May 15, 2007
To Gyantso La: Alt 5066
There was rain and hail during the night, but this morning most clouds have disappeared, and blue sky is visible. However, the only hotel employee visible this morning is asleep in a little aluminum cubby at the top of the stairs, he doesn't get up to see if we need something. Patrick heads for the kitchen and plugs in an ancient electrical water bottle for some hot water for our breakfast.
About 8 km past the town is a major road junction, left goes to Nepal and right to Mt. Kailash. There is a checkpoint, the one Jorg and Tina had been concerned about. We get there just as a truck passes through and the rope barrier is lowered. Nobody seems to care about us, so we keep going. We turn up the valley and soon see the Kiwi Camp. A little further we run into the two Germans. It's all uphill today, we are climbing up to 5140 meters high, Gyantso La. The last part is hard, we notice the altitude and the road switchbacks up an exposed hillside. At the summit is an ugly gate and lots of prayer flags. There should be a view here but we can only see the first range which is already covered in clouds.
After just a little on the descent, we see the 12 Kiwi's taking a break by the side of the road. A little further down a dirt path is a nice camping spot with an awesome view where we decide to stay tonight. Shortly after we are set up and have finished our coffee, a hail/snow storm passes through and forces us in the tent to wait for a brief pause in the weather for dinner.
We have one of our "emergency" meals of beef stroganoff. Very nice!
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Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 9,186 km (5,705 miles)
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