shed!) So we headed off to the nearby guest house, which although temptingly comfortable looking, was a typical Chinese style concrete box which looked ridiculously out of place!!! It’s redeeming feature was that it was the only place you could buy food for about 10 miles and 2000m!!!! However, the Chinese menu was the downside!! It seemed a real travesty that here, in the most well know of Tibetan places, Chinese food was served. We’d eaten Tibetan food in Lhasa, and not only was it delicious, but also dead cheap!! Still, that’s “progress” for you!! L

After feeding we thought we’d have a short walk. You really couldn’t do much around here, the altitude really knocked us for six. Just walking up the small bank to get to our room left our hearts pounding, and a real light-headed dizzy feeling, even the smallest task was a real effort, and headaches were the norm!! Still we managed

to drag ourselves for a short walk down to the river which comes from the glaciers, on the road to the base camp, still 5 miles and 300m away!!! As the light began to fade, we noticed a little gap in the clouds, way up - which looked like it had patches of snow behind it. As the gap got bigger, and we looked through our zoom lens, we realised that it was a mountain - much higher up than we’d expected! Over what seemed to be an agonising eternity, bit by bit the clouds lifted, to reveal Mount Qomolangma, or Everest, in all it’s glory - It was absolutely enormous - it was as big as any mountain I’ve ever seen, and then you realise that you’re already standing way above the height of Mont Blanc!!! And in the fast fading light it looked incredible - like some enormous ghostly figure. This was a moment I will never forget as long as I live!!

After a most uncomfortable night’s sleep, we