Day 27 continued..

We started descending on the Southern side of Himalayas:

Now I know even in this life heaven can be experienced:

A Village on High Himalaya:

This just make me speechless, I couldn’t even believe my eyes:

Tibetan dogs:

Rarely find some vehicle on the road:

Another lovely Village:

Isn’t that the melting gold from heaven blessing this wonder land?

Anybody in game to drive that road:

At last the descend starts:

Now we are finally in the Southern side of mighty Himalayas:

Nayalam, the town where Mansarovar pilgrims stay an additional day to acclimatize, still we are at 3750 meter

After 10 days first time we are at a height of less than 3500 meter, At Zhangmu (The border town in Tibet- Nepal border) finally at 2250 meter we are ending our amazing journey through Tibet, the green is back again

Previous: Day 27/Part 6

Next: Day 28

Day 27 continued..

Now we are approaching this beautiful Alpine Lake:

This is simply a shortcut connector from Friendship Highway (318) to Tibet-Xinjiang Highway (219) and this stretch is not part of any highway:

Awe Inspiring vista is simply amazing!! :

Now you need to do off-roading to reach close to Lake:

Approaching Pieku Tso :

Off-roading in the blessed land:

Amazing Vista all around:

Closer to this alpine lake Pieku Tso:

Toyota Landcruiser, the most reliable transport in Tibet Plateau for ages, though I heard in 2014, China is going to ban all these 10 years old Land Cruisers and if they really do that (which we would know close to April) it would create a big mess for all journey to Tibet in 2014 and cost of the trip would be rising :

Last glance to Peiku Tso:

The Great Himalayan wall:

Approaching a small town in Himalayan Kingdom:

The Kiangs, in the left in all white background:

The amazing journey continues:

Tibetans riding on the snow land:

Unbelievable Journey:

Now start ascending for final push to Thong La, Can you see the road below that’s going to Mansarovar:

Previous: Day 27/Part 4

Next: Day 27/Part 6

Day 27 continued..

As seen from the Friendship Highway — Extreme Left Mt. Lhotse (8516 meter, 4th Highest ), Then from Left to Right Mt. Everest (8848 meter), Mt. Gyachung Kang (7952 meter, 15th Highest), Mt. Cho Oyu (8201 meter, 6th Highest) .. Mt. Makalu (8485 meter, 5th Highest) is just missing from sight in extreme left which is visible from Pang La on the way to EBC. I don’t think you would find a place in earth from where you can see 4 peaks above 8000 meter and 26 odd peaks over 7000 meters from a motorable road.

Mt. Lhotse and Mt. Everest

Mt. Everest, Mt. Gyachung Kang and Mt. Cho Oyu:

The magic wall of 8000 meters:

Friendship Highway goes on:

Small Town beside Friendship Highway:

Friendship Highway entering the land of white:

Entering All White, don’t miss the peak in far, Mt. Shishapangma (Lowest among the 8000 meters peak, at 8013 Meter known as 14th Highest and only 8000 meter peak that is located completely inside Tibet):

Driving in High Himalayan Region is an experience of Life time, Amazing Concrete road China has made in this difficult terrain:

Prayer Flags in innumerable passes enroute:

Now we are into the road towards Mansarovar and we are approaching towards the alpine lake Pieku Tso:

Local Tibetans Bikers:

A Village in the middle of snow:

Driving through the amazing road:

First look at Peiku Tso in right, amazing setting of the Alpine Lake:

Yaks grazing in Himalayan Backdrop:

Sheep grazing in the pastureland:

Previous: Day 27/Part 3

Next: Day 27/Part 5

Day 27 continued..

Thanks to Kid for withstanding 10000 km of torture for almost a month before we could see Himalaya from North:

Time to introduce the family, my co-travellers for this trip, we are almost coming to the end of this great journey now

The more I look at this snow wall, more I get thrilled, this is the wall that has changed the history and geography of India from beginning, without this wall we would have surely invaded from North by Tibetans, Chinese and Mongolians and our history would look different and without this wall our climate would look closer to Siberian than tropical, thanks to this great wall for making what India is today:

Ruins of some Tibetan fort those gave British a tough fight when they invaded Tibet from India (through Jelep la in Sikkim):

Friendship Highway going beside the wall:

Tingri Town:

That’s Mt Everest from Tingri:

Great Wall again from Tingri:

Even an Ultra Wide Angle failed to take the whole wall:

The Only Accommodation in Tingri, a very basic dormitory:

Friendship Highway:

Small Village:

Friendship Highway:

Colorful Grass:

Ruins of Forts:

And The Journey continues..

Tibetan Villages beside the Friendship Highway:

Friendship Highway, well built for bigger vehicles:

Friendship highway under the well decorated sky :

Previous: Day 27/Part 2

Next: Day 27/Part 4

Day 27 continued..

