Day 16 200506: Finally Everest Base Camp

The 1st thing we realised about going to Everest Base Camp (EBC) was that the fee was rather high. 405rmb per car. 65rmb per person. I can’t remember the fee for the eco-bus. And then 30rmb for the horse-cart ride.

We stopped by a town on the way to EBC and bought a packet of sweets (about 30). Had to load ourselves with ammunition to shoot at the Tibetan children. The moment I bought the sweets, I started giving the 2 or 3 girls in that shop. On the way, we passed by a village and suddenly about 15 villagers stood on the road and blocked our way. Some of them took out brooms and started sweeping. When we were near them, some women locked arms together and demanded $ from us, saying they helped to make the road condition better for us to travel. We couldn’t possibly run them over and gave them 10rmb. They didn’t ask for more and thanked us. Polite robbers.


One weird thing that I discovered was the huts here all had blue, red and white painted on them. Like the France Tri-Colors. I wonder if the French had ever colonized this part of the world.


After some winding mountain roads and a police road check, we reached the place where we would take the eco-bus. There were 2 Americans were waiting for the bus too, and some Tibetan kids surrounded them and asked for $. As usual, they just gave them hoping they would go away. But the kids just kept asking for more.

Finally the bus was ready to go. Besides tourists like us, there were 2 Tibetans on the bus, a father and his son I guess. They were going back home. Yes, their home was in EBC. During summer when the weather was good, they would return to EBC.

It was a long bumpy ride and finally we arrived at 戎布寺. We were supposed to take horse-cart up the 2km mountain track to the base camp. The horse-cart owners were pestering us and insisted we take their offer and stay at their place. I really hated this kind of non-stop pestering. We told them we would consider later and went into the monastery. There were monks inside but their appearances looked comical. Traditional monk dress with Nike shoes and headwear. One of them even asked if he could exchange his sunglasses with JH’s.


We left the monastery and took 2 of the horse-carts. ZK didn’t come with us because he didn’t have a sleeping bag and thus couldn’t sleep in EBC. The horse-cart ride was more uncomfortable than I thought. It was cramped, bumpy (my buttocks hurt badly), chilly, and I got whipped by the boy who was driving the cart. He was whipping the horse in front but when he pulled his arm back, he would occasionally whip my leg.


The 2 Tibetans who took eco-bus with us walked up instead as they couldn’t afford to pay for the cart ride. When we reached EBC, we saw lots of big Tibetan tents around and right beside the camp was a river. And straight ahead, we saw the gorgeous Mount Everest. Yes. Gorgeous is the word because the name 珠穆朗玛 is the Tibetan name of a goddess who came down from Heaven.

There were so many tents to choose from and in the end, we went to the Tibetan who was pestering us just now. Indeed, like he said, his tent was really very tidy and clean. Moreover, there were blankets and hence there was no need for our sleeping bags. Having settled our accommodations, we decided to explore the surroundings. Kenneth as usual the “professional” photographer, moved off on his own while JH, CCG and I decided to climb a hill.

Halfway up, CCG and I were so cold we couldn’t climb anymore and hid behind a big rock, taking shelter from the wind. JH continued but the higher he went, the steeper it was. Climbing up was easy but coming down would be a lot more difficult. From where we were, we could see him struggling and I did capture his actions in my DV just in case if there was any mishap, at least there would a last footage of him. Haha. That’s CCG’s idea actually.

We also had a clear view of Everest. It looked big but didn’t look tall enough to be the highest mountain in the world, though it’s altitude is 8000m. Maybe because we were already at 5200m. We could see the entire base camp below, littered with tents as well as yaks. Yes. There were yaks everywhere, standing around.

We waited an awful long time before JH decided to come down. Then we set off to look for our lost friend, Ken. We found him at the base camp busy taking his artistic pictures. JH said from the top of the hill that he climbed, he could see an ice glacier in the direction of the advance base camp. Hence, we moved forth and it was a long and tiring walk. Cold wind, giddiness from altitude sickness (or maybe because of the sunglasses). Halfway there, we met a Nepalese coming from the other direction. He took 2 days to climb to advance base camp which is 6600m, and 1 day to descend. Wow.

We didn’t know how far the ice glacier was and decided to turn back as the sun was setting. No way we would be able to make it back safely in the dark. The wind was howling by now and my face was like being cut by thousands of knives. We came to a small hill which had a little plateau at the top. It would be a nice place to watch Mt Everest changed colour as the sun sets.

