Stopped at the border

Although i'm in Lhasa - Tibet i could be mistaken for being in China already! I'm currently in Lhasa the largest city in Tibet.From a culture point of view this city is Tibetan but commerically it belongs to the chinese,everywhere is light up in neon lights and where possible the chinese lay claim to this city.It's a lot of history to try and explain.

Left Kathmandu on the 11th,saying farewell to Thor who has decided to skip China and rejoin us in Laos.Also Rich and Sarah are skipping this bit and rejoining us in Thailand i think.A few spare seats on the truck which is no harm.Although it was great to be reunited with everyone and get back on the truck,it's not the same as doing a bit of independant treking up in the hills of the Himalayans.I faced my demons and got back on,a few extra spare seats to stretch out on as about  ten of the others had left early morning to go on  the largest bunjee jump and bridge swing in Nepal.So we were heading for the borderlands resort,arrived late on the 11th somehow the random and many road blocks the locals had set up had slowed us down on our journey  to reach there before dark.Great little resort with lodges and tents by the river,mosquito heaven.I found the rest of my buddies lounging down in the bar exhausted after their acts of courage and bravery.After listening to their stories and seeing the photos and some video footage i still was not convinced it's something i should try.I somehow had carried my tent down but realised once i saw the bar space i would not be requiring it.The bar was open plan with lots of cushions about the place,i'd already decided to sleep on the cushions and ditch putting my tent up.I was glad as the weather was a bit damp and it felt like rain in the air.So grabbed my sleeping bag and Lorna's and Will's and Polly's,all of them too exhausted to walk back along to the truck,i only got theirs because they had thrown themselves off a bridge earlier that day.

Next day (Thursday 12th) headed for the China(Tibet) border crossing at Tatopani,got out of Nepal without any hitches but on entering China i got stopped by the officals while my passport was scrutinised and re-scrutinised not by one but several of the border police,eventually i had to give details of my travels,comings and goings,show them my drivers liscence.After two hours of being very patient i was allowed to enter Tibet - China.Here we picked up two guides one Tibetan and one Chinese which is a must if travelling in China they are very strict with where you can travel.(They could be spies)

From Tatopani we would be travelling along the friendship highway probably the most treachours road i've every travelled on in my life.Unfortunately the road ahead was blocked due to road maintanence.We had to wait until midnight before we could travel on it.A few of us decided to check it out,much to our horror we found the road in a terrible state.A low hanging cliff face on one side,waterfalls cascading over the road in many parts,rocks scatter randomly over the road too and a sheer drop the other side where a fast and furious river was running through the valley.Not to mention we saw part of the cliff face been blown away to make room for the road to be rebuild.After an hour of walking and nearly getting robbed,Rach was taking photos of the natives with their permission,then they decided they wanted our jewellery in return for their photos,luckily i had found money on the road,not a lot but it was enough to pay them off and let us head back down the road.On the way down we were planning where we would sit,what we would need on us(head torch,knife,passport-to identify us,warm clothes) that night and how we would escape if the truck went off road.Irrational i know but it was what we were thinking.Got back to the truck where everyone was tucking into dinner,pot noodles,a first for me.Decided to let Steve(our driver) know how treachourous the road ahead was.Our journey that night has to be one of the most frightening drives i have had in my life,how Steve managed to stay between the ditches that night i'll never know but i do know we came close to not having enough wheels on the road to keep us upright.We stopped after five hours driving at 6a.m exhausted from trying to stay awake and calm i slept on the truck for a few hours.The friendship highway should really be called the unfriendly highway or highway to heaven/hell,saw a few over turned vehicles also,was not reassuring in the dark hours of the night.Shattered and exhausted  we carried on after a few hours sleep to travel across the Tibetan plateau at an altitude of 4,310m to reach a little town called Tingri.Experienced their local tea which is called Yak butter tea,it's disguisting and not to be tried.I only had a sip while the Martin threw it down him,i think he was only being polite.

Here we bush camped for the next three nights in the heights of the wild and barren landscape of the Tibetan plateau.Still at a high altitude so no sudden movements and no unnecessary exertion.Surrounded by mountains,lakes,yaks and the locals it was a chance to rest.The locals are a colourful bunch with their rosey cheeks,black hair and dark features they became regular visitors at the campsite.Dropping by on what ever mode of transport was available to them,tractor,pony,motorcycle,bicycle and on foot with a flock of goats in tow.A lovely nature about them,did not feel threatened by them at all.Although at night i did feel the hills had eyes,not what i should have been thinking when falling asleep.Some looked poorly dressed in dirty thread worn clothes so we offered them what we could to replace their worn out clothes.Not a word of any language was spoken between but with jestures,expressions and a lot of smiles we were able to communicate to one another.Universal language.

Camping on the roof of the world,one of the highest places i've woken to and fallen asleep under we spent the next few days here,leaving on Monday morning 16th.During those days the rest of the group got to go to the north base camp of Mt.Everest.I was happy with just a view in the distance of the north face of Mt.Everest,after all i had treked to base camp south side and seen her from the front just like Edmond Hilary and Tenzing Norgay had in 1953 when it was first summitted.I was happy with my view and stayed at camp to keep the home fire burning which proved very difficult at altitude due to lack of oxygen.Loved the barreness of the Tibetan plateau and the rolling hills,i should call them mountains really!