6 km. Then it was back up to 4495 meters (Yarle Shung La) which peaked after a long slow climb where we could really feel the altitude. The final prayer flad display was impressive but really I wanted get going on the downhill. After all that work it was nice to blast downhill for awhile. Of course once the road flattened out we hit our old friend Mr. Headwind and the last part of our ride was pretty punishing. The winds were as bad as Day 3 and we ended up stopping at Milerapa's Cave because of it. Even with headwinds we still enjoyed some great scenery on the way. For a long way we followed a river in a small green valley that wound slowly downward; there were horses grazing along the river - this part of the ride looked like a fantasy world. At Milerapa's Cave we stopped and took at look at the last Tibetan monastery between us and Nepal. The monastery was modest but well worth seeing, we really felt like we learned something about Tibetan culture by the time we had made it to here. For the short ride from the cave to Nylam we hopped in the jeep figureing over 8 hours of riding was enough for one day
Down...
.Day 16 Nylam to Kathmandu!!!!
Ahhh.... now this was a great ride. After a brief climb out of Nylam it ws all downhill to the boarder. Actually it was a drop of almost 1500 meters in 33k!!! We had to stop several extra times to pee because the extra fluid we were storing due to high altitude had to come out. Seeing the change in climate, we went from the desert of Tibet to smelling plantlife in the air, was incredible. We crossed waterfalls one after another and got to hear birds singing again. At the boarder the climate was closer to Nepal's tropical climate than the desert we had seen in Tibet. After we crossed and got Nepali food - cheap and tasty Dal Bhaat: beans, veggies, and rice. This food was alot closer to what we had in India. We decided to ride to Dolaghat (about 67km for the day), giving us one last small pass. This ended up being a good plan since we were dressed more for the dry windy weather of Tibet, not the humid heat of Nepal. From Dologhat we took a ride into Kathmandu. The further we rode towards Kathmandu the more catching this last ride seemed like a good idea.
In Nepal the government is trying to subvert an opposition group of Maoists and the stories in the paper tell of losses of life on both sides
Downhill
. This is something we were conserned about but, having asked many people who had come from Nepal, we were asured our safety. Still it is a bit unnerving to be biking by a military checkpoint and see, hidden in the hill above, a sniper outpost. Things looked even worse in Kathmandu, there were whole groups of police in full riot gear. Again, I wasn't too worried but like I said, I was glad we got a ride into Kathmandu. In Tamil, the tourist area of Kathmandu, we never saw that much police presence because both sides still want tourist money coming in. We caught a nice long hot shower that night, ate, but it still didn't seem like we made it yet. The next morning I weighted myself: 156 lbs, the lowest I've weighed since college (roughly 7 years ago).
