Xhangmu, Tibet (via satellite phone)
4:35 PM Tibetain Time

Eric Brown With A Memorial To Tadek, The Remaining Expeditions, And Packing Up And Heading Home

This is Eric Brown reporting for Patagonia Mountain Agency. It is May 24th, 1999, Monday, and it's about 4:35 in the afternoon. I'm in Zhangmu -- Z-H-A-N-G-M-U -- which is a border town on the border between Nepal and Tibet.

Well, I apologize for not calling from Base Camp, but we were up at 4 o'clock this morning and had only time to eat and collapse the tents before we hit the road. No more beach club. Jacek and I stayed at ABC [Advanced Base Camp] 'til May 23rd to finish packing while everyone else went to Base Camp on May 22nd. ABC is much thinner now. The American expedition has left. In addition to the Swiss, Ukrainians, and the Italians. The Georgian expedition and Russell Bryce's expedition left for the North Col [Camp I] yesterday, and, weather permitting, will attempt the summit May 25th or 26th.

It was kind of good to leave ABC. Walking down the glacial moraine down towards Base Camp for the last time, Jacek and I reflected on the expedition in all its aspects, and especially whether or not the press coverage was going to get out of hand. Back at Base Camp, I reveled in the fact that the trudge to Advanced Base Camp was no more--never again (unless I come again next year) will I have to make that painful trip, at least for me. Kalu, also packing up, served up a 6-item dinner. My favorite was chicken and pineapple in a mushroom cream sauce--um-umm! Chocolate vanilla swirl cake followed. We also broke out all the bottles of Rock Star beer and many celebrated the last night under the watchful eye of Mount Everest.

On a more somber note, Ryszard made a memorial plaque--out of a flat rock--for Tadek, and we placed it on a rock cairn Ian and I built on the Memorial Hill at Base Camp.

As I mentioned, our entourage--3 Land Cruisers and one large gear truck--left Base Camp about 5 o'clock this morning. Actually, the gear truck died, and had to be push-started, assisted by 10 or so yak herders. The first part of the drive was not new--we followed the same road that we had taken when coming to Base Camp in mid-April. Once we hit the Friendship Highway--which is not paved, by the way--we took a left, heading west toward Zhangmu and the Tibetan-Nepalese border. The terrain was high, dry, sky country--Montana or West Texas--you pick. But closer to the border, things changed dramatically. We started losing altitude, following a river into a sheer canyon, which immediately turned green with vegetation. Soon we were in a cool, cloud forest, the road clinging to the canyon walls. It was such a nice change, all of us went crazy with our cameras and I kept the window rolled down, sometimes half-way climbing out to absorb the sights and sounds and cool mist enveloping us. Zhangmu is perched in this canyon, a bustling city crowding Chinese, Tibetan, and Nepalese people in narrow streets. Tomorrow we cross the border and arrive in Katmandu in the afternoon. The plan is to raid the popular Everest Steakhouse in the evening for steaks, chicken--food [laughter] food closer to America, I hope. Anyway, we'll talk soon with a dispatch from Kathmandu.

This is Eric Brown. See you soon.