A lot has happened since we left the Summit Hotel in Kathmandu on the 19th April.

Our flight to Lhasa was delayed 6 hours due to bad weather and no plane being available.

We finally took off and got some views of Everest below us in the clouds before descending to Lhasa airport only to divert to Chengdu because of turbulent conditions. Chengdu is another 90 minutes flight away and we arrived at midnight. The whole plane was bused to a hotel, given 3 hours sleep and picked up again at 04.50 to catch another flight, hopefully to Lhasa. Finally landing at 10.00 the next morning. Only 24 hours delayed.

Our young, friendly and keen Chinese Liason officer apologized profusely for the weather and we spent the next 2 nights exploring Lhasa and the Potala Palace.

The usual general maladies and sicknesses such as colds and GI problems hit the group and will be gone hopefully by the time we hit basecamp. On leaving Lhasa we paid a quick visit to a dentist to cap a tooth broken the night before.

Last night we stayed in Shigatse, 3800m and Tibet’s 2nd city we had a quick walk around the Tashilhunpo Monastery before dinner to stretch the legs. We are now quite high and climbing the stairs of the hotel is testing our lung capacity. Luckily we were presented with disposable oxygen cyclinders.

Tibet has changed a lot since last year and everything is looking very new, tidy and ready for tourists.