There were some other tourists there ready to take pictures. I was already squatting behind a large boulder because of the cold. I was the least prepared. No thick warm clothes, no long john, no headgear. We met a Canadian guy and a London-Born Indian girl. The Canadian guy said he was used to such cold weather condition because of where he came from. Well, he didn’t look cold at all because he was wrapped up in who knows how many layers of clothes. The Indian girl was doing voluntary teaching near Shanghai and was on vacation here. After an hour, we had enough of the sunset as well as the cold, and went back to our tent.

Back in the tent, we chatted with the Tibetans and asked what they do at night. They said they would chat, that’s all. Nothing much to do here really. We had instant noodles and biscuits for dinner and played Big2 until nightfall. Not going to sleep so early. We had only 1 night in Everest and so must really treasure it.

Using my not-so-powerful torchlight, we made our way to an open space near that hill. I looked up into the sky and it was the most beautiful picture I had ever seen. The sky was full of stars! For minutes I was just gazing out and “wah, wah…” all the time. I have never ever seen so many stars before. Though I know nothing about star constellation, I did imagine myself joining up the stars with lines trying to form some pictures.

Ken was busy setting up his tripod and camera. JH was also doing that, though he was using his pathetic little mini tripod. My role was to give light to the both of them. As for CCG, he was busy shivering. After 30min of futile attempts, both of them couldn’t get a single good night shot of the stars. My hands were numbed by now, esp. the one holding the torchlight. CCG was almost frozen. But I wasn’t disappointed that we didn’t get any pictures because I would never forget how beautiful the sky was that night.

CCG’s face was white as sheet and not wanting to have any casualties, we returned to our tent. The owner was heating up the stove and that made us feel much better. Although we were inside the tent, it was still very cold and hard to sleep. Thanks to Ken’s extra pair of long john, I wouldn’t survive through the night.

Day 15 190506: Hot Hot Hot

We decided to set off late today after lunch because ZK said the next town 定日 was only a few hours drive away. We went to an ancient castle in the morning which was used to defend against the English during the late 19th century. I never know English invaded Tibet before. Apparently their army came from Nepal, India that area. The castle was under renovation and really was a disappointment. I have been to quite a number of castles in Europe and all of them are well maintained. This one here was dilapidated and abandoned. Nothing to see.


The only plus point was you can have a bird’s eye view of the town from the top of the castle as well the monastery 白居寺, located 1km to its north. The monastery looked more impressive than this castle, with its fortified walls behind (looked like miniature of Great Wall from afar). We walked to the monastery but decided not to enter because of the rather high entrance fee and also we were short of time. So we made our way back to the hostel where ZK was waiting for us.

On the way to DingRi, we stopped at the 2nd largest city of Tibet, 日客则, just to have our lunch and top up our supplies. We will revisit this city again when we return from Everest. I had the chance to witness the cook at work and his wok was constantly bursting in flame. Big flames. It was amazing.

After a good lunch, it was hell all the way. The main road was under repair and we had to take the side track… for the rest of the day. It was bumpy throughout, and ZK was complaining his hands were shaking all the time. To make matter worse, the sun was blazing hot today and ZK took off his shirt in the end.

We were in desert area most of the time and some where in front we saw a CCTV5 Toyota land cruiser parked at the side. When we passed them by, we saw 2 girls and 1 guy outside their jeep. They were TV crews from the China TV station and all of them were pissing near the river. Including the girls who were doing it behind a little mound so that the guy couldn’t see. But any vehicles passing by would have seen everything. That’s the problem of girls traveling on jeep in such places.


So it was a torturous long ride. Bumpy, hot, and dusty. Air pollution was to the maximum because even with the windows all wound down, the dust could still get in. In the end, my hair was partially grey and the wet tissue that I used as a filter for breathing had turned black. JH had a face mask but wasn’t of much help either. And because of the road repair, what was at first a 4 hrs ride had now become 8hrs or even more.

By the time we were near DingRi, it was already 9pm and there was no more light by then. Driving at night in such places is dangerous because even with the headlamps, we couldn’t see clearly. Still we managed to find DingRi and ZK brought us to this hostel which he said was affiliated or had some connections with the travel agency. I was feeling uneasy about it because he never mentioned about knowing a hostel here in Dingri before. When we were at the hostel, he just registered immediately without asking for the price, or for our opinions. When I asked how much was it, he told the lady boss, “they think you are going charge them very expensively.” His tone sounded more like, “he thinks we are trying to cheat their money.” Well, it was obvious that he felt that we were suspecting if he is a conman. I don’t deny it. I really don’t trust him now so I don’t care how sarcastic is tone was.

