hi there, ive been having a great time of late, been off adventuring in tibet!!! i flew from chengdu on a really grey and overcast morning, to lhasa. as soon as the plane was high enough, we broke through the clouds to blue skies and great views of the mountains below, it was really scenic. and the temperature when we landed in lhasa was much warmer than i was expecting, which was a pleasant surprise. but the city itself i wasnt too keen on - after spending most of the last few weeks in cities, i was wanting a break, and i didnt find it there. the poverty is obvious and although its sights are interesting, i also felt they were something of a rip off. i enjoyed walking round the barkhor kora - a pilgrim circuit around a 1300yr old temple. its filled with market stalls where you can buy everything from a new pair of shoes, to jewellery to block prints of holy scriptures, to prayer flags....and almost everything in between. there was a good atmosphere there, especially as i arrived right at the end of an important festival. there were loads of pilgrims walking round, spinning prayer wheels, prostrating themselves . they actually lay full length along the pavement and started again from where their prayer beads had touched the ground in front of them. it must have taken them some time to complete the circuit!! i visited the jokhang temple - paid my money and got a free cd rom souvenir!! cant help but feel they should be spending the money a little more wisely. to be honest, i found it much like other temples ive visited, though i was rather entertained inside by the sight of one man physically manhandling another out the door, possibly for making a video when he wasnt meant to. at that point, i put my camera back in my bag!! and the potala palace, which was once the centre of the tibetan government and the winter residence of the dalai lama. its a fairly impressive building, but i do think a little over rated. you arent allowed to take photos inside, which is fair enough, but inside its so dark you can barely even see the exhibits, which include tombs of previous dalai lamas. still, there were good views from the roof, and on my way down, all the tibetans wanted to shake my hand or stroke my arm - possibly they couldnt believe how pale i am - but more likely they were hoping i would give them money - thats one thing i wouldnt get used to in lhasa, even if i spent the next 5 years there - the begging. the poverty is obvious, as soon as you arrive, but there are beggars everywhere. there are also stories doing the rounds that the 'monks' arent really monks, but savvy tibetans whove seen westerners giving money to monks, so theyve bought themselves the robes - easily available and are going round pretending to be collecting for some remote monastery.... its very sad. so i was quite happy to get out of lhasa, and head into west tibet. the morning we left the weather was miserable, in contrast to what wed enjoyed previously. it bucketed for the first hour or so as we drove along the friendship highway, the main road between lhasa and kathmandu in nepal. we had tantalising glimpses of snowcapped mountains through breaks in the clouds. but gradually the weather improved. the roads werent great so progress was slow as we made our way to shigatse, where we obtained permits to continue on our way (yes, big brother wanted to know our exact plans for the next few days...) our stop for the night was lhatse, a non descript town, not too far from the turn off towards everest base camp. the next morning, we set off in sunshine and the excitement inside the landcruiser grew as we counted off the kilometres till we got our first glimpse of everest - or qomolangma, as its known locally. we were rewarded with views of it and several other mountains in the vicinity, with snow on top, but not a cloud in sight!! our drive continued over a 5220m pass, which gave us more amazing views over the mountains, before descending towards rongphu monastery, near the base camp. we opted not to stay there - in part because nearby is the ugliest chinese built monstrosity of a hotel ive ever seen - its PINK for goodness sake!!! we didnt have to stay in it, but decided having come all that way, that we wanted to continue on to base camp, so we walked the remaining ten kilometres - in possibly the slowest time its ever taken anyone to walk such a short distance - but of course, we were using the time to acclimatise..... we stayed at the 'hotel california', in the shadow of the mountain, a really great setting. we timed it pretty well - all the expeditions had left - climbing season is may - so we had the place almost to ourselves. that evening, we decided, encouraged by our host, that the following day, we would make the trek from base camp, height of 5200m to advanced base camp, about 5900m. (known as ebc and abc to those who know about these things...) so we set off on our epic journey around 6.45 the next morning. a less prepared group you cannot possibly imagine. there were 5 of us plus a 19yr old who was our guide in name, but basically had seen a buck to be made from tourists and was milking it. he could not have been prepared for us. two of the group had previously been in nepal and had suffered altitude