Sunrise on Everest

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Day 17: Sunrise at Everest - Rongbuk Monastery - Shigatse

The sunrise on Everest At this time of the year it takes place around 7:40 in the morning, so last night, after arriving at the Everest Base Camp in Tibet, we set the alarm clock at 7 in the morning, thinking above all, of having a few extra minutes In case our body does not react as well as we expected.
Despite this fear, we have to say that we have slept all night from the pull, without any discomfort or discomfort, something that has remained in the morning and throughout the day, surprising us a lot, since after all we had read and told us, we expected at least to have some discomfort.
Given this good situation, the first thing we do is pick up the room and go to the shared bathroom of the Rongbuk Monastery Guesthouse, where we have stayed tonight.


Intuiting the outside temperature, we put on some more layer of clothes, including thermal t-shirt, we went out to the street to find superb views of the sun-drenched Everest and totally discovered, something that only happens at this time of year and we have the immense luck to be able to contemplate and live in these moments.

Awesome sunrise on Everest

Sunrise on Everest

After taking photos and more photos, walking around the area, without forcing the body, although we are perfectly well, when it is 7:30 in the morning, we return to the guesthouse, where we have a coffee that comforts us and we It gives more life than we have right now after one of the most incredible visions we have ever had, accompanied by an omelet and pancake, which is the breakfast they serve, enjoying incredible views of Everest in front of us.

Awesome sunrise on Everest

Breakfast in front of Everest

After having the body at full capacity and with Pasang and Tre also ready, we store the backpacks and the oxygen bottle in the car and travel the short journey to the tents that serve as "hotel"to those who want to stay in this type of accommodation, which we talked about yesterday in the different accommodation options at Everest Base Camp.
Here we must leave the car, and get on a bus that for 25RMB per person and a journey of just under a kilometer takes us to the Base Camp, proper, Everest.
And so, with a temperature of -10 degrees, we set off to have this incredible spectacle of nature much closer.

Everest Base Camp

Everest Base Camp

Everest Base Camp

We have to say that describing what we have experienced and what we have felt is practically impossible. We can only say that getting here and facing Everest, makes you realize many things. How each of us has our "Everest himself"And how, after such a trip, we can and should be able to leave all our fears there.
Without a doubt, this trip to Tibet has represented for us a before and after and one of the trips we are sure, we will never forget.

Prayer flags in front of Everest

After spending here about 40-45 minutes, in which we can say that we have practically been alone, they say that this in summer is a hotbed of tourists, although the roof of the world It is not seen at that time.
Despite what we say, we believe that this should not be a reason not to come, we assure you that the trip itself, the way here, the route with all the visits, the challenge that your body is altitude and see, finally , Everest, is something that can be shared with more travelers, although in some moments, it can be uncomfortable. Of course, if you have the opportunity to travel in April or May, it is the best time.

We are here the prudential time that allows us to enjoy the place, take pictures, take some memories in the form of white stones that Pasang explains to us that give good luck and represent the Goddess and hang some prayer flags that we carry with us since we arrived and with which we have left a lot and have taken even more of this trip to Tibet and Everest Base Camp.

Living our Everest

Everest Base Camp

"Who has ever heard the voice of the mountains, can never forget it". Tibetan proverb

With our hands completely frozen, we get back into one of the mini buses, from which we cannot stop turning our heads in search of the latest images of Everest. Once again in the tents area, we ask Pasang for some extra minutes, to enjoy this area, from where you also have incredible views of Everest and from where we say goodbye to the Roof of the World, hoping to return to See us one day.

Everest

Stunning views of Everest

After this time extra, we return to the car where Tre waits for us to make the second visit of the day, Rongbuk Monastery, just in front of our accommodation tonight, and where we enjoy an incredible sunrise on Everest This morning, he welcomes us in the main hall with his monks praying. We could not have asked for a better way to end this trip than this.

