This plaque tells that you are entering the Everest Nature Reserve. I was getting in better shape by now. I would say I rode maybe 60% of the uphill part.
This shot cannot do this scene justice. This is probably one of the most beautiful sight that I've ever seen. What makes this place special is because this pass is also at 5200M and you are still 90KM from basecamp. Down below is another valley. Which gives you a great panoramic view of the Everest Ranges.
I was actually going the other way. But I thought the picture would look better this way. Down on the valley, making my way to basecamp.
That's the highest mountain in the world. The other two are in the top ten. Lhoze is not a real mountain, it's part of Everest.
Getting closer. You are looking at one of the better stretches of this road.
Arriving at Rongbuk Monastery, highest monastery in the world at 4900M. We are only 7Km away from basecamp. We wanted to stay because we can get supplies here. The monks here have all kinds of goodies that was left behind by other expeditions.
Not a cloud in the sky as we set off on the last 7Km to basecamp. I just can't stopped looking at these pictures, they just look amazing to me.
Finally, made it. The brick building in the back houses the park warden. The people in the green tents are German Tourists. That truck in the back ground can make this trip in a couple of hours from the main highway. It took us 4 days of huffing and puffing to get up here.
The sun was getting ready to set in the evening. And I had a run in with the park warden. My original plan was to stayed at the basecamp for a few days and see how far I can get without any proper equipment. One of them was to climb the mountain on the left side of the picture to get a much better panoramic view of Everest. The little run it changed all that. The situation was that he lived at that nice brick building, I slept in my dinky little tent. He's the law around here and we were in the middle of nowhere. Plus my bike and my gears sits unprotected if I do decided to go anywhere. Also I did not pay the entrance fee to basecamp. When I add that all up. It was time for me to go the next day.
I've never been to Everest Basecamp in Nepal. I only seen it in pictures. But in my opinion, there is no comparison. Most of Everest is being block by 2 other mountains from Nepalese side. On the Tibetan side, you get Everest in all its glories. Also, on the south face(Nepal), it looks pretty bare. On the north face(Tibet), there are nothing but snow.
Saying good bye to basecamp. Kinda hard to see Everest in the morning sun. Made a deal with the truck driver. He would take us to the main highway. After 4 hours, we were back on the main highway. But the truck driver just kept going. The driver finally dropped us off at the first town. That was OK because I really wanted to get to Nepal in a hurry. It's already October, trekking season has just began.