Week 9 - Everest to Nepal border! (7 August)

With one night only at Everest base camp, it was time to say good bye to China, and head towards the border town of Zhangmu, ready for the next phase of the trip - through Nepal into India.

I woke up to the sound of no rain... was our luck in? Outside it was still gloomy, cloudy and ominous. But by 7:15, I could hear hard rain on the roof of the tent. Everest could not be seen!

By 8:30am, it was time to take the transit closer towards Everest Base Camp no 1. Providence must have been smiling on us! As the clouds began to clear, the rain stopped, and the majestic Mount Everest revealed itself to us - it was a giant! We were already over 5km above sea level, it's peak towered over a 3km further up! We got the driver to let us off early, so we could take a non-touristy stroll up to where everybody else was. It was peaceful, and I stopped to collect some Everest water to drink on the way back in the van.

Back at the tent, it was time to say goodbye to the family, including the two very cute children. The older one (about 2-3 years old) had fallen in love my battery-powered laughing travel monkey, little Stu, attached to my backpack. So much so, that his mum offered to buy it off me! How could I take money for it?... I gave the monkey as a present.

After spending the morning admiring Mount Everest and the glorious Himalayas, we set off on our 10 hour journey along the "Friendship Highway" to the border town of Zanghmu. Here the fog and rain had set and in the late evening, it was dark and the driver could not see more than 5 metres ahead. We were vaguely aware that we were driving around tiered cliff-edges with waterfalls cascading over (and sometimes onto) our roof as we went. The eeriness (see pic) was enhanced by the border town check points where officers were smoking, drinking and playing cards.