AFVOA Newletters of Year 2013

Page 14 of 61 One common feature In Nepal and Tibet is that you find most people wearing dust masks. If you are not travelling on a tarmac road and move on katcha surface, then there is a tremendous amount of dust generated. Even a slight breeze generates dust so everyone tries to keep the face covered with a dust mask. All the little townships have their own solar panels to generate electricity, which gets switched on only at night. No battery charging facility after you leave Nylam and till you reach Darchen. So see to it that all your camera batteries are fully charged before you leave Nylam. There being no traffic and the road surface being pretty good you can see your driver touching 120 kmph on the speedometer at times. With a couple of halts we reach our destination by late afternoon after a seven hour journey. Dongba is not much of a place to be talked about. The accommodation is built like a transit camp, with 6 to 8 beds in a room. Just one toilet for gents and one for ladies, more like our public toilets which you would dread to enter. So the next best is to use the vast open spaces, both by ladies and gents alike. Water needs to be heated before it can be used even for a face wash. Hot water is provided in the morning for a wash and also to fill up your flasks both in the mornings and evenings. Everyone carries a flask for drinking water. A hand sanitizer should also be part of your back pack. As it gets dark, the single CFL bulb in the room lights up. The sun during the day is bright but one still needs winter clothing. As the sun goes down, temperatures drop sharply and after an early dinner it is time to get inside your quilt and go to sleep. 5th Day A few friends have asked me how much it costs to make this trip possible. When I booked, it cost me Rs.70,000/- excluding air ticket to Kathmandu. That is the amount I paid my tour operator for boarding, lodging and transportation. He receives you at the Kathmandu airport and drops you back for your flight back home. Another interesting thing about our group - the average age was over 55. This, in spite of having a boy of 14, a girl of 18 and a young man of 24 in the group of 84. All others were above 40 years. Surprisingly there were about a half dozen ladies who had come on their own. There were 5 people in my age group, i.e. 70 yrs. Unfortunately, one yatri expired shortly after fulfilling his desire of having a darshan of Mt. Kailash and another had to return due to health problems. We commence our journey after breakfast prepared by the Sherpas and head for Lake Manasarovar, our next halt. Distance to destination - 330 Km. This time we cross Mayumula pass, which at an altitude of 17000 ft was the highest point of the drive. The journey was quite similar to the previous day's journey. One continues driving over the Tibetan Plateau. Signs of life and habitation are few and far between. Only two petrol bunks, which were quite modern, on the entire route. Surprisingly the price worked out at 8.07 Yuan a litre, turns out to be more than 72 /- Rupees a litre. Similar is