Back in Kathmandu END Bryan's Lhakpa Ri 2005
1 Ocotber 2005    
A little late but the first opportunity after a busy few days.
So, with the climb taking place on the last day, they did not have a lot of rest with the yaks arriving late in the afternoon of 27 Sep. The next day we headed off at about 8.30 for the 8 hour walk out, after which everyone was reasonably tired but happy. We enjoyed the fact that it was the last night in tents. The next day (28th) it was the long haul, up at 6.00 initially retracing part of the trekking route we had followed on the way to Base camp, over several passes at 5000m on a rough 4WD track.
We had been dreading lunch at Tingiri but were happily surprised by the food and STEINLAGER! That set us up well for the long afternoon heading west and south towards the border.
The gorge towards Zhangmu was an amazing piece of engineering and everyone was blown away by the scale of the terrain and depth of the gorge. Not to mention the sort of weird place the town is, stretching over several hundred vertical metres and full of about 1000 trucks. The showers at the Pema Hotel were overworked and very much enjoyed on our arrival. Clean clothes, good food and a few beers set us up well for the long day to follow to complete our journey to Kathmandu.
So yesterday we left on China time and went through the border process with no real difficulties before heading down the gorge again. Lunch was in a small town on the Nepalese side part way where everyone else ate with bare hands but as foreigners we were given utensils to save embarrassment all round. Finally we drove into the grounds of the Shanker in moist, thick,hot afternoon air. The gear was quickly checked and then it is was pool and beer time. We caught up with Reidar who was looking tanned and relaxed after a couple of days in town ahead of us and many tales were swapped, some of them true.
Today everyone is puddling around doing laundry, last minute shopping and so on. I am due at the DCXP office as soon as I finish this, sorting out last minute gear and financial details, replacing pills used and all that boring stuff. Tonight we will have our farewell dinner with the Sherpa team and most of us fly out tomorrow. The feedback so far has been excellent, everyone has had a great time and have not been able to fault the trip schedule, support and Sherpa team. It has been a long and exceptional journey.
Bryan Carter expedition leader