a lot better!! We got another glimpse of Everest, although not quite to the top of it, as well as the other mountains in the Great Himalaya Range. The journey onwards to Tingri was about the worst for me though, my legs were in real pain from not being able to stretch out - I think the combination of the altitude, the horse and cart, the bus, and the fact that you were basically stuck in one position in the Land Cruiser for 3 days had started to take its toll. Added to that the fact that the roads were really bad - they were working on them again, this time building bridges - meaning that the traffic had to go around their works, usually fording rivers!! We came across several stuck vehicles - at one point there was a jeep and a lorry stuck in the mud - our driver got out, had a look, and tore in between them - and without even using his 3 wheel drive!!! It was apparent that our driver was superb - and everyone along the way seemed to know him - he was obviously a veteran on this route, and he was a

whiz with on the road repairs as well - he stopped to fix someone else’s jeep at one stage!!!

We arrived in Tingri feeling exhausted, and were taken to another very basic hotel - Lonely planet described it as a “truck stop kind of place”. The room was ok, but very basic, but this place won the award for the worst toilets hands down!!! The promised hot showers at seven turned out to be cold and equally grim to the loos, so we gave them a miss. (Yes that’s three nights without a shower!! Yuk!). The upside was some traditional Tibetan food at last - Bobos (Tortilla wrap type things filled with fried veg) and Momos (little fried or steamed parcels of veg - a bit like samosas). Afterwards we went for a walk through the small town to the fields at the edge, which give way to miles of pasture. Again, great views of Everest can be had from here, but we had to settle for great views of cloud!