My travel diaries
Saturday 28 April, 2007 - New Tingri, Tibet
Another day spent on the road. We start off on tarmac, expecting to reach a dirt track within an hour, as this was the state of the road when Mic came by this way last year. In fact we have only one short stretch of dirt track late in the afternoon. The Chinese intend to carry the Olympic torch to the summit of Everest for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and are tarmacking the Friendship Highway in preparation for it. It will eventually be possible to drive all the way to Everest Base Camp on metalled roads, and this work is clearly happening very quickly indeed.
We arrive at a place called Lhatse for lunch and park up in front of a big grand hotel which Mic tells us wasn't there this time last year. It seems incredible that a place this size can be built so quickly. Having said that, it doesn't appear to be quite finished yet, or at least the plumbing isn't. As I stand at the urinal I discover everything I leak out in turn leaks straight out onto the floor. Fortunately I'm first in the queue, but by the time we've all finished, there is a shallow pond covering the entire floor of the gents'.
After lunch the road climbs higher to a pass called the Gyatso La. At 5200m this is the highest point on the Friendship Highway. The views here are sweeping. It's been a gentle rise, and the pass itself is almost the high point on a wide plateau, but for two small summits a little away from the road. From here we have a more or less complete 360 degree view of snow-capped mountains on far horizons. The land seems less dry than the "lowlands" at 3500m, but still it's dusty, and there are no trees, not even a wisp of vegetation anywhere in the whole panorama. An arch of prayer flags across the road marks the pass itself. We stop for photos, and it's cold outside but the sun is strong, with hardly a cloud in sight. The wind is comparatively light for a high pass, however, and two layers of fleece suffice to keep me warm.
We reach our destination for the night, a hotel which has the feel of an army-style compound, at a place called New Tingri, beside the turn off to Shegar at 3.30. This is a desolate spot with just a few hotels and guesthouses along the Friendship Highway. Chris and Bunter are having a photo competition. This isn't a competition to take the best photograph, but a competition to take the most. Chris has been snapping away almost continuously in the front seat of our jeep, and has taken 150 photographs since we set off from Lhasa 2 days ago. His selection criteria appear to be minimal, with flocks of sheep being among the better ones, and it's hard to see the pictures coming out very well with the Landcruiser haring along. Even so, Bunter has still taken more photographs.
There isn't much to do in New Tingri. Make that nothing to do. I spend the remainder of the afternoon and early evening reading and drinking copius amounts of jasmine tea in my hotel room.
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