It’s 3pm, we are finally on our way to somewhere. The day started with getting to the Shigatse bus station at 730am, trying to purchase the bus ticket to Sa Jia. The bus turns out to be full, so from the advise of a driver, we bought tickets to Lhatse, a town at the intersection along the highway and the path down to Sa Jia , where we might be able to catch a ride for 10 yuan from there.
We returned just in time before the 9:30 am departure to Lhatse. As we wanted to return to Shigatse later in the day, we were doing a lot of calculations. The direct bus will take 3 hrs from Shigatse to Sa Jia. So assuming we might take an hr to hitch a ride, we will probably get there by 1:30pm. That gives us less than 2 hours in Sa Jia town to check out the Monastery before the last bus leaves. That’s some risk we have to take, not knowing if we can make it back with the last bus. To add more uncertainty, we are not able to pre-purchase the return tickets before hand. So there is a chance if all works out, we cannot buy our tickets back to Shigatse once we reach Sa Jia.
With so much at risk, we decided to head to the next stop, Ting Ri town along the Friendship hwy, closest town to MT. Everest. Just wanted to go and say Hi to Mt. Everest before continuing the silk road. So with that settled, we head back to the hostel and pack out thing, check out, and grab a last good meal, not knowing if there will be anything decent to eat for the rest of the day. We ordered simple tomato fried eggs without MSG, pork pan fried veggies, and a couple bowl of rice. When traveling, simple good food is so hard to come by.
So it 330 pm, and we are on our way to Tingri. A normal package from Lhasa for a 4 days Mt. Everest tour cost roughly $500 per person, or from Shigatse cost $200. We are all trying to save as much money and not feeling getting rip off. Every attractions in China are ridiculous expensive. Simply seeing Mt. Everest will cost $30 to pass some gate. We will find out once we are at Tingri tonight, arriving around dinner time.
Along the way to Tingri, the scenery is magnificent. It’s perfect blue sky with lots of cumulus clouds above the mountains range. In the valley are fields of yellow flowers.
Along the way, it sure feels like Vietnam. Full of cattle crossing the fields, with a hint of the Tibetan praying flag colors.
And many road stop check point. This area of China is very strict. Within the country, locals and foreigners need a border pass to visit along the way.
You must be logged in to post a comment.