Aug. 28 - Gyantse, Tibet
    
Tashi Delek once again-

It's evening here in Gyatse and everyone has retired to their rooms to watch a bit of the Olympics. The Athens games have been a bit of a guilty pleasure here at night. All of the television stations in Tibet are Chinese and therefore often of little interest for us knowing nothing more than 'nihau'. BUT- there is 24 hr. Olympic coverage with very little commentating so it's been a treat to watch an hour or two each night. Last night we all watched the U.S. Women's soccer team win in a great match. It's also quite a contrast to come in from walking around the Tibetan villages here and turning on live coverage of Olympic games from Greece. It's obviously one of the last things on the Tibetan's minds.

Our side trip to Gyantse has been well worth the time and effort. Everyone loved getting a chance to see the thriving Tibetan community surrounding the Monastery here. We also had a great acclimatization hike up to the top of the Gyantse Dzong (fort). This area was the site of a large battle between Tibetan and British forces that culminated here at the Gyantse Dzong.

Tomorrow we're off to Tingri and everyone's looking forward to reuniting with our Nepali staff as well as getting close to BC! We'll arrive early evening and reconnect with all of our gear that went overland from Kathmandu. Gopal our cook, and our two climbing sherpa Kami Rita and Tshering Dorje, will meet up with us there. It's been a grand tour of this part of Tibet and these guys have thoroughly enjoyed it but it's time to get to the mountain.

We had a great evening tonight complete with a delivered birthday cake arranged by Lakpa Rita and Lhasa beer for everyone including our guides, drivers and the restaurant staff. I happened to be the guest of honor tonight though we still have 2 birthdays left to celebrate during this expedition! So we started the tradition off right.

That's all for now. We'll be in touch soon.

All the best,
Dave