10-6-19 - Journey to the Nepal Border
/Day 113. Kyle & Leanne Joint Blog.
We arise in our hotel in Tingri which has served us well. Dinners and breakfast in the hotel have given us some flexibility and some well needed rest time. Today we journey back through the Qomolagma National Nature Reserve (QNNR) which is part of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere programs as we make our way to the Tibet – Nepal border which we will cross overland. It’s the Tibetan highlands full of mountains, streams, yaks, cows, horses, blue lakes and plenty of newly planted trees.
The drive is long and we are all super quiet. A few days ago our guide told us that the vans has both and internal camera and a listening device. When we learned about it, we were a little shocked going over any past comment that might remotely be misconstrued by the Chinese government. Since then, we have kept everything light and happy even asking less questions of the guide.
We stop at the exit point for the national park. There is a gorgeous, deep blue lake surrounded by the mountains. Kyle points to a spot and says it would be perfect to build a lake house, built a dock, bring a master craft ski boat and spend everyday wake-surfing in the natural beauty. Yes, a nice little fantasy for five minutes as the reality of Chinese citizenship, building permits in national park, lack of food supply in the middle of nowhere, not to mention who would repair the boat when it broke down (which it surely would) quickly put the kibosh on that idea.
As we descend from the elevation, the landscape transforms into tree and greenery we haven’t seen yet.
The highlight of the drive is a towering waterfall surrounded by lush green trees and bushes. The van pulls over and we hop out to walk back and take pictures. When we arrive at the waterfall, there is a cow crossing right in front of it. While we are still in Buddhist territory, we note that if this had been Nepal which is largely Hindu where the cow is sacred, we would have had amazing pictures of the sacred cow crossing in front of the waterfall.
Arriving in Kyerong, which is the closest town to the border crossing, we are reminded of a town from one of the older western movies. There is essentially one main street running through the “town” with storefronts.
Bemba says he got a tip from the hotel and takes us to a restaurant that turns out to be the best one since Dunya in Lhasa. The waiter is from Nepal and speaks perfect English (English is widely spoken in Nepal as opposed to Tibet) so we are able to give Bemba the night off from having to translate our numerous questions for the restaurant staff as in the other restaurants. The food is awesome and everyone is in a great mood especially with the prospect of being totally out of the altitude (we are still at 9,000 feet in Kyerong).
