Shigatse to Rongbuk Monastery At North Face Everest
The drive from Shigatse to Rongbuk took the entire day, driving over several high passes. Many tourists visit the North Face of Everest by combining it with a trip to Nepal since it could be considered "on the way." Left the Shengkang Hotel in Shigatse very early and started off. The scenery was constantly changing. One minute there would be the massive Himalayas, snow caps glistening in the sun...a few minutes later, the car was struggling up towards a pass, making "s" turns all the way up (very glad I took Meclizine, a generic for motion-sickness)...and then we'd come down into vast open distances filled with farmlands.
It was planting season and boggles my mind how anything could grow in the dry, arid soil. But people were out plowing furrows throughout the entire valley with the husband controlling one or two yaks (always colorfully decorated with pom-poms) while his wife followed behind with the seeds. Such a hard, hard life...
Gyatso La, 5,220m/17,070', was the highest point of this trip and there were magnificent views of the Himalayas at the top. Amazing to think this was the opposite side of the same Himalayas we fell in love with in Nepal. Miles and miles of barren emptiness but with the "rooftop of the world" behind.
In the past, anyone who wanted to visit the North Face of Mount Everest would pay an entrance fee in Shegar and then drive up the road to Rongbok Monastery. This has changed. The Chinese Government recently instituted a new method whereby all vehicles (with the exception of Government vehicles, of course) had to park and stay in Shegar while newly scheduled buses took tourists from Shegar to Rongbok. Truthfully, a more sensible decision but I was irritated that we hadn't been told of these changes and had to wait an hour for the next bus. This was cutting into North Face time!
FINALLY, at Rongbok Monastery/Gompa, the reason for this trip. Rongbuk Monastery is the highest in the world and was founded in 1902. The chapels and monastery were of little interest. The Rongbuk valley was. Just standing there, you could see down the entire valley with the entire North Face of Mount Everest before you.
After gaping for minutes at this unbelievable sight, we were directed to our "basic guesthouse" almost at the foot of Mount Everest. "Basic?" This was, by far, the most disgusting guesthouse we had ever seen. The only reason anyone in their right mind would ever stay here was the perfect view of Mount Everest. This is one time, a tent would have looked mighty good to us, and I can only imagine the looks on our faces.
Our "room" had two twin beds, no sink, no toilet. The windows consisted of cracked glass, no shades, drapes or blinds. That was fine since Mount Everest was crystal clear outside this room. The bed's four corners were supported by four little piles of wood, discovered when I accidently banged a foot into a corner and the bed collapsed. Rebuilt this pile of wood (rather like playing with blocks again), and set out to find a toilet.
Rongbuk Guesthouse has been here for at least 20 years. Originally, it was a shelter, one room with mats, and simply got bigger over time. The "toilets" were beyond description but I'll try. Two holes dug in the ground behind a waist-high concrete surround that hadn't been cleaned or re-dug in all this time. Fecal matter all over the place, hundreds of people attempting to use these "holes" every day, and there wasn't a ghost of a chance under the sun, or in this world, that we were ever going to use THIS TOILET! Note: After the trip, I found out that neither the Government nor the monks want to deal with the toilet situation. However, there is supposedly a new guesthouse in the vicinity about a half-mile away. Stay there or tent!
This is serious altitude, 16,300' here and a five-mile walk to Base Camp, 17,200' tomorrow. In between gasps for air, ex-Marine and I set off to find a semi-secluded area to do whatever toilet functions were necessary. There was no such place! We'd settle for urinating anywhere...and prayed for constipation until we left Rongbuk tomorrow.