Rongbuk Monastery

Views of our accommodation from Rongbuk Monastery

Rongbuk Monastery is the main monastery of the Everest Valley and is also considered as the highest monastery in the world, at 5200 meters above sea level, although when we ask Pasang for this information, he tells us that he does not believe So be it and sure, there is one at a higher height.
The monastery is very small and is visited in a short time, although what is really spectacular is the place where it is located and the views from Everest, as well as being the protagonist of one of the most important images typical from this area, with the chorten in the foreground and the Everest in the background.

Rongbuk Monastery

Although the body has been reacting perfectly throughout the morning, we avoid making excessive efforts, so we enjoy the area and the views walking slowly, in addition to this, try to delay the time to say goodbye to one of the most incredible that we have been fortunate to make known.

Rongbuk and Everest Monastery in the background

It's almost 11 in the morning when we start the trip back to Lhasa, which today will take us to Shigatse where we will sleep at the Shigatse Hotel and where we will arrive after 7-8 hours by car.
Probably after reading us, you will wonder if it is worth taking such a long journey just to see Everest. After our experience we can only tell you one thing: definitely yes.
Everest is the end point, it is the icing, it is that moment in which the sun hits you in the face and you forget everything and understand that you do not need more than that to be happy.
But it is really the road to Everest that really makes you reach that moment, with all the curves of the road. With all the challenges, especially physical, due to the altitude. With all the cultural differences with which you find yourself and that in the end, they end up showing you that in what really matters, in the true essence, we are much more similar than we believe. For that reason alone, it is worth every second of this trip to Tibet.

Amazing Everest

And so, along the way back we get back to the second viewpoint where we were yesterday, from where we saw the covered Everest, but from where today we have sublime views of the Himalayas, with Everest dawning and starting to cover , at this time of day.

Road and curves to reach Everest

Panoramic Everest

Saying goodbye to Everest

After this stop, it is necessary to follow the route, passing again the security controls area for when it is 2:25 p.m., stop at the restaurant of a small village where we eat some delicious rice dishes, invited by Pasang.
After a brief table talk, we get back on track, we still have 3 hours to reach Shigatse, returning to incredible landscapes, dotted with small towns and people working the land, which make the car trip a whole "show".
And so, when it is 5:30 in the afternoon, we arrive at Shigatse, approaching the Shigatse Hotel first, where we leave our backpacks and where we take a shower, so necessary after being last night in an accommodation without a shower and how it could not be otherwise, we are going to walk through Shigatse, a pretty city China", but that we want to know something more than what we did the day we arrived and how many places we visited to see in Tibet.
This time we do not take the cameras, since we are wishing get lost a little, without having to think about the photographs and we get lost in the streets of the city, without crossing any other western, until we reach the Tashilumpho Monastery, where we begin to cross with traditional monks, pilgrims and little shops, which the other day did not We were able to get to travel with tranquility and that today, we enjoyed in slow motion.
It's almost 8 at night, when being in this area of ​​the city we took the opportunity to go to the restaurant where we ate the other day with Pasang and Tre and where we ordered the same dishes the other day, momos, naan and yak steak plus soda and Beer for 116RMB, which give us the best way to end the day: enjoying Tibetan cuisine.

After dinner, we have to take a 20-minute walk through the city to get back to our hotel, where after working for a couple of hours, we surrender to the power of the bed, hoping to see again in our dreams another incredible sunrise on Everest.

Remember that any foreign traveler who wants to travel to Tibet must do so through an agency (IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TRAVEL TO TIBET FOR FREE), either by adding to a group or privately and having, before entering Tibet, a fixed route, that the agency will have submitted and must be approved by the Chinese authorities.
To obtain the visa and all permits, it is necessary that this itinerary be approved by the authorities. It is also not possible to modify the itinerary on the fly, something very important to keep in mind, as it will force you to be clear about what you want to visit from the first moment, since based on that, the agency will manage the permits.
In our case we have traveled with The China Guide, who managed all the permits after designing a personalized itinerary together, with a guide in Spanish and that has led us to enjoy as we had never imagined this magical place.

Day 18: Shigatse - Tips for altitude sickness Tibet - Lhasa

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