Shanghai'd

We arrived in Shigatse today, the second biggest city in Tibet. We have a rest day here tomorrow, which the group desperately needs. Everyone is tired and feeling the effects of the altitude. It is also probably the last time we will have internet, unless they also put up an internet cafe along with he cell phone tower at Everest (seriously.).

The ride so far has been diverse and the landscape has surpassed my every expectation. Tibet is gorgeous. The first day took us about 80 km outside of Lhasa. We did the ride past the airport again, which was as beautiful as I remembered it. That first day was flat and autumn-like, with the Ginkos (like an aspen) that lined the streets changing to a golden yellow. We camped at the base of the mountain we would climb the next day. Day 2 started with climbing this mountain, gaining 1200m and being rewarded at the top with panoramic views of a deep blue holy Tibetan lake with snowy peaks behind it. We cycled down the other side of the peak and along the lake until we came to our second camp site. Day 3 took us up to our highest altitude yet - 5000m! It was cold, windy and hailing by the time we reached the top and I was not in the best of spirits. We were meters from a huge glacier, but we quickly took the downhill (which still took work with the headwind!) and got to a third wonderful campsite on a river. I was feeling the altitude pretty bad - headaches and fatigue - while we slept at 4400m. Luckily I woke up ready for yesterday's day 4, rolling hills next to another gorgeous lake with city ruins along both sides of the road. Tons of great photo ops - we took it slow and took advantage of those! We got a hotel last night in Gyantse, the third biggest town in Tibet. Today was a flat 95km through the agricultural heartland (think: Iowa with mountains in every direction), where the local people were harvesting hay or barley or some grain/straw thing. Very autumnal feeling while we were again in the Ginkos (back down below the treeline) and got caught in several tractor/horse&wagon traffic jams. We are now in Shigatse, for a much needed rest day before heading to Everest base came (and 5 more 5000m+ peaks!) over the next 2 weeks.

The support on the trip has been amazing, our tents are ready for us when we pull into camp and with the large contingency of British, so is 4pm tea. The cook is awesome, both in his cooking ability and as a person. The whole crew rocks! This is my first tour, and I have to say it is pretty posh and worth the money. We are woken each morning with hot tea and washing water... I am going to stop now or else you will think we are not 'roughing it' out here! The people continue to be cool, but the group has kind of split into the "Photo Tour" and the "Tour de France". Guess which one we are on! I guess people are just out here for different reasons. :-)

Notes on being the only girl: Including the crew, there are 16 men to one me. I think if anything, Tim gets the most different treatment, as all the boys tease him about his wife! I am keeping up on the rides, and only peeing along the side of the road takes some imagination (especially in the case of cliffs, where I had to go behind the wheel of the land cruiser). I am not worried about getting in the 4x4 if things get tough (read: at Everest!), but it might be a little worse for the bloke that has to take the support vehicle before me!

So, all is well. Tim is dying to post some pictures, but that will have to wait. You will have to use your imagination (or search engine) with my descriptions. This is probably it for us until Nepal. Keep following Tim's Twitter posts until then. We update by text message, and there is always service, even at Everest!

P.S. Thank you for the concern about the earthquake. We haven't felt anything, and I think the biggest danger would be landslide. I will make sure we are clear for the campsites!