The reason that mountain looks so big is because it's Mount Everest

We left Shigatse the morning of the 20th. All we did all day was drive. In the early evening, we reached Shegar which was amost nothing except a street with a couple shops and homes. Matt and I checked into our hotel (the toilet didn't work and though the room looked clean, it smelled like there was poo hidden everywhere) and left to explore the town.

The exploring took about fifteen minutes after which we bought a Lhasa Beer and sat in the sun. Pretty soon, there were several children surrounding us, checking out our pictures and asking for pencils and money. We all kept each other mutually entertained for quite some time after which we took some pictures together in front of their tractor then headed back to our hotel.

The smell of the room proved tolerable only because the room itself was slightly warm. Warm is a relative term. At these temperatures, bathing is out of the question.

We woke up at 5:30 the next morning to head to Everest. It was a freezing ride. When the sun came up, we could see the landscape and it was incredible. Although we couldn't see Everest until we were almost on top of it, there were plenty of other views to keep us enthralled.



We saw the wildlife around dawn, which consisted of the usual (cows, sheep, goats, and yaks) plus mini-deer and arbres. I can't tell you much about the mini-deer except that that's not what they're really called, but I will tell you about the arbres. I MUST HAVE ONE. They are they cutest, fattest little furballs ever. Imagine a cross between a guinea pig and a fatmouse (space deliberately excluded to emphasize cuteness). When they hear you coming, they bound back into their little holes with a great display of speed and hoppiness. I feel that my life will not be complete until I have one as a pet. My foolish brother insists that my dog will not live with it in utter harmony and love (as I suspect) but instead will devour it instantly.



We arrived at the Everest basecamp around 11am. It was freezing and the altitude is 5200m so I couldn't catch my breath. Even walking a few steps makes you huff and puff like you ran a mile. We climbed up the mound of rocks and admired the mountain. It was a rather spiritual experience, and we decided to add a line of prayer flags to the pile.



Because of the extreme temperature, we descended quickly back to the car and went to have some instant noodles and check out the monastery. It was nice but there was almost no one there. Apparently the vast majority of the monks go to their real homes during the winter because it's so cold.

An hour later, we were bumping along in the warm car and I was wondering why we didn't stay longer at basecamp to admire the giant. It only took one bathroom stop outside the car to remember.

The pictures on this post are the arbre, a nomad campsite (there's a tent with smoke rising up and a stone corral full of sheep) and me below Mount Everest.