From barren to lush

Crossing into Nepal meant saying goodbye to our trusty driver Yambil, and our sweet young guide, Samden. We also crossed from the barren brown colors and endless mountains of Tibet, to the green gorges of Nepal.

The border crossing was thankfully without problems. Their main questions concerned reading material, especially guide books or literature about Tibet neither of which we had. They did not mind me having a small Hong Kong guide book however.

After entering Nepal, we spent an hour or so just people watching in the narrow street waiting for our ride. Nearby Mount Kailash is an attraction for serious climbers, and the women function as porters carrying all their heavy supplies to be loaded on buses. It is the only work they can get, and it pays $6 each trip. Once they leave their load they climb back up the hill to find another one, carrying infants and toddlers along with the heavy load on their backs.

After at least 5 hours driving on the edge of gorges where I could not even see the bottom, we arrived at a beautiful lodge on a hillside overlooking a valley, and in the evening we enjoyed a Nepali curry on the terrace. Considering we spent two evenings where dinner was a protein bar, this was luxury.