The next morning we got up early, excited about the day ahead of us, yet nervous about the weather. The whole time, we had obviously been hoping for clear weather when we got to the highlight of the journey, Mt. Everest, though, the whole time, Wu had been warning us that it is very often cloudy, as to not disappoint us. October is said to be one of the best months, but with global warming (or perhaps the unnamed, random phenomenon in which the world just happens to be getting warmer year after year along with more extreme weather patterns), this hasn't necessarily been the case in the past year or two. Regardless of the weather, we had to try, so we were soon back on the road, hoping for the best. After lunch, we passed through New Tingri, presented our permits for the area and passports at a few different checkpoints, and then we entered the 90 km bumpy, dirt road that would take three hours to traverse, dropping us at Everest Base Camp, the base of the highest mountain in the world. We wound our way up and down, side to side over the dirt road, slowly going up and up, then down and down, then back up again. We passed over another high mountain pass at 5,248 meters (~17,300 feet) and were disappointed to see that our first potentially incredible view of the mountain yielded mostly clouds. We could see some scenic mountains and bits of snow-covered peaks, but the vast majority of the large mountains said to be in the area were simply cloud banks on the horizon. There was a sense of disappointment in the car, but I was still so excited just to get to base camp, hoping that maybe the next morning (our only other chance) would yield better results. Being at such a high elevation and so far from anything else, that would be our only other option, as there was no way that we'd be able to come back.
(Just four of the many yaks along the side of the road. This is very typical scenery of the area...well, maybe if you added me, smiling like an idiot thanks to a combination of the high altitude delirium and the joy of seeing such an enchanting place.)
(A local boy and girl at one of the stops along the way. You can also see the traditional white block houses of the villages along the way.)
(Another mountain pass and prayer flags. That's Tibet for you.)
(Not Mt. Everest. This is a pretty mountain from one of the passes on the dirt road to Everest, but this mountain is probably a mere 7,000 meters (21,000 feet) or something. What a pathetic little guy.)
(A few of the tiny "hotels" at Everest Base Camp. This little cloth huts have small cots and a fire place in the middle, and that's about it. Fortunately, we stayed at the one real hotel in the area. The world's highest post office is also just to the right of this picture, though it has very limited hours. Government workers always have the best holidays.)
(That might actually be the post office there on the right. Above that on the left is Everest's little shoulder, though the peak would be just in the right corner of the screen.)
(Me and the sign for Qomolangma Base Camp. Qomolangma is the local name for the mountain that we imperialists call Mt. Everest. If you look closely, you can see that the string atop my hat is standing straight up. Yes, it's windy. That's what that means.)
(Looking back down the hill from base camp, the sky looked nice. Too bad it didn't look like that the other way.)
(A close-up of the Tibetan script/prayers on the prayer flags tied together at the furthest point you can reach without a climbing permit.)
(There's me again, along with one hat, one short sleeved shirt, one long sleeved shirt, one rain jacket, one fleece jacket, one pair of long underwear, one pair of khaki pants, one pair of jeans, two pairs of socks and my gloves. To quote Joey while imitating Chandler, "Could I BE wearing any more clothes?")
(A great picture of one of the local Tibetan woman at one of our stops. I must have just told her a hilarious joke. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for this picture - this one belongs to Rami Amir.)
(Another of Rami Amir's pictures of the locals. His nice zoom lens helps capture some of these pictures, as I'm always hesitant to take many pictures of just people.)
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