May 21, 2007
To Nam La Trail: Camp with Kiwis, Alt 4875
Patrick sleeps better than the previous night when he kept waking up short of breath. Per Rachel's advice, he has stacked some blankets under the pillow and slept more upright.
Up by 7:15, and breakfast of one more pancake, we are ready to leave. Mt. Everest is beautiful in the clear sky. We have about an hour head start on the Kiwis who plan to follow the same "back road" to Dingri. Jorg and Tine left yesterday. The guidebook makes it sound like this route, although much shorter than backtracking through Baipa, is not much more than a trail and may make it necessary to carry our bikes. We've seen land cruisers come down it and the Kiwi's plan on riding this with their support truck, makes us think the route must be improved.
We backtrack about 16km, mostly downhill and then we look for the trail. Several trails lead down to the river that flows deeper down a gorge, the bridge is not visible from the road. We cross the bridge and find a small clear water stream and have our first lunch. A group of about 7 Italian mountain bikers that stayed at the Monastery guesthouse, passes first. They don't say much since planning to go all the way to Dingri in one day doesn't allow for stopping.
Next are the Kiwis. They cross the stream and sit down with us for a rest. We are filtering water since we are not quite sure how far we'll try to go today. Then another group of supported mountain bikers whizz by, they don't say anything either, must be Germans according to Patrick.
We start climbing on a surprisingly good dirt road. There are some steep sections we have to walk, but we keep pretty well up with the Kiwis. The Italians and Germans are long gone. Passing through a village we meet the customary little boys who come running to the road with outstretched hands. Their parents and of course tourists that hand out money, candy or pencils set them up to this behavior. (Something to consider: https://www.siemreap.net/magazine/travel/why-you-shouldnt-give-money-to-begging-children/)
The Kiwis have reached their intended campsite at about 1:00pm, we decide to push on and try to get higher or even over the pass. A majority of the groups members are struggling, probably the altitude. Their leader, Graham Firth gets in the land cruiser to scout out the road ahead. On their way back he stops at us and tells us of a good campsite about 1.5km further and about 150 meters higher. We make it our goal too, and we end up sharing the camp together. We eat our last emergency meal and a freeze dried chocolate cheesecake! Rachel plays cards with the Kiwis, Patrick finishes his book. (Update: we kept in contact with Graham and Juliet visited us in Boise before Graham set off on his own RTW tour)
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Today's ride: 26 km (16 miles)
Total: 9,280 km (5,763 miles)
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