Anyway, it was 10+ by then we were really very tired. All we could think of was we were going to Everest tomorrow and had to do some last minute preparation like packing our bags with food and water, and what other supplies to bring.

Day 14 180506: Miss Home

Halfway through our trip, and I began to miss SG. I had already lost interest in the lakes, rivers and mountains by now. Instead of going to 日客则 straightaway, we detoured a bit to 江孜, as promised by ZK. As he claimed, JiangZi has nothing much to offer but along the way, there is a beautiful lake to see. One of the three holy lakes of Tibet. He better be right.

He was kind of lost along the way, claiming that the roads had changed and were different as compared to last time he entered Tibet. As the days passed, we began to doubt his words and his credibility was declining. He said he has 14 years of driving experience and told us his experiences in Tibet. But it seemed like he had only enter Tibet once, which was last year. All his stories seemed to be referring to that time only.

Still we managed to find that 神湖, and we decided to climb the hill to get a better view of the lake. Although by now we had got accustomed to the high altitude, we were still quite breathless by the time we reached the top. There was a little plateau on top and below us was the lake, shaped like an ‘S’. Very blue and still water. We took lots of picture in various pose, as if we were shooting music video. Like F.I.R. “我们的爱~~~~”, we were singing…


When we went back to the jeep, Ken suddenly shouted but we weren’t much surprised because he always does that when something serious, or not serious happened. He said he had lost his handphone. Oops, something serious this time. He searched under the seat in the car but couldn’t find. Guess he must have dropped it at another place before we reached the lake. He was very sure he still had it in the morning after we left our hotel. Sigh. First it was JH, now Ken. Losing things on a trip really spoilt the mood. CCG and I tried calling his hp but we couldn’t get through. He must have dropped it somewhere where there is no network.


We stopped for lunch and Ken was really “sian” mood. Still thinking of his hp and all the contact numbers that were lost. I lent him my hp for him to sms his sis, telling her to cancel his subscription. Poor Ken. Once an enthusiastic photographer in our group. Now, seemed like he lost his soul. Looked so damn listless during lunch that it was a bit comical.


After lunch, we entered a desert-like zone with occasional whirlwind of sand. Was sleeping throughout the ride as 江美奇 song was really hypnotizing. I only wake up when we were through the desert area and came to a grassland full of sheep (KAWAI!!!).

We reached JiangZi pretty early and found ourselves a hostel to stay. For half of our trip we had accommodation with TV. Today was one of those unlucky days when we reached a place early but no TV and the town had nothing to offer. I was still quite ok without TV. The only program I like to watch there was 超级女生, a female singing competition (I love that 张亚飞!) and 倚天屠龙记 (starring Su YouPeng, Jia JingWen, Chen XiuLi (TCS!)). I was so addicted to YiTianTuLongJi, I told myself I am going to buy the book back in Chengdu.

We were all in a very bored mood in this boring town and so didn’t want to have any SiChuan Dish for our dinner. Very sick of it. We passed by a restaurant which had English menu. One dish caught our eyes. Sweet and Sour Pork! 古老肉! We ordered all non-Sichuan food including that dish and realised it was actually 糖醋里脊.

Disappointed. And the sauce tasted like fruit jam. But anything that was non-Sichuan was good for us, except poor ZK. He was really in a poor state. No TV, no Sichuan food. Haha. By this time, for don’t know what reason, I had begun to dislike him, though I never showed it.

We shopped around and I bought a scarf and a headwear to protect myself from the cold for the Everest trip. With nothing much to do, we went back hostel and played Big2. ZK said he wanted to walk around the town some more. Better that way. We had more fun by ourselves without him. Ken’s sis replied but still Ken was very pek chek for the lost of all his contact numbers. But ZK is more sian then him I guess. I came up with a rap just to describe ZK’s mood. It was to cheer Ken up actually. Here it goes: “Mr. Zeng today going crazy, because no TV. Mr. Zeng today going hungry, because no chili!” Ha, it was very lamed but still quite shiok poking fun at ZK.

