Overlanding To Australia – Part Nine
Me-ann and Haydon are already at 3600 metres – but it’s time to climb even further for a visit to Everest Base Camp…
Me-ann and Haydon complete their tour of China and Tibet with an epic climb to the foothills of Mt Everest
After a few days in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, it's time to get back on the road. We’re at 3600m altitude, but now we’re going to head even higher. After a few days of driving through beautiful villages, we arrive at the visitor centre for Mt Everest (known locally as Qomolangma). The road that takes us from here to Everest Base Camp is a brand-new ribbon of tarmac snaking through the vast plateau with passes, taking us even higher than the base camp itself.
We catch glimpses of Everest all the way along this road. From one viewpoint, we can see four of the world’s top six highest mountains, all of which are over 8000 m. The weather is perfect, with a high pressure giving clear, chilly, rich blue skies.
After a relaxing day’s drive, we reach Rongbuk Monastery, the highest on earth. The weather is perfect, and this is the closest we have got to the great mountain yet. The cars line up for the obligatory photo with the world'shighest mountain in the background. We also stay to witness the golden sunset reflected off the north face of the massive peak.
It is cold in the mornings at this altitude, dipping as low as -10 degrees, which gives the cars in our group a few problems. The in-line additional diesel filter on a German couple’s G Wagen freezes one morning and has to be removed. They decide to fill up with minus -20 degrees diesel (which is widely available in Tibet) from then on. Both Defenders have small issues, too, with the Td5 needing a long turn of the key to wake her up and the TDCI running a little lumpy until warm. All the cars take up the bad habit of smoking a little more.
The altitude starts to take effect on both man and machine, too. The Defenders are slightly down on power, and the non-turbo Merc is very slow on the long inclines. The TDCI’S short ratios and torque in the high switchback roads is great, and third gear gets us through most corners. In the Td5, Tom is having to use first and second, as he had his gearbox lengthened for better motorway driving back at home.
Knowing that we would be gaining altitude quickly on the drive, Me-ann had started taking Diamox as a precaution when we reached 3500 m. This has helped reduce the symptoms of altitude sickness. I’ve decided not to take the medicine, as I feel I acclimatised
well during the climb of Mt Elbrus in Russia. Diana from the Swiss team suffered at the beginning, but using a less effective local altitude remedy means it’s taken her a week to acclimatise.
Waking up after our coldest night on the trip so far, we head on foot from Base Camp A (5000 m) to Base Camp B (5200 m) after a warm cup of tea. With some shortness of breath we get our photos, and then we leave the majestic mountain to continue the rest of our China adventure. Next up is the country’s most beautiful – and potentially most treacherous – highway, the G318.
The road, which links Tibet and China’s Sichuan province, is also notorious for being impassable in the wet season, as it is prone to landslides. As a result, the government has started a massive road-building project for an expressway to connect Lhasa to Sichuan province. Some sections are still being completed and to get around the landslide problem the Chinese have decided to use bridges and tunnels. The concrete bridges are cast in factories along the road and transported to the relevant sites. They do not complete one section of the road at a time; they build the whole road in one go.
The road largely follows the valley, but some sections are cut into the steep mountain sides. The present road was built by the Chinese army when they first entered Tibet. Some sections are being rebuilt as the rainy season has washed many parts into the river. Our progress is slow, but after five days of battling with Chinese drivers we arrive in the town of Chengdu.
We continue our adventure, visiting pandas in Chengdu and then travelling through the charming old towns of Lijiang and Dali in Yunnan province as we head south towards the border with Laos.
China and Tibet are a highlight of our trip so far. It is a real privilege to drive in China, and the hard work paid off. Chinese drivers are a little creative with their interpretation of the rules of the road at times, however, and that won’t be missed.
After an amazing 50 days, we’ve covered 11,300 km (7021 miles), visited 11 UNESCO World Heritage sites and, in Tibet, our average altitude was 4000 m. Driving in a group isn't as bad as we first thought, and it gives you a different experience. We will definitely see the Swiss and their Td5 again and I'm sure we’ll catch the Germans along the road, too.
“After an amazing 50 days, we've covered 11,300 km”