Reached Nyalam safely..

19th May 2006.

The connectivity status in this part of the world has left me stunned. I still am able to type away a post, from an altitude of 3750m (12375 ft). Something that I'd not imagined. Strange but true!

We woke up at 8:00 am Tibet Standard Time (TST) in our Zhangmu lodge, named "Zhangmu Sherpa Restaurant" in English and "Zhangmu Xiaerba Hotel" in Chinese. Which effectively means 'Xiaerba' in Chinese stands for 'Sherpa' in English. We left Zhangmu (2220m) at 11:31 am, after our guide, Mr. Wong Dui said we were okay to leave. A huge traffic jam had just cleared off, and a very strong vehicle, the Toyota LandCruiser, had arrived to take us upto Nyalam today (and Tingri tomorrow).

I fall short of words when it comes to describing the drive to Nyalam. The adjective that comes to my mind right now is "mind-blowing", but we have a typical term to describe such a state of bliss - 'Godgiri'. Well, in less than an hour after departing from Zhangmu, we had gained 1000m, and the altimeter showed 3240m. At this point Shantanu and I got off the vehicle to take a leak. We had been drinking water since morning, since they say drinking water is a must at high altitudes, and a sign of one acclimatising to altitude is one ending up pissing often. Looks like we had already started acclimatising, though it was just too early to say :-)

We got our first close view of snow laden peaks enroute Nyalam. The peaks aren't too tall, but as we come from western India, snow laden peaks are always an attraction. I have taken a huge number of photos already, and its only a pity I won't be able to upload them this soon.

At 1:01 TST, we reached Nyalam, our destination for today. That's just a 90 minute drive from Zhangmu (a gain of 1500m in 1.5 hrs!!!). The GPS tracker tells me that I'm at 3764m ASL, and at the following geographic location:

N 28 deg 9 min 35.6 sec

E0 85 deg 58 min 59.6 sec

Pressure: 648 mbar

We had a hearty lunch just a short while ago, we're sticking to our favourite vegeterian Dal Bhat. It is extremely nutritious, satisfying and easy to digest. We've been drinking water, though we should be having more and more. We've been taking leaks quite often, so I'm hoping we're adjusting to the altitude.

We travel to Tingri tomorrow, thats at an altitude of 4300m. Day after, we finally begin to walk, that is we would be camping somewhere on the vast Tibetan plateau, a vast, open barren landscape. Certainly no connectivity day after tomorrow onwards. Given the fact that I still am typing away here at Nyalam, I would not be surprised to find Internet connectivity in Tingri tomorrow. Internet rates have doubled since yesterday. In Zhangmu, the rate was INR 30 per hour, today it is INR 60 per hour. Quite manageable eh? ;-) As always, I will maintain that I cannot guarantee that I might find it, so this might just be the last post before 1st/2nd of June.

Keep the good wishes coming, I'm happy to hear from all of you. Thanks to all who are closely following our journey and commenting as well. Nikhil: Do go ahead and claim my Santro :)

Anup, Shantanu and I are all keeping well, and those reading keep praying for us. Till I post again, cheers!

From Nyalam in Tibet,

Aniket "Nike" Anikhindi