Escape to Old Tibet

[Click on the pictures to see larger versions with captions.]

Yesterday, some of us escaped the crushing boredom of base camp by hopping in the back of a truck and going for an hour-long, spine-jarring drive down the Tingri Road to a place of grassy meadows and a village called Tashi Dum.

It was Russell's idea to get us out of base camp to a lower altitude and warmer climate because his weather data showed a sudden bout of wind and snow that would keep us base camp-bound for an additional couple of days. Bad weather seemed to be engulfing the whole mountain — he heard from the south side that some teams there had been driven back from their summit attempts.

So, with faces covered in dust masks and scarves, we crammed into the back of the truck and made the journey down the Rongbuk Valley past Shanty Town, the monastery and the Chinese guard posts, then turned off the main road into a valley of tan hills and grazing country.

It sounded funny to hear a tough-shelled guy like Russell Brice call this outing a picnic, but that's precisely what it was — a spread of snacks laid out on a warm field of grass beside a clear stream. The U.K.-based film crew played cricket with a makeshift bat made from a plank and a tennis ball; others dozed in the sun while a cloud loaded with spring snow pellets gathered overhead. A few others hiked to a tiny village called Tashi Dum, population 200.

This village occupies a special place in the Russell Brice Everest agenda. He sponsors a school here, where he plans to install solar panels and lights soon, and he hosts a cleanup campaign here and in another nearby village.

One of Russell's key camp staff, a Tibetan named Karsang, is from this village. Karsang began working as a yak driver, but he quickly rose through the ranks of the Brice empire, learning to speak English and then summiting on Everest with Russell's clients.

Karsang's son Tashi guided us past the picnic site to Tashi Dum. We passed a waterwheel-driven mill grinding barley on a huge millstone in the same way old Tibetans have ground their meal for centuries. Yaks and goats grazed blissfully on the greenery. On the edge of the village, horse carts drove alongside SUVs on the dirt road. Narrow alleyways snaked past prayer flags tied to an incongruously placed satellite dish. Curious kids followed us everywhere. Then we slipped away to bounce back up the road to base camp.

Signing off,
Greg Child

Comments

[Pontus Kjällman]

I like this posting very much. It provides a nice contrast to the reports about normal climbing days at Everest. It almost makes one wonder why anyone would leave that village and head up to the inhospitable life at Everest again, doesn't it? And yes, looking at the excellent photos of the people in the village I couldn't help reflecting about the, after all, relative insignificance of climbing a mountain...