Himalaya Adventure: DAY 20 WED. OCT. 22 LHASA

We were promised a nine hour bus ride through amazing scenery. Instead, we endured a twelve hour bus ride through unbelievably wonderful scenery and strange Chinese bureaucracy that bordered on the Monty Python version of the absurd.

We began early on another cold but crisp clear morning. The sky is crazy blue and mostly cloudless here. For the first couple of hours, we travelled on busy but well maintained roads cutting through a broad flat valley of the Bramahputra River. We were surrounded by brown, dry hills. Then, we climbed and climbed along wonderfully engineered switchbacks, up and up. As we left the valley behind, the farms became smaller and scarcer and yak, very much at home above 10,000 feet, watched over us in silent judgement. At last, we entered two passes: the first. Kambala at 14,200 feet, provided spectacular views of the snow and glacier capped Himalayas. The second, Karolla at 15,000 feet, formed a magnificent sky-blue glacial lake, Yamdrok Tso. In both cases, we were absolutely gob-smacked at the wonder, and robbed of oxygen by the altitude. Then, the long descent to a monastery ( yes, I thought we were done with them! ) in a small town just outside Shigatse, where we rejoined the tree line. As the day wore on, it was clear that we were behind schedule and bone weary.

As night fell, we had to pull over and wait for ten to fifteen minutes. This stretch of highway today is dangerous and has had many recent fatalities. As a result, a policeman is required to travel on all busses to keep a close eye on things, and there are check points that one must stop at to have tickets and timing verified: like a rally. The absurdity is that our stern policeman was just a jovial young guy who kibitzed with the guide and driver throughout. And as for the time-checks ... as we pulled into Shigatse in the early darkness, we were ahead of schedule. Hence, the stop and wait, after a very long day .... crazy !