Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride

Once you descend you ride about 30 km again across the flat valley bottom and then thru several small villages. The last 30 km is again uphill and with some switchback and peek a boo views of Everest. There is a ticket check point and then about 3 km from the end of the road (to where tourist are allowed to drive to) there is another Police passport checkpoint. Then its the last few km with a spectacular view of the mountain. The road ends at a gravel lot surrounded by small tent restaurants.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4467/...b6590b64_b.jpg Everest-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We had some noodle soup in one of the tents and then walked 200 m to the “monument” that marks the altitude for a group shot. The guides then headed slowly back now at 230 and we will meet them at the check point at Tingri.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4489/...9626dd04_b.jpg IMG_0206 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4513/...8a07d8fa_b.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4504/...81239f81_b.jpg Everest-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4487/...0b8e8be5_b.jpg Everest-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

saralou

23 Nov 2017 12:15

saralou

23 Nov 2017 12:20

From here it was another 200 m to the monument that marks the elevation at the top of Everest. You can not walk the 500 m to the actual tenting area of the base camp unless you have a climbing permit. The climbers can actually drive to their tent site now. The river water here is slightly murky like glacial runoff and very soft. We enjoyed our time here, but but by 345 we were all tired and Sara had a bit of a headache.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4493/...4d65dfd6_b.jpg IMG_0228 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4446/...6de13ae4_b.jpg Everest-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4509/...2b6233cd_b.jpg Everest-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4453/...173ac13b_b.jpg Everest-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4495/...39f6b501_b.jpg Everest-35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4513/...fe40e30b_b.jpg Everest-37 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

saralou

23 Nov 2017 12:34

Check out our video from the ride to base camp!

https://youtu.be/yr5BVNR1dLA

Still can not get the embed video link to work on HU!

saralou

24 Nov 2017 14:09

We did not need to stop at any of the checks for 100 km until Tingri. On the way back we ran into a Vietnamese guy on a tour with ride Asia. His guides bike was in the back of the truck looking thrashed from a car crash. We had no issues at the check point and we passed our guides about 5 km before so they did not have to wait long for us. The line up coming the other direction was insane!

https://youtu.be/TZW5KeBtjvk

In town we went to the gas station and we are getting better at guessing the exact volume of gas we will need. Back at the hotel we put the bikes up on the stands and Dan did his daily once around check that all seems ok. NOT there is a serious issue with the shock on the 650 GS. The shock has snapped off the bottom aluminum shaft and is now swinging free. It must have just let go with the force to get the bike on the stand. WTF do we do now in this tiny village. Well luckily the guides had already made inquires about a truck for Orvar’s bike as he says he will not ride it back over the pass at 5236m. They found a guy with a truck in “Old Tingri” 60 km away thru a fixer. We negotiated him down from 3200 RNB to 2500 (500$). This includes loading and securing 2 bikes, hotel tonight and tomorrow in Shigatze, fuel, and delivering the bikes 250 km away, and returning 310 km home. We still have the same issue of the road closure and we loaded the bikes tonight as we need to pass the Tingri check point before 630 am.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4524/...88a0bbed_b.jpg Tibet Everest by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

saralou

24 Nov 2017 14:11

We were up and out and at the check point for 630 and the truck with the bikes had gone earlier and was thru already. It is 3 degrees when we left town and minus 6 at the top of the pass. Dan said he had to stop and take his gloves off and put his hand down into his pants just to get them warm enough to keep going.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4453/...5e0d42f5_b.jpg IMG_0238 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Luckily it was soon 8 degrees on the down side as the sun was now up. We had 90 km to go of the construction zone and we met Trevor and Dan at the check point at 8 am. They had been cruising, but only beat us by 10 min and the bikes on the truck arrived shortly after us. It was all downhill 150 km to Shigatze and we met the guys at the edge of town.

We were at the same hotel and there was no good spot to unload the bikes, but luckily there is a construction site next door and a bunch of the men there helped to lift the bikes out. Then to get the shock out! Not as easy as it seems as the top bolt is bent. We could unscrew it and release the fitting, but could not thread the bolt thru. So brute force and repeated whacking with a pipe on the socket extender did the job. Lunch was a quick beef noodle soup across the street. Also for a well deserved beer.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4574/...8664df93_b.jpg Tibet Shigatse-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Dan and Trevor, the driver ,and the Tibet guide spend 3 hours driving around to find someone to weld for us and also to find a new top bolt. They wrapped the shock in wet towels during the weld, but we are worried about the seal.

