Photographs of Mount Everest and EBC

Previous page - The journey to Mount Everest

 

More photographs of the Everest Base Camp and Mt Everest

Arriving at EBC we were able to drive much further in than we expected. Where were the horses and carts we thought we would ride on? This was different to what we had read about.

The tourists' vehicles park over near the few buildings and then, passport in hand, everyone marches over to the policeman who is located at a bench inside the grey tent you see on the left of the first photograph. We were checked out and our Everest Permits were retained by him. Then we were permitted to continue on a few further metres to the hill top where Mt Everest is traditionally viewed from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sky was a brilliant blue and we were able to see Mount Everest very clearly.

From the base camp it is still a further 80 kilometres to the famous mountain itself. Mount Everest is 8844 metres above sea level.

Because we were extremely cold we didn’t hang around there too long. We had a quick toilet visit and it was the usual hole in the concrete kind of toilet. Then we were back in the car.

 

 

 

Not staying at Rombuk

Initially we were going to stay at Rombuk Hotel for the night but our guide realized that gross accommodation conditions didn’t suit us at all so she asked if we would prefer to keep driving and stay the night at Shigatze instead. She explained it was a long drive but it might be better than staying at Rombuk. We were quite happy to go along with her suggestion. She and the guide were probably quite relieved that we agreed, too.

 

Lunch at Cho Mo Lang Ma Ben Ba Restaurant

Two hours after leaving Everest Base Camp we stopped for lunch in a small village. It was rather dark inside the place but so beautifully and finely decorated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a yak dung heater in the middle of the room but it wasn’t turned on. We sat on the carpeted benches around the edge of the room and drank weak Jasmine tea with the leaves floating around the top.  I only ate a small part of my meal because I still didn’t feel well. A cat was meowing somewhere in the room but we couldn’t see it. There were so many items of furniture it could have been hiding behind or underneath. Later we asked to use the toilets. We were directed up a rickety metal staircase (which was more like a ladder) to a room with a couple of hole-in-the-floor toilets. By the way, you do actually get more capable of handling such things as squat toilets after a while.

Onwards towards Shigatze.......

 

Next page - We arrive in Shigatze

 

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