After leaving our hotel at 6:30 am, we began our travel toward Mt Everest. We traveled a over 200 miles on winding roads, some of which were dirt. We crossed over the top of one mountain at Kumpala Pass (about 5000 meters) before plunging back down towards Yamdrok Yumtso Lake, a beautiful turquoise colored lake that is sacred to the Tibetan people. It is said that, should its waters dry, Tibet will no longer be habitable. It is a very long lake (over 100 kilometers); we drove by its side for over an hour and the continued to see rivers and streams from it even after that. We also stopped to see the Karola Glacier.
Farming and planting are in full swing now that it is spring. The small fields are either turned by hand or plowed with horses or yaks. Lots of building in process, again by hand.
They have a turnpike system here. Periodically, the driver has to stop to have his ticket checked by the authorities to see if he drove too quickly along a particular stretch of road. No problems so far in that regard.
We stopped at the Pelkhor monastery to see its giant Kumbum Pagoda. It has an Indian design with more ornately decorated Buddha figures and more yak butter candles.
Tonight we are reducing what we take to Mt everest to one duffle bag for all 3 of us.
Good luck on your climb, if you can send us pictures.
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