Everest

After two nights of bushcamping we reached the road leading to Mount Everest, or Qomolangma. The first pass on the 90km road gave some of the best views of the Himalayas, with five 8000m+ peaks visible, truly stunning scenery. After a wonderful drive through some picturesque hamlets we arrived at a weird tent conglomeration, a bit like a shanty town but entirely consisting of tent "hotels" for tourists like us. The hotel names are great: Metal Yak Grand Hotel; Alex English Tea House; Hotel De California; Mt. Everest Happiness Tea House and Steel Firm Guesthouse to name just a few. All of these establishments are about 5x5m tents made of brown yak hair, which makes the names even more amusing.

From here we could go up to the proper base camp, either walking or by taking the bus conveniently available for lazy people like me. So one furious bus ride up a gravel road later, we were at Everest North Base Camp. Or to be more precise, we were at the army checkpoint guarding the camp. After some time queueing to show the guards our passports, we were informed that we were not allowed into the camp, as there was some technicality wrong with our permit. I have been knocked back from clubs before, but never from a mountain! As it turns out, we didn't really miss much as to go further than the camp required a second, extremely expensive permit. Anyway, the view from tent town was better since the clouds had lifted by the evening. The following morning was better still, with not one cloud obscuring the peak at dawn, truly amazing.

Qomolangma is a real wonder of the world. Even if you didn't know that it is the highest mountain in the world, you cannot fail to be awed by it. I had a great day here, especially since I have finally acclimatised to the altitude: 5100m in tent town!