thermoses . Speedometres showed 113kph on the good dirt road as we headed down the other side to Tingri for lunch . We were spread out to avoid each others dust . Binod , our road captain , got some airtime over a bump and his battery abandoned ship . A bit of stuffing around with an elastic strap , a push start ( not easy at this altitude ), and we ’ re away again . From New Tingri , the old one ’ s a bit further up the road , it was bitumen , blacktop as the locals called it , all the way to Shegar . A genuinely nice hotel here , quite modern , hot showers and with sit down toilets , much appreciated after the squat type in use for the last couple of days . A very cold morning greeted us . Streams were frozen . Sunrise at 8am . We were on the move by nine when it is warm enough to ride .
All of China only has one time zone ; everything is based on Beijing time . The road markers are the same , all distances to Beijing , over 5000 km away . Riding time was spent doing mental calculations to figure out how far to the next destination ! We rode on blacktop and were climbing through the most amazing switchbacks up to Lhakpa La at 5,160 metres . We caught our first sight of Mt Everest in the distance . The Enfield ’ s were suffering due to the
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