Bathroom at the welders

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4549/...9a7d5f03_b.jpg Tibet Shigatse-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The install was smooth a silk and we hope then weld will do the job. The seal seems OK so far. We went back to the same place for dinner and Mr Tang came thru again with a great meal. The owner gave us a huge discount as well (dinner is usually 35-50 RMB each and tonight with this huge meal it was 25).

saralou

24 Nov 2017 14:15

We only gave 93 km to go today to Gyangze (Me la) at 3977 m and so we got to sleep in and leave after breakfast at just after 9.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4510/...d7a9750d_b.jpg Screen Shot 2017-10-06 at 21.32.35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We came down to the bike and unfortunately there is a small pool of shock oil. The weld seems good, but the shock was spewing oil one we got going. Not much we can do now. We will try the bicycle inner tube and tie down trick to try to get out of China. We will contact YSS Germany thru the dealer we used there and see what they can do for us. So far this shock has cost us 1400$ including purchase price, shipping, truck transport, and welding. It has been stellar otherwise especially the height.

We set off and kept the speed to 90 km for the ride today. Arriving to the city they would not sell us gas at the first station at the edge of town. We were directed to THE station in the city center that motorcycles can buy gas at and told us we would need to register with the police to be able to get gas there. At the station there was a line of 10 guys at the pump and the side of the lot was full of bikes. The computer system was down and who knows when it will be back up. So to the hotel is and we will try in the morning.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4517/...ee79df96_b.jpg Tibet_-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

saralou

24 Nov 2017 14:30

We arrived to the Yeti hotel, which again looks like a disaster on the outside , but it is lovely inside.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4504/...64d998fe_b.jpg IMG_0244 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We contacted Wolfgang in Germany who had purchased and shipped the shock to us. He contacted the distributor, who contacted YSS and explained the situation, and Tomas at Twowheel got back to us with the Bangkok head office contact within an hour. This is Friday afternoon of course. We contacted YSS and they got back to us within 3 hours that they would send us an express post new shock ANYWHERE and ASAP. Wow amazing service. The issue for us is we need to sort out whether we can have this shipped to China (not likely or long delay with duty involved) or more likely to northern Laos.

saralou

24 Nov 2017 14:32

saralou

24 Nov 2017 14:35

saralou

25 Nov 2017 12:43

Well we are at a new low for theta today! Trevor is unable to even get out of bed this morning with the spasms and pain in his back. He is in agony. We really have no choice but to get him moving or we will have to make up the km tomorrow. We loaded him up with Advil and Flexeril and after 2 hours he could walk to the van. The guides spent that 2 hours trying to find a truck for his bike with no luck. Mr Tang has agreed to ride it the 310 km to Shannan (Lhoka) he even fits into all of Trevor’s gear.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4503/...9c53117d_b.jpg Screen Shot 2017-10-09 at 18.29.13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Mr Tang did buy his own helmet in Lhasa after the Orvar experience. This means we left the hotel at 1030 instead of 830 and we still had an additional 30 min just to get gas.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4498/...c1d6c24e_b.jpg Frame-19-10-2017-15-41-56 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4470/...889832cb_b.jpg Frame-19-10-2017-15-43-01 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4545/...fe41d0ef_b.jpg Tibet_-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

saralou

25 Nov 2017 12:51

Well WE THOUGHT we had hit rock bottom as a team 3 hours ago, but that was until 10 km from town when the weld let go on the 650! Sara pulled over immediately when she felt the clunk. To be honest she is totally demoralized right now and actually burst into heart broken tears. WTF do we do now. Stuck on the side of the road with an un-drivable bike and 10 days from the Chinese border with Laos. We had already tried unsuccessfully to hire a truck for Trevor. The guides think it will be impossible here in Tibet for any amount of money. The truck drivers simply don’t want to do it.

Dan has an idea! Mr Tang to the rescue as he agreed if we measured the bike we could try to put it in the van. No issue with the windscreen off and the bars dropped. We siphoned off the fuel we had just put in and lifted Lulu into the van, settled her on the side stand and packed all the other gear to support her.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4562/...5b5bab22_b.jpg Tibet_-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4545/...6a6c4a46_b.jpg Tibet_-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4519/...93ddaca8_b.jpg Tibet_-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4552/...f44de454_b.jpg Tibet_-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4545/...742de951_b.jpg Tibet_-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4531/...e1937979_b.jpg Tibet_-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

saralou

25 Nov 2017 12:56