Updates From Everest Tumpach Rebuffed by the North Side? Try the South... Thursday, October 9, 1997 (Kathmandu, Nepal) Well, we arrived back to Kathmandu this afternoon at 3pm after a two day journey from TIBET — Mt. EVEREST Base Camp At 17500’ (5200m). The trip itself was very fascinating and interesting and I want to recommend it to everyone who is planing to visit TIBET; Mt. EVEREST Base Camp is a must-visit on the way to LHASA. To visit TIBET privately is impossible; one has to book it through an agent in KATHMANDU or in LHASA or through an international agent in any large tourist agency in any country. The most fascinating thing is that within several hours, exactly ten hours, we were back at XHANGBU a TIBETAN village dominated and influenced by the Chinese Communist REGIME at the TIBETAN/NEPALI border. From the border to KATHMANDU, it is only a four to five hour drive at 40km per hour, the NEPALI speed limit. From EVEREST base camp to the main highway/Nepali border to LHASA is 150 km; it took us four hours on the rough road, passable only with a 4X4 and we dropped from 17500' to 14000'. TINGRI is a very typical TIBETAN village. There are two very modern motels under construction right now. Behind the 12 foot walls of the settlements, you will find, at any time of the year, several "MONAT" TIBETAN people on the move with their goats and sheep herds. The MONATS are living in their typical TIBETAN tents and they are in TINGRI to exchange their goats and sheep for other supplies. TINGRI, elevation 14000', is a main stopover for MOUNTAIN CLIMBING EXPEDITIONS going to Mt. CHO OYU, elevation 8200 meters. The Expedition heading to CHO-OYU stop there for two days to acclimatize. From TINGRI to the next village of NYLAM, elevation 12000', is a 4 hour drive on the TIBETAN plateau. We passed several small villages/settlements where the people livelihoods are in FARMING. It is a beautiful ride through the rolling hills of the unique "TIBETAN PLATEAU". The village of NYLAM is very different from TINGRI; it has very strong Chinese influence in new construction and a presence of the CHINESE army. There are also several hotels to accommodate tourists and EXPEDITIONS, who stop over as in TINGRI for two days acclimatization. The next village is a border town of XHAMBU, elevation 9500’. As I wrote in my reports on the way to Mt. EVEREST, there was a large landslide 15 km past XHAMBU on the way to NYLAM. At that time we were told that it would take three months to clean the slide. GUESS WHAT? They were right. Coming back after 44 days, the work on the slide side continues and this time it was possible to pass through only with the 4X4 JEEP. The truck which carried our equipment back to the border was not able to pass through so we had to hire TIBETAN porters again to carry our equipment over. This time under much better conditions and for the same price. Lucky for us, the cost was covered by the TIBETAN MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION. The countryside, 25 km before the border, changes dramatically. From the TIBETAN PLATEAU, we entered into a beautiful canyon which brings us within a few km from the dry deserts PLATEAU to the lush, green, steep mountainsides of the tropical environment. It was a quick change and very sudden drop in elevation towards the town of XHAMBU. Coming from inside TIBET you will not find nothing TIBETAN in XHAMBU; in a matter of fact in XHAMBU, the border village/town, you find more Chinese citizens than TIBETAN nationalities due to a large presence of the Chinese border army and Custom Officials. Walking on the only dirt, winding street in the village, built on a very steep mountain side, you will find NEPALI influence as far as garbage and cows go. Local residents simply dump garbage on the side of the road and cows and dogs eat it . There are very few hotels and during the tourist season, you have to virtually fight to get a room. The so-called two best and biggest "HOTELS" are more like dormitories from the 18th century. They are concrete buildings four stories high and very damp. The rooms have four army type beds without a bathroom or a sink. The so-called bathrooms are in the hallway. Toilets? Two holes in the concrete floor. To wash yourself, there is one open room with a 20 foot long, half broken, ceramic built-in sink with COLD water only, which comes from the roof reservoir. The whole building is VERY DAMP. The walls are black from dampness and even the blankets and mattresses are damp. One of them has water running from the roof through the pipes even when it is a sunny and hot day. After my curiosity got me to look more closely as to why the water was running down the broken pipes directly on to the walls and down the street, I found out that there is a water reservoir on the roof and they let it overflow so the customers do not run out of cold water. But I guess it is better than sleeping in the JEEP, which are used in TIBET for the transportation of tourists. Jeep is the only reliable vehicle for transportation for Westeners because, in TIBET, there are only DIRT ROADS. It reminds me of an "ALASKAN HIGHWAY." From XHAMBU to the actual INTERNATIONAL BORDER/FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE is another 10km . To get down the mountainside, you will experience the unexperienced; just to give you idea - our logging roads in British Columbia or in the Northwest are super highways. By the time you reach the FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE, the road drops within 10 km (6 miles) or 2500’. If you’re lucky, you will drive through because there are many landslides constantly in development due to the steepness of the mountainside and by the time you reach your destination, you might be in one piece. On the Nepali side we had a bus waiting for us. First we had to go through NEPALI immigration which went very smoothly and then we had to reload our equipment into the bus. From the border, elevation 7000', we continued without any problems. Today was a beautiful, HOT and sunny day. At 3:30 pm, we arrived in KATHMANDU and the first thing I did after we unloaded the BUS was to have a half hour HOT SHOWER. Then I went to KC restaurant for a BIG STEAK. Tonight I met several team members from the COLOMBIAN TEAM, who, to my surprise are still in beautiful and unique KATHMANDU. The whole CATALONIAN team arrived tonight and I was so hungry I did join them for a second steak dinner. We discussed how bad the weather was this year on Mt. EVEREST. THE LeBLANC EVEREST EXPEDITION is not OVER!!!!!!!!! The EXPEDITION will continue from the NEPALI side — SOUTH COL. The latest news from me is, that there are SPANISH and FRENCH EXPEDITIONS on Mt. EVEREST on the Nepali side and they had the same problems in trying to reach the SUMMIT. The third EXPEDITION, the MEXICAN TEAM gave up and went home. The FRENCH and SPANISH are still waiting for a weather window opportunity to reach the SUMMIT. So, I decided to FLY on OCT 11, with one of my Sherpas — CHONGBA SHERPA — to Lukla and join one of the teams climbing EVEREST from the SOUTH COL. We are fully acclimatized because we both reached 7800m on the northeast ridge and slept three nights at 7000m-NORTH COL. We are expected to reach Mt. EVEREST Base Camp by the 15th of OCTOBER and join one of the teams. Tomorrow I will be in Kathmandu to get organized and do some laundry and I will send you more updates on WHAT IS NEW with stage #2 of the LeBLANC EVEREST EXPEDITION. — George Tumpach PREVIOUS UPDATE | UPDATES HOME | NEXT UPDATE