Over Gula pass, a real taste of off-road for our front forks…
… unfortunately for Tara, it means absorbing the all ascent and downhill in her harms, as she does not have front suspensions. Hard day but the scenery is breath taking. On top of Gula we admire the Himalayan range in all its beauty.
On the down hill we pass farming villages that seam coming out of a different century, and we finally arrive in Tashizhong, where we stop for the night in a tea house. The temperature outside is going to go way below zero on this side of Everest natural park at night, and i don’t want to be in my +5 sleeping bag in this temperatures.
11th cycling day..first view of the Himalaya range
Today we are rewarded for all the painful climb of Gyatsola with a beautiful view of the Himalaya range. we ride through shegar check point into Everest National park and then take the off-road deviation from the friendship highway. We get heavy headwinds and a sand storm just 3 km from where we are supposed to camp. and we decide to stay overnight in a tea house with a warm stove and a welcoming couple.
Over Gyatsola pass..WTF!!
This was for me the most demanding climb of the all trip. We ride in the narrow valley for the first 7km we have no sun at all, which means COLD..I can hardly feel my feet and hands, is really painful. and then the never ending climb and head wind make it look impossible….but we make it, and camp just past the pass in a dismissed structure probably used by locals to keep goats and sheep.
8th day, Gedin to Sakya
Today is an easy ride that take us past the km 5000 marker (5000km from Shanghai), and over the Younongla Pass (4500m). We end up on the up hill of Sakya and we realize that we are ahead one day on the schedule, due to the fact that we camped far past Gedin..about 15km. So we reached Younongla Pass very early, around midday and we had an easy ride all the way to Sakya uphill. We end up making camp about 15km away form Sakya as the head wind builds up. I then reach the town with my driver and guide to fetch water and petrol for the stoves. and return to camp in good time for cooking and baking bread.
7th day Shigatse to Gedin
Its another straight ride, flat road that stretches for miles without a bend. I have my first flat tire ( go figure, i just changed the outer tire yesterday). we end up the day in a field adjacent to a small river, together with a group of Swiss ppl which are on the same trip as us.
5th- 6th day Gyantse to Shigatse- rest day
We ride across a vast desert like valley, crossing villages and farms. Is a flat 90km ride to Shigatse which we cover in little more then 5hrs. The sun is warm eating up very high when standing still. But the perceived riding temperature is never more then 18 C.
In Shigatse is time for me to change the back tire, a Schwalbe Racing Ralph…which is a bit too “racing” for this country. Is now pretty worn out and I prefer to have a hard and cheap Bontrager to push up and down the next part of the trip. especially considering the offroad ahead to Everest base camp.
We rest a full day in Shigatse, visiting the old town and I manage to book my flight return ticket from Kathmandu via the internet.
4th Day, Longma to Gyantse
Today is even colder then the past few mornings. We eat breakfast standing and walking in order to warm up.
We start cycling downhill along the river that gradually turns into a lake so blue you would think they put color in it. Its a water dam artificially made to grant fresh water to Giantse and Shigatze and all the villages on the way. We ride past a small climb before descending to a vast valley framed by mountains that seem to be bent like carpets by the strong tectonic movements of the land. The ondulating road seems to go on forever, and the afternoon desert sun start to warm up. We reach Gyantse in good time, at 3pm, and stop in a small hotel with a dormitory. Time to wash my face and my clothes in the cold fountain by the courtyard. In less then 2 hrs the clothes are bone dry. We walk around town taking a few pictures and then eat yak burgers at a local restaurant.
3rd day, Baidi to Longma, over Karola pass (5050m)
We wake up forzen as usual, the outside of the tend is a piece of ice. Start riding along the colorfull Yamrok shores, passing farming villages till we start the Karola Climb that take us over 5000m for the first time. a beautifull glacier reward our effort and then we descend to camp near Longma village, in a field.
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