Qomolangma & The Road Less Traveled
Okay, grab a cup of coffee (or Caramel Machiatto - man I miss them!), go to the bathroom and get comfy... this is going to be long one!
When last we left off, Mike and I were planning a 5-6 day trip to Mount Everest Base Camp. This trip quickly expanded to a 16 day overland adventure starting with Everest, continuing west to Mount Kailash, and ending in Ali. Next stop will be Kashgar, China which is the last trading post for the silk road in China. Then we will travel east in northern China to Turpan (desert country - camel rides & dune surfing!), Dunhuang, and finally arrive in Xi'an (where the terracotta warriors were recently discovered) on June 21. So, instead of a little exposure to China, we decided to explore the whole damn thing!
We continued our Tibetian journey with 2 of our 3 original couples to Lhasa. The one thing that really made up our minds about seeing the rest of Tibet now was that in July, a new train line will be coming to Lhasa, bringing with it up to 4000 people a day, probably losing what remaining culture and identity the Tibetian people are desperatly holding onto. At times we have been very disheartened to see what the Chinese occupation has done for Tibet; new concrete towns constructed and aided with gov't incentives to mobilize masses of Hans people into Tibetian territories. Tibetians are charged significantly more for EVERYTHING. They are not allowed to get a passport or leave China without significant trials. Nor are they permitted to have foreigners stay in their homes. The leader of their precious religion is in exhile and the gov't is trying to control them with dubious means. The children run to our vehicles with hands out begging for money. Yet, with all of the above, Tibet has been amazing, eye opening experience, that will forever be with us.

The gang: Jodie, Mike, Petra, Karl, me & Warren
The last 2.5 weeks has been a bone jarring, exhilerating, anxious, and mesmerizing trip. I called this entry "The road less traveled", because literally the roads, if you can call them that, were hardly traveled. We drove through rivers up to our car doors, on dried river beds thought mountain terrain, up mountain passes that made me hang to one side of the jeep in fear of my weight tipping us over the steep incline, sand paths with dust devils enveloping the car, and not to mention the precarious driving of Bemba our driver or the condition of his jeep. Let's just say that 15 days of bumpy roads had it's toll on the car... 4 flat tires, 2 times being stuck - once in the river, once in mud, a broken rear differential, dropped front drive shaft (quick fix - electrical tape & wood), and our favourite... running out of gas on a secluded 4500m mountain pass. We definately had our share of adventure!!!

One of our many river crossings by jeep
At exactly 9pm, on Friday May 26, Mike and I witnessed the glory and magnitude of QOMOLANGMA, or as us Westerners call it "Mount Everest" for the first time. The sun had started to set and the mountain took on a brilliant pink hue that beckoned us to her. And to her we went. We hiked to the Chinese Base Camp (5200m) and spent a memerable night in a Tibetian tent waiting for the enigma to present itself again. We were awarded with a stunning, cloudless morning view. The exhibition climbers were at their own base camp 2 km away, so we were unable to speak with them, however a sports psychologist for one of the teams shared our tent and told us that the previous week 8 people had died,3 from an avalanche; reminding us of the viciousness of the tallest mountain in the world.

First view of Qomolangma

View of Base Camp

Morning view of Everest - spectacular!!!

Okay, last picture of Everest ... promise!
Our next major adventure was to hike Mount Kailash - a 52 km trek that is one of the most important pilgrimages in Asia for Buddhist and Hindus. We completed the circuit in 3 days and as one of our traveling companions, Karl put it "if you've hiked Mt Kailash, you can hike anything". Trekking at an average 4750m, with a pass of 5630m to climb, crossing streams via slippery rocks, descending rocky paths, and crossing snowing plains, this was a difficult hike (even Mike claimed it was one of the hardest he had done). While completing the kora, we stayed in two monestaries with Monks treating us to their staple food called Samba (a dough substance made of barley, yak butter, tea) which provided us with enough energy to complete the pass. For 3 days we survived on Samba and instant noodle soup. We had not showered in 5 days. By the 45th km all I could think of was green veggies. The weather took a turn for the worst: sunny the first day, and snowing hard by the final day. By the end of the kora, we were cold, desperatley hungry, exhausted, and my lips were blistered from the conditions, but we had such a feeling of accomplishment that nothing else mattered!

