Wednesday dawned with a heavy frost with temperature at -1 or -2 at 8am. Neither John(Aus) nor Ian had a good night but John decided to ride the relatively easy 60km and we managed to talk Ian into riding. There were two minor passes for the day and the first one, Simi La, was approached by a 5km climb. The route was along a fertile valley with some interesting photo opportunities.
The top of the Simi La overlooked a turquoise blue lake formed by the damming of the Nyan Chu river for hydro power. Again a great reward for the climb.
A great fast downhill followed. Going close to an upcoming bus on a fast right hander made me slow down a bit. Then a shortish climb around the dam wall, with more army convoys again. Downhill to another pretty lunch spot.
After lunch Iain and I tagged teamed the last flat 10km into Gyantse at a good pace. I finished the day with a 22.9kph ave and 71kph top speed having climbed 294m.
We were in Gyantse early in the afternoon so after checking into our hotel we had time for another monastery. visit. The Kubum monastery includes an impressive Stupa which includes 700 chapels. The monastery originally housed 1700 monks, now only 100 are left here.
Walking back from the monastery we pass the hilltop 14C fort which was built to defend approaches to Lhasa. The shops and some market areas were also interesting.
John (Aus) went off to hospital and was diagnosed with Pneumonia - no more riding. The plan is that he will rest up in Shigatze for a few days and join us briefly at Everest base camp before heading home. Ian, who has developed a cold, is considering keeping him company.
We went to an upmarket restaurant for dinner but with my lack of appetite it was difficult to do it justice. It was good to sleep in a normal bed and also not to have to head for bed as the sun went down at 7.30pm.
Thursday 30/9/10
We left Gyantse for a flat 95km through agricultural land in the valley of the Nyang Chu river. A long day with the wind getting up in the afternoon and finish in a nice hotel in Shigatze.
An interesting item along this ride was a water powered mill which ground flour underneath a large turning stone disk.
At another stop there was the ubiquitous solar kettle heater and John (NZ) tried to impress some kids with his unpolished juggling.
With another visit to the doctor John's plan changed to being driven back to Kathmandu and getting an early flight home. I spent the evening with him helping him getting his travel insurance sorted out. I got a 2 page fax sent from the hotel to his Australian insurer for 30c. (Aust Post would have charged $4 to send one locally!!). We had another upmarket dinner and again I had trouble doing justice to a nice mushroom omelette.
Friday 1/10/10
The morning started with a flag raising ceremony in the hotel courtyard to celebrate the Chinese National day. The hotel staff all lined up and a small army platoon performed the goose stepping and flag raising.
There were another group of cyclists at the hotel heading of after a rest day in Shigatze. We crossed paths with them a number of times during the 98km undulating windy day- very tough. Iain and I rotated again to combat the headwind. No photos today - too busy tackling the wind. During the evening we all made a mutual decision to have a rest day on the Saturday. No rest day had been scheduled, so the decision meant that we would miss out on a ride from the Base camp to Tingri and be bussed.
Until now I had avoided taking diamox (drug to reduce symptoms of altitude sickness). Hoping that it might improve my appetite and food input I decided to join the others and start taking it.
Saturday 2/10/10
We were all up early to wish John (Aus) Bon Voyage (having distributed his useful stuff). I scored his gloves, Nick his Brooks leather saddle and Iain his computer.
We had a restful day including a walk following a washed out creek up the hillside. There were some spectacular clay pyramids (like the Great Ocean Road 12 apostles) left in the river bed.
This photo shows our campsite (blue tents) down by the river.
There were numerous locals around our campsite during the day. Some staking out their cattle to graze and other cutting and collecting grain.
In the afternoon I strolled down to a nearby village. A family group were squatting outside their house eating a meal. They gestured inviting me to join them and offered me some of their food. Their meal consisted of barley grain, Tsampa (looks and tastes like mud) and Yak Butter Tea. Having previously sampled the tea I declined that but I did try some of the barley and Tsampa (not very appetising). Our communication was very limited but the Dalai Lama's name came up with an indication of his absence and sadness at that.
I had a lousy night - to bed at 8.30pm, a couple of hours good sleep, then being unable to get back to sleep. Tried reading for a couple of hours but that didn't help, nor did the 4 or 5 trips outside for a pee and view of the stars,which as always on a clear night were impressive..
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