Tibet's North Face of Everest
With all the emphasis on treks to Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal and climbing the South Face to the top, people tend to forget about the other route, Tibet's North Face. The Nepal trip takes 10 days of trekking from Lukla to Everest Base Camp and then another 10 days returning to Lukla. ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I did a shorter version of this trek as far as Tengboche (read "Mt. Everest Escapade," November 21, 2006) but still had a desire to see Mount Everest closer than that. A lot of reading and I discovered that you could actually DRIVE to Rongbuk, in Tibet, and then hike to the North Face of Everest Base Camp, approximately 8 kms/5 miles away. Now that sounded like something easily attainable, and the thought of returning to Tibet was a big plus. (read "Heart of Tibet," July 1, 2006). I really wanted to revisit Lhasa and the stupendous Potala Palace, along with other important monasteries missed on the previous trip to Tibet.
With specific sights in mind, a group tour just wasn't going to do the job so we contacted Tomas at Footloose Travel, to explore prices and options. Tomas had previously arranged a three-week trip to Ladakh for us (read "Ladakh, A Summer Destination," March 31, 2006) and arranges a myriad of individual trips and group tours around the world.
Tibet is another destination that can be called dirt-cheap to travel around. It most definitely is not necessary to arrange a high-end $3,000-4,000+ per person trip. How about....$1,500 per person for what we wanted to see and do with PRIVATE GUIDE AND DRIVER? Now, you're talking... This trip could have been even less expensive if we stayed in guesthouses and backpackers can see everything for almost pennies. The Chinese Government would prefer high-end group tours and gives preference to them, but there is nothing to stop you from arranging your own trip.
Extensive e-mailing later, we came up with several days in Lhasa, Shigatse, Rongbuk with a hike to North Face Everest Base Camp, Sakya, Gyangtse, Langgartse, Tsedang and back to Lhasa.
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