Tibet to Nepal

The border was supposed to open at 10, but in Chinese style, it was closer to 11.  Once across, our senses were inundated with new things-

A Chinese jackhammer-

According to a Nepalese border guard, sherpas carry a maximum 200 pounds and are paid between 200 and 300 rupees ($2/$3) to deliver a load across the border-

The streets are narrow and cars drive on the left side-

At first we thought it must be wash day, but it rains a lot, so we think maybe the laundry just perpetually hangs out to dry-

Snooker anyone?  Even in Tibet, pool tables were outside in front of restaurants-

We could immediately feel a difference here.  First, many speak English.  The police are super friendly, smiling and laughing.  People are relaxed and happy and everything is much cheaper.

Some of the roads to Borderlands, where we're camping for 2 nights-

We're still in the beautiful Liping Gorge-

Terraced rice farming with homes high up the mountain side-

Tomorrow, the brave ones are bungie jumping and bridge swinging at 10 am!  

Tibet - Nepal

We're on our way to Nepal, or at least the border.

How do you say "stop" in Mandarin?

We drove through the Liping Gorge.  It was gorgeous after the deserty, dry conditions of most of the day-

We finally arrived at Zhangmu (Dram), also known as The Gate to Hell, for very obvious reasons!

These truckers have been sitting around a month, waiting to load their trucks or get across the border. They are sitting on huge sacks of who knows what, but it will be loaded, eventuallly, manually, into a truck-

This fellow was just walking along the road-

Narrow, narrow streets  but Will was able to manoeuvre the truck perfectly.  Not sure how!

This posse of bikes were ridden by men practicing to be motor bike tour leaders for tours from Nepal to China.  Sounds like fun!  The bikes are 500 cc Royal Enfields.

After passing through Zhangmu, we started descending to the border.

Sometimes it was very tight-

Some trucks were funny!

Here's Jesus wrestling with the devil.  O Beby Don't Break my Heart!

Boady guard??

At one point on a tight curve, we had to take the bolts out of the guard rail so the truck bumper could push against it to get through!  

This pretty much sums up the afternoon!

We arrived at the Chinese border but it was closed until 10 am tomorrow.

This bridge separates China and Nepal and believe it or not, there is a red line in the middle.  The  Chinese don't speak English but the Nepalese do!  The Chinese are all business and the Nepalese are friendly- laughing and interested in visiting. 

This is Nepal.  So many trucks waiting to be given the green light!  

 We couldn't cook or set up our tents in the street so we found a bar and spent the night sleeping in the truck, ready for Nepal!

Here's Dave, Corinne, Greg and Alison-

Jan, Will, Dennis and Dave-

Marianne, me and Jan (doing his Canadian smile)-

This Chinese border guard loved Greg because of his football shirt!

Nepal, here we come!