Sunday May 24 - The Rooftop of the World

The plan was to be wakened up by Tamar at 4:45 am for a 6 am start in the Truck. We set our alarm and Ray was up, mattress and sleeping bag rolled up. I remained cuddly in my sleeping bag. I said: "Tamar hasn't called us yet! I wonder what that means?" Within seconds, Tamar was making her rounds of the tents in the darkness to tell us "Sleep in; don't get up yet; Dan won't be able to make it back in time, and our Daphne wouldn't be ready in time to make it through the checkpoint before 7 am." I snuggled up again in the tent; Ray went to make a cup of tea. The next thing I heard was Tamar going back around the tents saying: "Get up quickly everyone. The Truck will be here at 6 am and we have to make it through the check point which is 5 - 10 minutes away by 7 am." So, now I had to scurry to get ready. We tidied up the campsite and loaded the Truck leaving at 6:35 am. Everyone clapped and cheered when we got through the check point. We retraced our steps of Friday night and found ourselves driving on the rooftop of the world, a vast plateau about 4000 to 5000 feet above sea level. The landscape resembles a yellow desert of gently rounded velvet-looking mountains behind and rising above which were a range of high, jagged-peaked snow-capped mountains highlighted against the blue sky. We saw the sun rise on Shishibama at 8012 meters. We passed through Pangla Pass at 5050 meters adorned with prayer flags and mani stones. We stopped for an early lunch by the side of a river amidst the splendour of the mountains around us. Shortly after we got back on the road, we came to a police check who told us "Road Closed". No matter how hard we negotiated he wouldn't let us through. They then capitulated to making us wait till 3 p.m. about 1 hr 45 minutes later. So we stopped and waited by the side of the road watching the locals go by with their horse drawn carts or on the backs of their little ponies. At 3 pm sharp, we were back at the check-point but the guy tried to say "no" again. Our guide was very persuasive this time and in the end he let us through. We drove for a while taking detours off the highway from time to time. Then we had problems with Daphne. She wouldn't allow Ian to change from high to low range. At one point the guys got off to empty all the bags off to try to find a spare part. We had to stop several times after that and then came across another road block around 5 p.m. who wouldn't allow us through till about 8. So we drove off on a little side road across the river plain. But this came to an end when we came to a river and the bridge only had one solid tread and the way through the river seemed too soft. We made a cup of tea on the propane gas camp cooker while sending the two Tibetan guides back to the nearest village to see if there was another route. They never did come back and we had to pick them up in the small town when we retraced our steps to the main road. The water took ages to boil as the high winds tried hard to blow the flame out. Every so often a mini sand-storm would sweep through and cover everything it passed with a layer of sand-grit. At one point a herder came by with a huge herd of horses and yaks and they moved through the water beside us and swept all around us passing in seconds. 8 pm came eventually and we set off again and had a fairly consistent drive on the rocky road surfaces with only regular wee stops due to all the water we are all consuming. The air here is extrememly dry and throughout the drive we noticed how little wild-life there is. We have heard a few birds but not much else. Even when I semi-climbed the mountain there was nothing that caught my eye. We arrived at the Snow Leopard Guesthouse in Old Tingri around 9:30 p.m. and were so excited to be able to have a hot shower. But only till 10 p.m, then the hot water was turned off. After that we had somethig to eat which was actually very good, and crawled into bed around 11:15 into a deep, deep sleep. The effects of the altitude have reduced quite a bit since we started taking the altitude pills, but we still feel the breathlessness and the headache. The good thing is, if you can sleep, you generally sleep well. Old Tingri is at about 4000'. It is the last town where people trekking on Everest can stock up. It is typically Tibetan. Basically one street lined with shops and houses built in the typical Tibetan style with the colourful band of religious colours protecting the building. There was also a military camp and next morning we heard the sounds of the soldiers going through their daily workouts. The hotel was the "best" in town. It was actually terrific. The room was heated when we arrived, but freezing whe we woke up! It had a private bathroom with running water (hot between 10 pm and 12 pm). The unique parts were the lighting, which was so dim you could hardly see, and I just about fell off the toilet seat because the seat wasn't attached!! Did I mention that the heating in most of these deserted Tibetan villages is solar and you see rows of solar panels built facing the sun in the centre of the villages.