EVEREST!

Any traveler worth his/her salt these days takes the bus from Lhasa to Kathmandu (or versa-vice), an intrepid, wild journey that takes a few days. Due to my 'budget deal' with the China International Travel Services office in Golmud, I received the ridiculously bare-boned Tibet travel itinerary of 'GOLMUD - LHASA - BEIJING.' My guide found this itinerary quite laughable.

Because of the minimalism of my itinerary, it would have been risky or impossible to go overland to Nepal, but totally kosher to fly out. Taking the flight was hardly an intrepid travel maneuver, and yet it offered a view of the world's tallest piece of rock: Mt. Everest (seen here peeking out of the clouds).


Incidentally, Nepal has two small tourist airlines, Buddha Air and Yeti Air, which run mountain flights to Everest and back. It sounds dangerous to me, but the price is reasonable (around $150 US).