Rhys in the Shangri-La snow Today was to be the first day of skiing for us on the trip so far. We planned to hit the slopes of the new resort in Shangri-La while Dave organised a ferry from Bangkok to Calcutta, India. Kevin, who we had met the night before runs a ski hire shop and we called him early that morning to go get decked out with some ski gear we had forgotten to bring from home.
During the course of the fit-out Kevin introduced us to his business associate, a guy who was renowned as the ‘go to’ man for any questions in regards to the roads or tracks between Shangri-La and Lhasa. A native of Lhasa, he runs a 4WD club in Shangri-La and knows the mountain passes better than anyone. Naturally we peppered him with all our questions in regard to the feasibility of crossing into Tibet without the permit and in the treacherous weather. To be honest this guy seemed like a bit of a mad man, he was keen to take us and claimed he knew the military personnel well enough to get us through without the permit. He did also recommend that if we did go (and he would guide us) we would need a week’s worth of rations, chains for the tyres and shovels to potentially dig out parts of the road that may be completely covered in snow. Considering we are currently at 3,000 metres with snow piled all over the roads, the cover at 5,500 metres he said would be dangerous and substantial. After an hour of planning and with the reality of achieving what was previously thought impossible, a dampener was thrown on the plan by our current guide when he threatened to call the police if we gunned it through against the wishes of the authorities in Tibet and the Chinese military.
With the looming reality of having to head back to Bangkok becoming more and more inevitable we decided to hit the slopes in Shangri-La's newly opened ski resort. But yet again, the weather had other ideas and three quarters of the way to the resort we were forced to turn around and go back to town due to the extremely bad ice and snow forcing many of the trucks in front of us to stop. With 4 truck long blockades and the time necessary to organise the ferry to Calcutta running out we cut our losses and turned back. Check out the video....
During the course of the fit-out Kevin introduced us to his business associate, a guy who was renowned as the ‘go to’ man for any questions in regards to the roads or tracks between Shangri-La and Lhasa. A native of Lhasa, he runs a 4WD club in Shangri-La and knows the mountain passes better than anyone. Naturally we peppered him with all our questions in regard to the feasibility of crossing into Tibet without the permit and in the treacherous weather. To be honest this guy seemed like a bit of a mad man, he was keen to take us and claimed he knew the military personnel well enough to get us through without the permit. He did also recommend that if we did go (and he would guide us) we would need a week’s worth of rations, chains for the tyres and shovels to potentially dig out parts of the road that may be completely covered in snow. Considering we are currently at 3,000 metres with snow piled all over the roads, the cover at 5,500 metres he said would be dangerous and substantial. After an hour of planning and with the reality of achieving what was previously thought impossible, a dampener was thrown on the plan by our current guide when he threatened to call the police if we gunned it through against the wishes of the authorities in Tibet and the Chinese military.
With the looming reality of having to head back to Bangkok becoming more and more inevitable we decided to hit the slopes in Shangri-La's newly opened ski resort. But yet again, the weather had other ideas and three quarters of the way to the resort we were forced to turn around and go back to town due to the extremely bad ice and snow forcing many of the trucks in front of us to stop. With 4 truck long blockades and the time necessary to organise the ferry to Calcutta running out we cut our losses and turned back. Check out the video....
This in itself however proved a near disastrous option. Ten minutes back towards town a tractor had slid off the icy road and lodged itself at a 45 degree angle on the road making it impossible for us to pass. During an attempt to move the tractor from the ditch the Hummer began to slide on the combination of the ice and the angle of the road only to be stopped literally centimetres from crashing into the tractor. Nonetheless the tractor was removed with our help and we set off again unscathed.
Rhys wanders through snowed-under Zhongdian
Upon return to town Rhys and Finto decided to try making the best of a so far disappointing day and go get a meal at a Nepalese/Indian restaurant they heard served great food. After a short walk they had a great meal despite not being able to translate much of what was on the menu. The restaurant had the last laugh however, with Rhys ending up sick later that night from what seemed a suspect lunch.
No comments:
Post a Comment