Awoke before sunrise and spent several minutes just staring at the clear sky and seeing the stars…a bit of a novelty for those living in China!! It was freezing cold so Sandra and I put on multiple layers and headed outside past our friendly yaks(!!) to see the view.

The Tibetans call Everest Qomolungma — Mother Goddess of the World. – and it is easy to see why as we watched the sun slowly come up. Here we were in this desolate area looking at the most majestic of mountains and then it was time to head off towards the base camp. Many of us were finding it a bit difficult to breathe once we were over 5000m and I was no exception…….had to have a bit of oxygen but could manage to walk around the base camp. It was so hard to believe that I had finally made it. We were all looking a bit stunned as we realised where we actually were!!

The Base Camp is a small flat piece of land in front of the north face of Mt. Everest at an elevation of 5545m. Located at the border between China and Nepal, Mt. Everest with its north slope belongs to China and the south one to Nepal. This base camp consists of long line of tents with food, blankets, oxygen cylinders and light. Around Mt. Qomolangma, there are four peaks above 8,000 meters high, including Mt. Makarluh, Gosanthain, Zhuoyo, Shishabanma and other 14 peaks above 7,000 meters, which form a soul-stirring picture of Mt. Everest natural scenery area. I stood there totally awe-struck by the incomparable beauty of nature and snow-capped peaks topped off by the majestic Mt Everest - the world's highest peak. Finding it a little difficult to breathe at this altitude I can only stand in admiration of the mountaineers who conquer this attraction.

Found out that our fellow tour group members had an adventurous night in the "tent" accommodation. Each tent holds 6 people but they were told that they would need to fit 10 in each tent and to “hide the extra people” when the inspectors came around!! Not really sure of the legality of this practice or the ethics of this tour company that we are stuck with!! But at least they got a cooked breakfast whereas Sandra and I didn't get anything!

Once the sun came out it warmed up a bit ……. well it wasn’t in the – degrees anymore!! Not that we really noticed as we were all so entranced with the sights but all too soon it was time to leave and head back down the dreaded “road under construction” again. Got a chance to enjoy the scenery that we had been too petrified to look at yesterday as we have been given a different bus and driver much to the disgust of another group who have been dumped with our homicidal driver from yesterday!

Arrived in Shigatse and went straight to our rooms where we are hoping we will get a good night sleep. Exhausted but happy is the only way I can describe how I feel.