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Everest report: Aug 17, 2003. Expedition Day 12: Everest Base camp - Camp I - Basum.

Today was the most important day of our tour. We were planning to ride our bikes up to the advanced base camp of Mt. Everest. Henning, Annie and Christina returned from Basum at 8 a.m.

The weather remained bad. It had started raining again, but everyone except Lisbeth wanted to head up to advanced base camp. Henning took a cylinder of oxygen on his bike, and our guides carried two more cylingers and an oxygen mask.

Henning started first, followed by Ajs, Annie and Christina.

Kailash, our mechanic, and I decided to follow them on foot. The bikers soon crossed the small river and headed up a yak trail. The trail was difficult, littered with big rocks, but the bikers did not loose their enthusiasm for their momentous final push up Mount Everest.

Soon the rain turned to snow. The bikers were laboring to breathe in the thinning air as they pushed on upward through the rocky landscape. I suggested to Annie and Christina that they turn back if they were not feeling well, but they always replied "I'm fine."

Henning had reached 5240 meters but decided to turn back. I decided to accompany Henning back to our tented hotel at base camp. But Ajs, Annie and Christina vowed to continue the climb.

Henning and I arrived at the hotel tent to wait for the others. I had not eaten breakfast that morning and was feeling hungry, so I ordered egg fried rice for me and our mechanic, an omlette and French fries for Henning, and another order of French fries for Lisbeth.

About 3:30 p.m. Carsten returned exhausted. Since leaving at 8:15 a.m., he had climbed as high as 5600 meters in order to film the area, including the Rongbuk Glacier. He said he saw hundreds of lakes and pools of water in beautiful hues of color, including turquoise, brown and crystal clear.

He said he joined Ajs, Annie and Christina at 5300 meters. Everyone was feeling the ill affects of the high altitude and they planned to descend after a half hour, he said. I was glad to hear they had made it that high without serious illness, accidents or bike problems.

The bikers returned from their record-setting excursion about 3:45 p.m., elated at their experience.

We decided to escape the debilitating effects of the altitude by descending immediately to Basum, where we took four rooms at the Yeti Family Hotel, where Henning cooked Danish dinner.

We agreed to rise the next morning at 7 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. departure. Annie said she wanted to take a side trip up to Langmar La, a 5600 meter pass, so we all agreed to wait for her to rejoin us at a road junction below the pass. Any member of the group who felt like joining her the next day for the climb up to the pass could do so, it was agreed.

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August 18, 2003: Basum - Nyalam (230 km)

We started driving just after breakfast and were on the road early as planned. The bikers decided to remain behind the Land Cruiser until reaching the place where the road branches off to the pass.

It was a rough and tough ride, with numerous small streams and a river crossing where Ajs lost the cap to his petrol tank. We improvised by wrapping the tank opening with plastic.

When we reached a village called Lilung, our guide asked for directions to Langmar La pass and was told we had missed the turn-off. So all five bikers headed back, while the rest of us waited for them in the village.

After about an hour and a half, Henning and Christina returned, riding one bike. They told us Christina's bike had broken down somewhere up above the village and could not be ridden down. I sent Kailash, our mechanic, with the Land Cruiser and ropes to be used in pulling the disabled bike.

I also told our truck driver to take the truck as far as he could so they could load the broken bike into the truck when possible.

An hour and a half later the truck driver returned on Henning's bike and told us they had met Ajs, who was helping pull the broken bike. Another hour and a half went by, and Annie and Lisbeth arrived and said they could not get their bikes above 4900 meters. There did not seem to be a route leading to Langmar La pass, they said.

Henning was relieved that their bikes were not damaged, for he had feared the bikes would be the worse for wear after he saw the landscape above.

It was past our lunch time, so Christina and our guide drove to Old Tigri to buy food for us. They returned with cold drinks and biscuits.

A few minutes later the truck arrived, and our assistant guide told me the truck could not go up to retrieve the broken bike because of lots of mud along the track.

Henning got angry and asked why the rescue plan had been changed. So I told the driver and guide to head back as far as possible to wait for the bikes.

