The best laid plans of mice and me... So back in Kathmandu, I was packed and five minutes from getting on the bus yesterday morning when the plan changed again, as it does on these trips. Instead of heading up with the gang, I was to wait until the oxygen passed Nepali Customs and chase the climbers to Tibet with it. The Sherpas and the Brits (Graham and Peter) would be on this reinforcement team as well. And that was how I ended up on the back seat of a motorcycle as Kirin, one of the wizards from Great Escapes, piloted it through the chaos of Kathmandu's streets. It occurred to me (about every 15 seconds) that riding shotgun without a helmet between honking taxis, buses and various cattle was far more dangerous than climbing could ever be. But it was for a good cause. Oxygen is a good thing, and we were hot on its trail.

					"I find it hard to get riled up when working within such a lethargic system. I just wished I'd brought a book for it all..."

This meant we needed to hit a few bureaucracies and prompt them toward paper signing action. My role was a small one, in truth. I was just supposed to stand out like a six-foot-two sore thumb and act impatient. The sore thumb part was easy, I don't blend real well in this part of Asia. But the impatient look was tougher. I'm so patient with these types of glitches that I nearly needed CPR when we finally had the paperwork in hand. I find it hard to get riled up when working within such a lethargic system. I just wished I'd brought a book for it all.

We finally sprung the O's loose at about three in the afternoon and repacked our gear truck with it. Then we hit the road. Rush hour in the hills surrounding Kathmandu was interesting. There were trucks and buses in various ditches along the way, but otherwise, it was a good ride. You can't normally see more than 150 yards of the road ahead at any given place. It swerves and turns that much. But our driver was great and we made Barabesi without a hitch. We figured on spending the night there, a nice little town, 90 minute commute from Tibet. All went well and this morning we were up before the dawn and hoping to join the rest of the expedition already in progress in Zhangmu.

The last town in Nepal is Kodari. This one-street town sits on a noisy stretch of angry river in the bottom of a deep V-shaped gorge. At one end of town is the "Friendship Bridge" crossing the Bhote Kosi and setting one back two-and-a-quarter hours to Beijing time. China... Tibet... the roof of the world and all that... but first, how about five hours of waiting our turn at customs, and while we're at it, let's crack open the differential on the axle of the container truck holding about 6,000 pounds of expedition supplies.

The truck didn't work well after the surgery attempt, and it needed to since, just on the other side of the bridge, the dirt road switchbacks up 1400 feet to Zhangmu. It was a few more hours of lining up another truck to shuttle the load up to Chinese customs where the entire team was now waiting and wondering what the heck had happened to us. By this point, "we" were just Pemba (cook beyond compare) Dawa (champion Sirdar) and me (good at waiting). We did finally get everything aboard the substitute truck and began grinding our way up the landslide ravaged, water-soluble, one lane road to Zhangmu. The gang was plenty happy to see us at Chinese customs (remember, Nepal customs and Chinese customs are miles apart on either side of a no-man's land which includes that "Friendship Bridge").

But now it was too late to head up to the Tibetan Plateau and the town of Nyalam, our hoped for goal for the day. It was good to finally have the whole team together in Zhangmu though, and we made the most of our delay, putting away Chinese food and telling each other great and sometimes true stories of the past day's adventures.

—Dave Hahn, Climber

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