Nepal~kathmandu; The Petronas{National`s oil company}- South Asia 2007 Expedition, a 62-day trip of 65 participants in 24 FWD vehicles, took off from Kuala Lumpur recently and is travelling through Thailand, Laos, China, Nepal and India, with its final destination at Karachi in Pakistan. For more details visit www.petronasadventure.com ------------------------------------------ IT is day 24 and after the “highs” of reaching the Everest Base Camp, the Petronas Adventure Team makes its way across the China-Nepal border en route to Kathmandu. WHEN we arrived at the Base Camp, with an elevation of 5,153m above sea level, it was drizzling, extremely cold and thick fog covered the astounding stature of the Qomo Lnagma or better known as Mount Everest. Most of the first-timers here were a tad disappointed for not having the chance to gaze at Everest, but then the experience of being at the base camp is what matters most. Coming down from the base camp, at 167km, Papa Romeo’s vehicle got stuck in mud. It was winched out. After about 10 minutes, Botak had a minor problem and again the vehicle had to be winched out. The 170km marked the time and place that our vehicle, the sweeper car, needed to be winched out of mud as again the turbocharger died on us due to thin air. Prima and Amphan helped us out of that muddy mess. After an hour’s stop at the Everest Blue Leopard Hotel to cook and have dinner, the convoy continued driving towards Zhangmu, which is only 396km from Tingri. Turns out that length was one of the hardest faced by the convoy, as it was a wet and foggy, narrow off-road path towards Zhangmu. Visibility was limited to about 50m and the strain on eyes and the fatigue almost had some of us down the chasm. About 295km towards Zhangmu, Air Sejuk had a flat tire and the technical support team responded. About 70km to Zhangmu, the convoy came to halt as a truck had broken down in the middle of the path. Due to that, the entire convoy spent the night in that sector. We started early the next day as the path was cleared at 5am in the morning. Without wasting any time, the convoy continued towards Zhangmu and once we arrived, we took baths and had breakfast at the hotel where we were supposed to spend the night. Chores: Folks washing clothes by the roadside at the China-Nepal border. After a briefing, the convoy crossed the China-Nepal border. It took us more than an hour to cross as the security at the China side was tight. On the Nepal side, it was fast and the convoy continued the drive towards Kathmandu, Nepal. The Nepalese were friendly and it was easier to communicate with them as most of them can speak English. It’s a beautiful and picturesque place with old buildings and culture. The weather here was hot as we descended to an elevation of 1,303m above sea level. I don’t know about the other convoy members but I am starting to miss the cold weather of China. According to the Nepalese guide, there are three heritage cities and four old temples that are regularly visited by tourists in Kathmandu, Nepal. The convoy took their much-needed rest at the Shanker hotel, an old palace turned hotel, after completing 7183.3km of driving, 126km from the Nepalese border. We are now one day ahead of schedule.