Then I told Henning and the others to go to Tigri and have lunch. I would wait for the bikes, I said. They all agreed. I gave Christina our spare bike for the trip into Old Tingri.

Again Lisbeth had trouble starting her bike, so I told her to ride in the Land Cruiser. I would bring her bike into Old Tingri after the mechanic returned and could fix it, I said.

Then Ajs arrived and reported that Christina's disabled bike had been loaded into the truck. In a few minutes the truck arrived, the mechanic got Lisbeth's bike running, and we all started to Old Tigri for our delayed lunch.

We had to hurry, because we had lost time and were behind schedule for reaching our evening destination, Nyalam.

At Tigri, the mechanic continued working on Lisbeth's bike and I began refueling the bikes. I ate some fried rice Henning had ordered, and I ordered more fried rice for the mechanic. This took about 20 minutes.

As soon as we arrived in Tingri, two foreign travelers asked if we could provide them a ride to the border crossing near Zhangmu, and I said no. They said they would ride in the back of our truck, but I was reluctant to agree. So they asked Henning, who merely referred them back to me.

I finally agreed to let them hitch a ride in the back of our truck.

On reaching Nyalam, we checked into the Nyalam Hotel, and Christina's bike was repaired. I phoned the border and learned that landslides were blocking the road between the Chinese immigration checkpoint and the Nepal checkpoint and at more points on the Nepal side.

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Everest report: 19 Aug 2003 Expedition Day 14: Nyalam, Tibet - Kathmandu (190 km)

we planned to have breakfast at 8 a.m. and to be on the road by 9 a.m. for the final leg of our journey back to Kathmandu.

After checking and refueling the bikes, we headed toward the Chinese immigration post at Zhangmu. Road traffic was backed up along the way, and the Land Cruiser and truck had to wait more than an hour at one point. At Chinese immigration, our bikers were already waiting for us.

The Land Cruiser was forced to halt 10 minutes walking distance short of the checkpoint. Carsten and the assistant guide walked down to the checkpoint and took care of all immigration formalities.

Still the Land Cruiser could not proceed. I managed to unload all our things from the Land Cruiser and transfer them to the truck.

In the rain, we approached the landslide site in the truck, about five kilometers before the Nepal immigration checkpoint. Our bikers already were making their way across the landslide, but our truck was stopped.

A border agent accompanied by a group of porters told me of a short-cut to the border which the porters could use to carry our luggage and spare parts to the check-point. Before I could determine what the agent would charge for this service, the porters started to unload our luggage.

When I asked the price, the agent said the charge would be reasonable but still did not name a figure. Then Ajs approached the agent to ask what the charge would be. The agent said his charge would be US$400 to help us cross all the landslides we would encounter this day. At this news, Ajs ordered him to stop unloading our luggage, and offered to pay US$100. The agent balked, but he finally agreed with me to get us as far as the Nepal immigration checkpoint for $100.

We made it to Nepal immigration with all our goods and obtained arrival stamps in our passports.

Then I learned that Henning, our team leader, had had an accident, injuring his ankle while crossing the landslide. I bandaged his ankle well enough for him to complete the remaining ride to Kathmandu.

Next I hired a jeep to transport our gear as far as the next landslide site, about 15 kilometers into Nepal from the border. Here we again unloaded our gear, which was carried across the landslide by porters. The bikers were able to continue on toward Kathmandu, but we were blocked by a bus on its side in the middle of the road.

Finally the road was cleared and we pushed on, only to encounter yet another landslide blockage after only a few minutes. It took another 45 minutes to pass this barrier. It was nearly 5 p.m. We were beginning to worry that we would have to spend the night in a bus, stranded between dangerous landslides.

After about 45 minutes, the landslide in front of us began moving in a flow of mud and water. Our brave driver gunned the engine and the bus pushed through the flow to the other side.

Our history-making excursion by motor bikes to the northern basecamp of Mount Everest, via Tibet, concluded happily with our arrival finally back in Kathmandu at 9 p.m. that evening. << Previous Page | Back >>>