After an epic day yesterday arriving at Mount Everest Base Camp, it was sadly time to leave this magical place this morning.

Today we’d be driving 380km to the border town of Kyirong near Nepal.

So, yes, I guess the title of this blog is a tad misleading because we won’t actually be crossing over into Nepal tomorrow.

Another restless sleep

If you’ve been following my adventures then you know I’ve had trouble sleeping on this trip primarily due to having a stuffed up nose almost the entire time.

Yesterday I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and, you wouldn’t believe it, I did it again this morning.

When they say you have trouble breathing way up here at 17,000 feet (5300m) they aren’t kidding.

I woke up after a couple of hours sleep gasping for air.

When I sat up in the bed it was alot better but I’d have problems every time I put my head down on the pillow.

So there I was, in the wee hours of the morning, once again typing up a blog instead of getting much needed sleep.

At least I’d have today’s long van ride to catch up on some sleep.

It turns out that I wasn’t the only one who had scattered sleep last night as pretty much everyone in our group reported the same issues.

In fact, 4 of the 12 of us were in pretty bad shape and had to use a portable oxygen supply.

Thankfully we would go on a nice decent today cutting the altitude almost in half at just 9200 feet (2800m).

Rongbuk Monastery

Before leaving this wonderous place, we visited the Rongbuk Monastery conveniently directed across the street from us.

This monastery is the world’s highest and is home to 67 nuns and 8 monks.

Oh, those lucky monks!

Our group were the only ones there so we had the whole place to ourselves and the best part was when our guide Tenzin uttered the following words…

“You can take photos inside.”

Come again?

I had literally just written in yesterday’s blog that it was so sad that I couldn’t share with you all the wonderful things inside and now I was free as a bird to do so.

You see, unlike the other places we had visited, the art displayed inside was newer and wasn’t as affected by the reflections from cameras.

I couldn’t contain my glee and I bounced from one display to the next snapping photo after photo.

Seriously, I was like a kid in a candy store.

I just couldn’t stop taking photos.

In fact in the half hour we were inside I took 40 photos and videos which is pretty much half of all the photos I took the entire day.

So, if you’re interested in that kind of thing, check out the photo gallery at the end of this blog.

After our little escapade at the monastery we boarded a 10am Eco Bus our of Everest Base Camp and back to our trusty old van we’ve come to call home for the last few days.

Lunch with Juan Carlos

After a nice little snooze on the van, I was woken up when the van came to a stop outside a restaurant.

It was already 12:30 and it was time for lunch.

I sat beside Juan Carlos and got to know a little of his fascinating life story.

He currently lives in Florida but he was born in Cuba.

In 1969 at the age of 19 he fled Cuba by stowing away on a boat bound for Jamaica.

He was imprisoned and eventually was befriended by a CIA agent who took him under his wing.

Six months later his CIA friend helped him stowaway on another boat this time headed for Miami.

It wasn’t until 2001, more than 30 years later, that he finally returned for a visit to his homeland.

Oh, by the way, for lunch I had some fried rice if you’re curious.

A scenic drive

At 1:45 we were back on the road for another long stretch of driving.

I popped in my earbuds this time and closed my eyes listening to the entirely of Hamilton.

The highlight of this stretch of the road was Mount Shishabangma on our left and the Pelku Tso Lake on our right.

Before you knew it, the brown, barren mountains were soon replaced by the greenery and rivers of the Kyirong Valley.

Yup, we had definitely dropped elevation and now the plants were flourishing again.

In fact, one of our viewpoint stops was at a waterfall flowing off a cliff face at the side of the road.

The final stretch took us through a couple small towns where we had to swerve past a number of goats wandering on the roadway and then to yet another police checkpoint.

And then, at 7:00, we had finally arrived at our home for the night.

One night in Kyirong

Kyirong is a tiny border town about 30 minutes away from the Nepalese border.

It’s home to only 5000 residents but there’s also a 20,000 military presence here as well since it’s so close to the border.

So, considering it was a small border town, my expectation for the hotel we’d be staying at wasn’t really that high.

And, boy, was I way off.

The hotel is by far the best hotel I’m stayed at on this trip.

I mean, the lobby even had a revolving door to enter the building.

My room is massive with a huge king size bed, a TV, a desk area, a couch, and an ultra modern bathroom.

Like, what the hell?

How did a hotel like this end up in a tiny border town?

It’s just a shame I only get to enjoy the room for only a few hours before we head out again tomorrow.

A bunch of us from the group agreed to meet for dinner after settling in and, this time, we invited both our guide Tenzin and our driver Karma to join us.

After all, it was our last dinner together and we wanted to show them some appreciation by treating them to a meal.

The unintended bonus to bringing them along with us was that they knew just the right place to go to get a nice dinner.

And, boy, was it a nice dinner.

Yes, the food was good, but the conversation was, once again, better.

I can’t believe this tour ends tomorrow and I’ll be traveling on my own again.

Tomorrow as we enter Nepal I’ll be crossing country number 65 off the list and, like Tibet, it’s one of those mysterious places in the world I’ve always wanted to visit.

It’s crazy to think but I’m only halfway done this trip, there’s still a whole bunch of adventures ahead…