Gyantse:

March 30th, 2005 - March 31st, 2005

Our trip to Mt. Everest Base Camp began at 6am on a Wednesday morning. We drove westward from Lhasa, reaching the magnificent Yamdrok-tso (lake) at sunrise.

The turquoise waters shimmered in the early light and provided a great contrast for the unique brown mountains of Tibet. The sky was clear blue and things could not have been better - that was until we reached a construction zone.

It appeared as though the road was passable, but there was a long line of tractors and cars so we wandered down to the lake for a bit. An hour later we were told that the road was going to be closed for another 10 hours!

However, a Tibetan informed us that foreigners have power and that we should go and talk to the head at the military base and get him to give us the OK to pass by on the road.

En masse, our group of 10 plus another group of 5 plus their guide and one of our drivers marched into the base on the side of the road. We asked to speak to the man in charge. Out came a boyish looking man in an over sized army-green uniform with three-stars on each of his shoulders.

The guide for the other group told our story of how we had places to go, but the General got upset and retreated to his office.

All of us funneled into the room outside his office while the guide and General continued to argue. One by one we entered his office, hoping this pressure tactic would pay off and he would let us pass. It didn't work. He just got more and more upset and puffed harder and harder on his cigarette.

We were told to leave.

Outside we regrouped and came up with another strategy that often works in "Peoples Republic" ... Bribery. We were going to try and pay our way through. The guide from the other group went in with a proposal and the General listened.

Everything seemed good to go until another General arrived and said that we would not be allowed to pass his part of the road!

This guy looked like a mini version of Mao and strutted around in a cocky manner with his big warm army jacket draping off his shoulders. He began to yell and freak out at the guide and our driver. Plan B was nixed.

At this point we had nothing to do so we all camped out on the outer walls of the base and also on the stairs in the main courtyard. The first General then began to make small talk with us and became quite friendly - in turn, we borrowed hot water from the base to make noodles for lunch and used their toilets.

Suddenly, a loud whistle blew and all the men left the base for the mess hall for lunch. That must have changed their heart and right after lunch they came out and told us we were allowed to drive on the road.

The road was much worse than we thought and we had to off-road several times to get by, but it was worth it.

We had a brief stop in the town of Nagartse for lunch and passed through a mountain pass of 5045m, which contained a large glacier, before reaching Gyantse at 7pm.

Time was short in Gyantse because of our delay, but the sights were good. Due to Tibet being on Beijing time, the sun didn't set till nearly 9pm so we ventured to the old fort.

We found an open gate and a ticket booth that appeared abandoned so we climbed the mountain to get a good view of the city. We only made it half way because of a locked door, but it was still nice.

With a little daylight left to spare we found the monastery and bargained with a monk for 10 minutes to let us in for free. He finally agreed and we had just enough time to take some exterior photos of the Gyantse Kumbum, one of the more spectacular structures in Tibet.

We returned to the Gyantse Kumbum and Monastery in the morning to hear the monks chant. Unfortunately, we missed it as they were inside and we wandered around outside! But, we did get to climb to the top of the Kumbum and view many of the 77 chapels while getting nudged out of the way by pilgrims trying to pray in each and every chapel in record time.

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