Last night was very cold but it was cozy and comfortable under the blankets. V and the girls did not sleep at all well. At about 1am I woke to find V sitting upright and gasping. She was struggling to breathe and every time she tried to sleep the feeling of suffocation would wake her. Egle & Manouk had similar experiences. I guess it was a small taste of what high altitude mountaineers have to deal with – not a lot of fun. We had breakfast in the dark at 7h30 (being on Beijing time this far west is silly) and then set out on foot for the real EBC an hour up the track.

The walk was breathtaking in every sense of the word. V and Egle had a tough time with the steep sections in the thin cold air and the sun broke through making the surrounding hills glow against blue skies. On the way up we were treated to a stunning highlighted view of the summit on a deep blue background as the clouds swirled. Unbelievably magnificent. By the time we reached EBC the cloud had unfortunately moved back in for the day. We waited around for 40 minutes hoping it would clear as the sun strengthened behind our backs. My GPS put our location at 18.3km almost due North of the summit :gps:(GPS)::28.14052::86.85184:gps:. 18.3km !! Now that is just cool. After collecting a pebble each V and I turned our backs and walked away. We definitely have to get back to the Himalayas one day. It is just too incredible !

V and Egle opted for a bus ride back to the tourist EBC – I walked with Bob – we chatted and took a lot of interesting shortcuts. Time to stand on my soapbox again:

Bob told me stories of previous groups of tourists he had taken up to EBC. In a recent group, two of the travelers had walked up to the higher base camp alone after Bob had told them that they needed to go as a group with him. Their passports were confiscated and the entire group was held there for two days while the transgressors refused arrogantly to assist Bob in the diplomacy and begging required to get the passports and permits back. If you want to travel in Tibet, obey the rules ! Failing to do so only makes the situation worse for the locals and future travelers.

Turning to the issue of Tibet, Bob and I continued our chat. It seems to be a complicated issue and I know very little about it. There are a lot of problems and the way Tibetans are forced to live under China is almost comparable to apartheid with no end in sight – not cool. Tibetans are now out numbered 20 to 1 by Chinese immigrants that have been encouraged to move here. Four trains a day arrive full of Chinese – Tibetan culture is doubtless endangered.

That being said, Bob’s biggest fear is his tour groups doing stupid things like unveiling a Tibetan flag in public. A stunt like this will get the traveler fined and deported (back to the comfort of home and video games) while the guide could end up spending 18 years in prison.

So, if you want to protest to ‘Free Tibet’ here are some tips and notes;
– Travelers are bound by the laws of the country they are visiting. Don’t try to be a hero in Tibet. It will just make everything worse for everyone.
– Go home. Start a blog, a petition, organize a protest at an embassy. Protest within the law.
– Most importantly be aware of what you are asking for. The return of the Dali Lama to power is NOT a good solution. It could even be worse than the current situation. Remember when the Dalai Lamas were in power, Tibetans were reduced to a population of peasants forced into subservience to the Lama class. It was never a democratic country, it was a theocratic dictatorship. I recommend checking out Penn & Teller’s treatment of the subject (Bullshit episode – ‘Holier than thou’. I think ?)

Stepping off the soapbox… Phew.. Won’t do that too often !

The rest of the day was spent uneventfully on the road back to Shigatse. Our third full day on the road, we were all knackered and longing for some palatable food which we found in the Chinese fast food chain ‘Dicos’. Tomorrow we have another full day on the road to get back to Lhasa.

[Pictures: Big E in the morning. Don’t worry. We got much better shots with the camera]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi