Kathmandu again!

I can't believe we're back in Kathmandu again. After leaving Shigatse we cycled out into the countryside (and I got a puncture from a wayward piece of glass in the road) for many nights of camping. We rejoined the main road after taking the southern and quieter road to Shigatse, but it didn't make too much difference as the road heads straight to Everest Base Camp and the border so wasn't too busy. There were plenty of Tibetan villages to cycle through to start with but they got sparser the further we went. A few days in we took the turning towards Everest Base Camp over the Pang La. The road was the only untarred one we took in Tibet, and boy it was bad - lots of pot holes and corrugations. Nick and I managed 10km up the pass, through sticky mud and rain before calling it a day. Then at the top we stopped to look out on the view - a bit cloudy but there were lots of ammonites to distract us! On the way down the road was still bad and I managed to catch an edge in a rut and fell off the bike into one of the large concrete bollards, thankfully otherwise I would have been off the edge. A bit rattled I tried to reattach the rear wheel, that had come off, and didn't quite manage it, so I was happy when the minivan scooped me up and ferried me to the camp where Doug easily fixed it! Must have been the shock. The following day we rode up to Everest Base Camp, which had stunning views but it was a little bit weird. There were lots of yak hair tents set out in a big rectangle (like around a football pitch) and each proclaimed to be a hotel - my favourite was the 'Metal Yak Grand Hotel'!!!

As the exit road was out (landslide) we made it back to the tarmac where we had turned off a few days before and cycled through Tingri, again with stunning views of Everest and Choy Oyu. That night we camped next to a local inn and got the chance to pop in for a nosey and a beer - it was a real highlight to see how the people where living. Unfortunately the town was full of dogs that howled all through the night! Onwards and we only had two passes left and I happily made it up both of them and through the headwind on the otherside. We caught sight of Shishipangma too! We camped at the top of the gorge leading to Nyalam, and even visited the town for a hot shower, the first in a week! Then we started the 160km descent to Nepal. We swooped down the mountain and into the mist, which made it pretty treacherous! I must have made it all the way through one set of brake blocks! Near the border were a couple of dodgy little towns and then we were having our passports checked 3 times to leave China! We said goodbye to Goncho, our Tibetan guide, and headed to a little hostelry for lunch on the Nepalese side. We made a decision to cycle to The Last Resort for the night. The road was abysmal, as were the dogs that chased us! We went over several landslides, dragging our bikes through the mud! We did it again the following morning but they petered out by lunch time as we continued to descend. But after lunch we cycled through the heat of the day and I was rather unwell with lack of salt, 6 rehydration salts packets later and all was well again. Nick made it up the final climb to Dhulikel, where we spent the night. This morning we cycled the last 30km into Kathmandu, the traffic was terrible, as was the road surface. Just as well we were all on mountain bikes! And so we're back in the Holy Himalaya Hotel, in reach of good food and the Internet again, having cycled 622miles!