sickness at 4200m. bizarrely they said they werent expecting problems this time round. anyone who knows me knows i am something of a couch potato. we had about 10litres of water and some chocolate, peanuts and cookies - provisions for a short stroll in the park, not a mountaineering expedition to within three kilometres of the worlds biggest mountain!!!! it all started well enough. we soon reached a small stream and tenzing, our guide, gamely gave me a piggyback over it while he lent everyone else his shoes so they could walk across!! a couple of hours later, we reached a much bigger stream, fairly fast flowing, but with boulders we could have jumped across, had it not been for the ice on them. so we had to wait until a combination of tenzing hacking at the ice and the sun, made them passable - again i was lucky enough to get help across, but not before my feet had come in contact with the icy cold water. so we continued on our merry way. the pace wasnt great - amazing the effects of altitude - even trying to walk a few steps at normal pace can leave you feeling puffed very quickly. we had to keep a pretty slow pace so the group could stay together. way slower than was necessary to make it to abc and back in daylight... however, stay together we did. and once wed passed abc - what a disappointment that was, a few rocks and no marker that wed arrived - we were rewarded with the most amazing views of everest. the sky was blue and yes there were clouds, but it was so worthwhile, all my efforts were rewarded. there were glaciers at the foot, in all directions, it was great. but of course, we still had to get back. at this point, i didnt think my legs would carry me, theyd done so well, getting me that far. fortunately once we set off again, towards ebc, i found renewed energy. but it was still tough going, and we had to take loads of breaks as we struggled to keep our breathing semi normal. eventually, after about 3hours, we made it back to the 'big stream' which by now had become a fast flowing river, having risen several feet. there really was no way of crossing it without getting seriously wet (and cold) and there was a risk someone might have been knocked off their feet - not a possibility anyone wanted to consider. we had ventured down to the waters edge to see is it was crossable and having decided it wasnt, were left with no alternative but to take a 3-4hour detour round the river. this was about 7pm - 12 hours after wed set off. we had to cross back over some rocks maybe 10metres up from the river, none of which was very secure, and as i sat on top of them, i somehow managed to dislodge a few, causing something of a rockslide, but fortunately my perch remained where it was. none of us had the energy for the detour, but faced with little choice - wed already eaten almost all our food, drunk all our water, and were wearing most of our clothes...we persevered. it was a tough 2hour walk but we were delighted to reach the start of the river - an uphill walk and walk around it. by now, the sun had almost set, so we had very little light with which to see our way over a narrow path over pebbley ground, with a sheer drop maybe 100ft back to the river. dont know if it was better that i couldnt really see where i was going - the one time i glanced down, by mistake, was enough.... somehow we all made it safely, but were all absolutely exhausted. now that the main danger was out of the way - at least now we were on a path, the rest breaks became more frequent - though it became more and more difficult to continue. we were also not helped by the fact that there was no moon - though the sky was absolutely amazing filled with stars. we had one torch between the six of us, with the orangy glow which signifies a dying battery...and that wasnt the guides.... but, as with all good stories, this one had a happy ending...we were rescued by knights in shining armour and riding....a tractor....(this didnt happen in the fairy stories.) tenzings brother had come looking for us, with gifts of oxygen, none of which was needed but he did have another torch which really made a difference. instead of tripping over boulders and slipping over pebbles because i didnt have the energy to lift my legs, i was almost running!! we took the tractor the final part of the way - never has such an enhausted bunch arrived at base camp. i slept so well that night - and actually felt not too bad the next day, only a very slight ache in my legs, surprisingly. before leaving base camp, i took the opportunity to taste yak butter tea - a tibetan speciality. what can i say? its not that bad. maybe my tastebuds were in shock along with the rest of my body, but i didnt mind it - and even had seconds!!!!! so, feeling reinvigorated, we left base camp, again with blue skies - we were just so lucky with the weather - and headed back for lhasa, stopping at sakya where we splurged y40 on a dorm room for the 5 of us, complete with shower - oh the luxury!!! we had a quick stroll around the monastery there then continued on to gyantse, and finally back to lhasa. what an adventure!! actually, it was all fantastic fun, really enjoyed it and i can quite safely saw i will never push myself as hard as that again - but i did it:)