Along with that the snow wall in horizon:

Inching towards the snow wall of Mighty Himalayan Ranges:

Amazing Lakes:

Lakes with colorful mountains:

Reflections of snow wall:

That’s the snow wall of mighty Himalayas, first time looking at them from North side:

Continued the journey  and we looked closely to Himalayan walls of great 8000 meters peak including Everest, Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Shisapangma from Northern side in Tibet Plateau. The view was completely different than what we saw from South side as the high Himalayan ranges are farthest when we looked from South overlooking lower ranges of Shivalik and Himachal Himalayas with lots of green. When we looked from North from Tibet Plateau at a height of 5000 meter, the Highest Himalayan ranges was the only range that was visible and that stood closest to us and all the great 8000 meters peak looked like within the touching distances forming an all white snow wall.

Entering Tingri, the gateway of EBC North:

See the 180 degree panorama of High Himalayan range, a number of 8000 meters are visible here, can you locate Mt. Everest (Called Chomolungma in Tibetans and known as Sagarmatha in Nepalese):

The snow wall:

See how High Himalayan ranges look like when you see from North, the highest range consisting of 8000 meter peaks are straight in front of you when you look from North standing in Tibet Plateau, the small village is amazingly located just in foot hill of the range, this you never could see from South side where smaller mountains would not allow you to see the complete range from top to bottom:

Mt. Everest North Face:

Colorful Mountains all around:

Mt. Everest in the center:

Snow Walls standing tall:

The small town near to us is Tingri, see the amazing location of Tingri from top of a nearby hill:

The great snow wall:

Previous: Day 26 and 27/Part 1

Next: Day 27/Part 3

Day 26:

We just felt how big a disaster could be in high mountains, when cyclone Philine after loosing its 80% of strength hit Everest region last night and snowed 3 meters in just an hour or so. We were sheltered in a concrete house but still the sound and strength of hail storm was nerve wrecking. The road (Friendship Highway) was closed and Everest Base camp was closed indefinitely. It was a shock to us as EBC was our one of the most sought after destination in whole trip but we heard from locals that many tourists were killed in last nights snow and hail storm and many were still lost. The EBC since then been closed and never opened for the rest of the year, as of now what I heard it would reopen only in April 2014. We definitely had a bad day in the trip and forced ourselves in the room as it was completely snowed out but because of this cyclone, we saw a different views of Friendship Highway on next day when it reopened, a view very few could witness with clear blue sky, world’s highest peak looming in the horizon and few feet of snow in either side of the black tarmac of the road as long as you can see!!

Day 27:

We started early as we had to cover till Zhangmu (Nepal-Tibet Border) and we knew we had a lot of stops to be taken for the entire day as we would cross High Himalayan ranges today. Woeser was upset too as we couldn’t make EBC, promptly instructed the guide to refund our entrance fees for EBC and also he offered us 100 km extra ride to Peiku Tso, a wonderful alpine lake towards the way to Western Tibet (Mansarovar), Woeser repeatedly proved the worth of choosing a right tour operator in such an unpredictable circuit. Just outside of Shegar town there was a major military check post where permits and passports were thoroughly checked for all 3 of us. This is the most important checkpoint in whole Lhasa – Kathmandu route where all papers and even luggage could be scanned. After 5 km from this checkpoint the turn off for Mt. Everest appeared approximately at kilometer marker of 5145 (From Shanghai). As a last hope we still gone to the security check post to get an idea of latest situation, what we heard still tourists and cars were trapped in upper region with meters of snow and all tents in Rongbuk were still under snow, the Chinese rescue team were working with the aid of helicopters to rescue tourists. Any movement from here towards base camp was strictly prohibited. We once again felt, it’s the mother nature who takes the final call as we abandoned our EBC dream which we planned and well executed almost till end for last 2 years just from 80 km away from the final destination. We soon reached Tingri, once a Tibetan-Nepali trading center for grain, goods, wool and livestock. The trade largely died out since China took over but odd Nepali traders can still be seen here. The small town lies in the edge of a vast plain. There are great views of the Himalayan Giants, all eight thousanders in the south for 180 degree, Starting from Everest to Lhotse to Nuptse to Cho Oyu the whole range was looking spectacular, we drove just outside the town to south for a better view from hill top and it was simply looking gorgeous. Looking at mighty Himalayan ranges from North and seen them in South was an experience of a life time. We had our lunch done in Tingri and as we drove south western, we started entering a magical region which might be the real heaven as we experienced it. The views from double pass of Thong La whose North Crest at 4950 meter and South Crest at 5200 meter was spectacular and beyond any description. We started going all the downhill after this and sharply started reducing heights as in 50km we climbed down from 5200 meter to 3700 meter to Nayalam and then in another 25 km to Zhangmu which was just at 2250 meter. From Nayalam the amazing drop off of plateau down through lush forest terrain with gushing waterfalls, it was simply an outstanding drive which we would remember for some times to come. We again got a 4 star hotel (Hotels at Zhangmu were quite costly) and thanks to Woeser for ending the trip so well.

First ray of Sun in the morning:

Hotel at Shegar, 24 hours Hot Water was the USP :

Small town of Shegar:

Villages beside the Friendship Highway:

The road goes on:

The turn where our dreams were shattered just 80 odd km away from final destination to EBC North Base Camp (There is always a next time in life but that is not so easy when it comes to Tibet):

Dream Ride continues:

Going through small villages:

Amazing Drive through Friendship Highway:

Colorful Grasses:

Previous: Day 25/Part 2

Next: Day 27/Part 2