Crossing the Tibet- Nepal border on foot seemed like a fun idea. The Nepal earthquake in 2015 closed the usual border so we crossed at Gyirong or Kerung. which has only been open to foreigners for a year. This spring has seen heavy monsoons so the roads on the Nepal side tund out to be horrific – who knew?
The Chinese side the road was reallly quite good – the Chinese invasion gave Tibetans good roads and little else. We got to the border early and lined up outside with a several groups of mostly European tourists. Our kids were the youngest by decades. It was our last chance to say goodbye to our wonderful guide Pintok and driver Wangcheng ( pronounced ‘one chin’). https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=BoXu6QmxpJE
The actual border crossing was remarkably uneventful. The border guards were only confiscating Lonely Planet Tibet books ( as they have relatively true history) and we didn’t have one. Then we hit the Nepal side and were told our 4x4s could not get through so we had to walk 2k with packs etc. The roads were narrow dirt, washed out and the ruts of mud were mid calf – a harbinger of what was to come.
