We left Tingri in the early afternoon and headed west on the paved road that stretches from the Nepalese border to Lhasa and beyond.
After three hours we passed through Nyalam where we had begun our acclimatization to high altitude 22 days before. From there is was just 38 kilometer (and a drop of 4000 feet) down the mountain to the border town of Zengmu.
At the Chinese border station
We stayed in small hotel and were out early in an attempt to be near the front of the line when the Chinese border station opened in the morning. Several groups of Indian tourists seemed to have made it out even earlier.
Friendship Bridge -- China on the right, Nepal on the left
Even leaving the country , the Chinese border staff scanned our bags and carefully hand-checked them. They were particularly interested in my little computer. They asked whether I had Tibetan documents on it and asked to see any photos I had on it. I showed them a file with photos from the blog, and after a few minutes they lost interest and told me to pack it up.
On the Nepalese side, the only concern seemed to be that we had valid visas. I needed a new 15 day visa — $25 in U.S. currency.
Our tour agency had arranged for a bus to bring our group and our Sherpa cooks back to Kathmandu.
Tour buses loading on on the Nepalese side
By late afternoon we arrived in the Kathmandu suburb of Boudhanath, where we had started. I was grateful to be back at the Shechen Monastery Guesthouse: a comfortable room with an attached bath, a vegetarian restaurant, smiling staff, and wifi when they had electrical power.
Shechen Monastery, Boudhanath