Mt. Kailash with the Tarboche Flagpole

The streams we crossed around Mt. Kailash

The path down Mt. Kailash
One of my favourite moments of our overland adventure part deux, was exploring Guge Kingdom. Located 20 km away from Zhada (a remote town similar to the badlands in US), these ruins once belonged to the Guge's, a trading nation from the 11 - 17th century. A war in the 17th century destroyed the palace located on top of a mountain, and the cultural revolution in 1970 destroyed what remained of the two temples, but the ruins are beautiful! Hidden underground passageways still exist and you can just imagine the people centuries ago living in cave rooms, the monks praying and the royalty overseeing it all.

Ruins of Guge Kingdom
How can I forget suffering from AMS - no not altitude sickness (thankfully we aclimatized properly and never felt any side effects), but ACUTE MONESTARY SICKNESS!!! As much as I loved the monestaries we saw... the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Panchoi Monestary w/ Kumbum in Gyantse, Tashilumbo Monestary in Shigatse, Chiu Monestary at Lake Manasarova... there are literally hundreds of temples and monestaries to see and eventually they become quite repetative. Mike and I have learned quite a lot about the Buddhist religion, although we still get many of the Buddha's confused!

Tashilumbo Monestary - the most important monestary for the Penchen Lama

Panchoi Monestary, the Kumbum in the 8 layer building on the left that housed many images of Buddha's
In parting, I would like to share with you some insights to Tibetian culture regarding marriages (marriages... why would I focus on that I wonder?!). Arranged marriages are a strong part of Tibetian beliefs. Typically only one brother of a family will be married so that a families land plot does not become divided into smaller sections. Consequently, the wife is shared between all the brothers of the family in all meanings of the word. It was joked to us that a women will go to bed at one end of the bedroom and wake up at the other end. Paternity is seldom known, so children will call the oldest brother "father" and the younger brothers "uncles". We have also heard of some men having more than one wife.
Okay a few more candid pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Mike & I at the highest pass we drove through.

Local Tibetian house. The brown pile in front of the house is yak/cow dung drying in the sun. Poo is the fuel of choice to keep you warm on a cold night.

For 2 blissful nights we rested at a holy lake called Lake Manasarova and stayed in these mud and wood rooms with no electricity and no showers. Cleaned ourselves in a tiny basin by candlelight.

View from Lake Manasarova looking towards the monestary on the hill at twiligh. Like I said, blissful!
Missing you and caesar salads, cheeseburgers, steaks, popcorn and movies...
Kendra & Mike
7 Comments:
What an amazing experience you guys! This is something you'll truly never forget. I can't wait to see the rest of these pictures when you get back.
Keep the updates coming.....
Patrick
Hey Guys....looks like your trip is absolutely amazing!! I can't believe you've already been gone for so long. Kylie is 5 months old now and getting enormous. You should check out our website!
Love Carrie, Jeremy and Kylie!
When you two started out, did you think you would be experiencing what you have? It's truly amazing! Cherish it all...
Miss you
xo
Laurel
Kendra,
What can I say!!! Great write up of your adventures. Keep them coming. Are you two sure that one year of travel is enough?
Kei
Suddenly my road trip to Red Deer seems so trivial... :) HA!
Awesome update! (So glad you guys didn't get to hooked on the beaches in Thailand!) Your adventurous spirit is great.
Namaste,
...TJ
"A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles."
– Tim Cahill
Kenny + Mike,
Your photos + stories of treking remind me so much of Nepal...brings me back to a trip that changed my life in many ways... (although I too craved Western food while on the trail)
I am so glad you are having a chance to have these adventures and am so proud of you for allowing them to happen...
Sending love and happy thoughts...
J.
Mike and Kendra,
WOW! Been following your journeys and it seems that every time you post you top the last. Can't imagine the gruelling trek you describe so casually...
Greg & Jenn
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