Perhaps I was really bored myself today, or perhaps after chatting with a few friends on msn just now, I began to miss home slightly. I never much miss Singapore whenever I was overseas, not even when I was in France for 6 months last year (except for the 1st few days). But now I do begin to feel a bit that way. Well, I still have the Everest trip to look forward to.

Day 13 170506: Lhasa 拉萨

I am really looking forward to today because we will be going Lhasa, capital of Tibet. Which also means we are closer to the biggest highlight of our trip, Mount Everest Base Camp. It also signifies that we are halfway through our jeep tour. Kind of sick of the bumpy ride everyday already.

It was uninteresting and eventless throughout the ride until we reached 加兴镇, where our dear ZK was asked by a traffic police to stop at the other end of the town. There were other drivers being stopped too and we thought it was a routine road check. ZK came back with a black face. The TP told him that the speed limit in the town is 30km/h and he was driving at 60km/h. In the end he was fined 1200rmb! We all think it was a heavy fine and so Kenneth was comforting him all the while for the rest of the trip. For me, I was laughing in my heart. I still can’t get over the fact he tried to cheat our 2 days yesterday.

We stopped at a town for lunch and it really wasn’t ZK’s day. We decided to have Muslim food for a change (sick of Sichuan food). ZK hates Muslim, 回族, because he thinks they are scheming and all terrorists. Someone like me, who is from a multi-racial society, really can’t stand his extreme thoughts. When he mentioned Muslims are all bad people last time, I told him he was being an extremist. He isn’t that righteous himself either.

Anyway, the Muslim food wasn’t that nice, but it was something new, different from the Muslim food in SG. On the way, JH and I were talking about 毛牛 philosophy. Damn, I am going to be influenced by JH The Great Philosopher very soon (was talking about philosophy on mentally-ill patients with sh that other day). These cows sitting around on the road are really wasting their time and are brainless. But maybe they are highly intellectual and had already evolved to a higher being than human such that they find it pointless to do anything. Maybe they were thinking that humans are stupid to be rushing here and there everyday to accomplish meaningless things. Ha, I don’t even understand what we were saying that day. Talking rubbish then. Must be altitude sickness.


We reached Lhasa before evening and I wasn’t impressed at all by this large city. Probably because I had seen BaYi, the previous town which was pretty big. We walked around the city and soon I began to dislike this place. It was dirty, full of beggars and peddlers, a bit chaotic.

The female peddlers outside Potala Palace were really a nuisance. They would come and pester us to buy their necklaces or praying wheels, and while doing that, they would touch us! JH got touched at his tummy while me on my back and shoulder. Felt molested. Other male tourists were also victims too.


We quickly left the place and went to 大召寺. The prayers would walk in a clockwise direction around the temple. We stopped at the entrance and saw many prayers ORZ in front. All of them went on their knees and lied flat on the ground, got up and repeated the action.

Before returning to our youth hostel 吉日旅舍, we went to 八角街, which is famous for its sales of Tibetans ornaments. We only walked around briefly because we were going to return and tour Lhasa again after this 16-day trip.

After dinner, we went back to rest but ZK decided to go and shop around himself at night. At around 930pm, the 4 of us went out for supper with only our shorts. Heroes. Lhasa is blazing hot in the day (over 30 I guess) but when it comes to night, it could be around 20 or less. We came to a shop called 好好吃 and the boss was amazed we were in our shorts. She asked where we were from and after making guesses like HK, Taiwan, etc. we told them we are from SG.

She said that she didn’t know SG speaks such good Chinese. Haha. JH usual answer to this was that we are bilingual and our education system works that way. I would normally tell the person who praises my Chinese that, “we speak only moderate Chinese. This conversation between you and me has lasted only 10min so far. As time goes by, you will find that I will start to lose stamina and converse more slowly.” I wasn’t trying to be modest. I genuinely felt that I am not bilingual. I can’t speak English as well as the British; neither could my Mandarin be compared to the Chinese. I am only good in Singlish. The boss and her friends chatted with us and told us useful info such as, we could take the military flight back to Chengdu instead of the commercial one which will help us save about 700rmb.

While we were chatting, ZK walked past and we invited him to join us for supper. He took out the guide and told us he intended to detour a bit tomorrow to bring us to another scenic place. Good. At last he did what he was told to do. I wasn’t a bit sorry for him for being fined, even though he must have swore more than 20 times “tmd” that day on that issue. I don’t really give a damn. He deserved it for speeding.