and were making good time when Wayne ’ s distributer let go however , roadside repairs from our mechanic , who had become known by this stage as ‘ Naresh the Professional ’, soon had us rolling again .
Not much further on were stopped by local police at a roadblock and told to keep the speed down .
Apparently one of the group , head down and arse up , had passed a police vehicle . The police were interested in the Enfield ’ s that they ’ d never seen before . Most of the local bikes are little Chinese jobs and are only ridden slowly .
It had been Flossie ’ s birthday , so we made a point of not mentioning it all day and then took her out to dinner with a surprise birthday cake . She cried .
The following day I ’ d stopped for a young couple with a tandem bicycle that was broken down . They were having trouble with their chain and derailleur as it was stuffed , and they couldn ’ t get decent parts . They were French and had been riding for 1½ years , towing a small trailer ! They were so grateful someone had stopped for them , but not when I told them of the condition of the road entering Nepal .
As we were turning off on a sidetrack to Mt Everest , we arranged to meet them in two days time in New Tingri . They believed they could struggle on the next 60 km . Then we would transport them and their gear in our truck back to Kathmandu . Not far out of Shegar we had our passports and papers checked and showed our permits for the Everest area . Dirt road and 102 km to Everest Base Camp our objective . More switchback heaven , maybe one hundred , to the top of Pang La at 5,200 metres . The bikes were chugging along , just making the climb .
Fantastic clear views presented Everest , Pumori and Cho Oyu . Down the other side to a small hamlet at Tashi Zong for a lunch of noodle soup . Another 50 km to Rongbuck Monastery and our humble lodgings for the night . Bedroom windows looked up the valley to Mt Everest towering above .
It was -12 degrees Celsius at sunup but climbed to + 10 by the time we ’ d setoff . Despite the cold the bikes were dry , there was no dew .
Eight kilometres took us to Everest Base Camp . The Chinese had a presence here , so no further progress was possible . But they also have a mobile phone tower , so we all texted everyone we knew to tell them where we were !
Very close to Mt Everest or the “ Mother Goddess Chomolonga ” as the Tibetans know it .
Further on Wayne holed his inner primary and once again roadside repairs were quickly affected with araldite by the intrepid Naresh .
Consensus had us taking a little used sidetrack shortcut from here to
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