The so-called Friendship Highway wastes no time in climbing skyward. Mei wastes no time in complaining about being cooped up in a 4WD for 8 hours per day.
Lucky Rock's not driving. There's no room for a wrong turn on these roads.
There's enough hairpins between here and the top of the pass to keep an entire hair salon in business for years.
Best not to contemplate how the driver can possibly see the road when the top of the pass is completely enveloped in cloud. The good news is that you're reading this, which means he guessed right on the direction of all the bends.
Nothing stops China Post. Unlike the J00ster car, which seems to stop every five minutes for toilet breaks.
On the other side of the pass, the emerald Lake Yamdrok suddenly emerges from the mist in a breathtaking unveiling.
Yak, yak, yak meets a real yak.
If I were sitting on a one ton beast who is getting irritable with all the tugging on his nose ring, I'd keep my hands on the reins. 
Rock prefers to ride a beast of a different kind. She may not look like much kid, but she's got is where it counts. This is the ship that did the Everest run in 72 hours.
The scenery is incredibly varied, sometimes towering peaks, other times lush mountain meadows dotted with yaks. Varied scenery is a good thing when you're stuck in a bouncing Land Cruiser for 8 hours a stretch.
Didn't expect the land to be quite so green. When you picture the Himalayas you think of desolate mountain terrain, not idyllic lakes surrounded by rolling hills.
Will someone show me a mountain already?
It's hard to appreciate the scale of the land out here. Unless you're sitting in the car for hour after hour watching the endless steppes roll by.
The air is thinner here, you should be able to get better elevation than that! Your legs must have atrophied away from all that sitting.
It's a long way between fried rice stops out here.
The utter emptiness of the land is incredible. In an age of iPads and Google maps, it's easy to forget that there are still vast swathes of the world where few humans have ever trod.
A quick glacier photo stop turns into a bit of a party. By the time Rock finally manages to get a shot away, the locals are wondering if this newfangled magic picture device is really all it's cracked up to be.
By the time Rock gets the focus right, Mei will have blown off the cliff. Now might be the time to admit you're nothing without auto focus.
The half way point is the tiny town of Gyantse, dwarfed by the mighty Gyantse Dzong fort that towers over the settlement. During the British invasion of Tibet in the early 1900s this fort was the sight of, according to Wikipedia, a spirited last stand by the locals, who fought heroically against the superior weaponry of the invaders. What they fail to mention is that the spirited resistance took the form of invisibility spells. Luckily the fort is more impressive than their... err... mighty armaments.
One of the finest Kumbum's in all the world. For those wondering, a Kumbum is a type of chorten. Which clears things up a lot right? Let's just settle for pretty darn impressive and leave it at that.
You know it's good when Rock forks over the photo fee.
For a peace-loving faith, these blokes look a little grumpy. Perhaps they had to sit in the car with Mei for 8 hours.
Warning, incoming invisibility spells!
Chungla has seen it all before. The downside with being a guide is you get to see the same sights - and participate in the same lame photos - something like 30 times per year. No matter how cool something is, do you really need to see it 30 times?
There are of course exceptions to that rule; here's one cool thing you definitely need to see again.
A long, dusty day on the road is washed down with an ice cold Lhasa Beer. Sleep tight folks, it's an early start tomorrow.
Day two dawns clear and crisp. First item on the agenda: explore the mighty Tashilhunpo Monastery.
Monks have an even earlier start than Team J00ster. Needless to say, Mei is not impressed. How can they make it through the morning prayers without a Starbucks in the monastery?
The monastery is so big it's a city in its own right. You never know what is lurking around the next bend. Unless you're reading this, in which case you know it's another photo op.
It's only a matter of time before they can read their daily prayers off iPads instead of scrolls. It may be isolated out here, but in another decade the whole Starbucks in the monastery thing won't be a joke. Enjoy it while you can. The solitude that is, not the grande latte.
Sick of monasteries yet? The problem with reading J00ster is that by the end of it you'll pretty much be sick of seeing just about all of the world's most awesome sights. By the end of this post you'll be able to add Everest to that list too.
A slightly more civilized monk debate than the one we saw last time. Perhaps they're only discussing the plot to last night's Big Bang Theory.
Mei prefers to meditate in peace. Which is impossible when Rock is running around with his monster camera trying to get the perfect shot.
Time to hit the trail again. The road looks long from up here on this pass, but not nearly as long as it feels when you're bumping along at 60kmh.
Pretty much sums it up. It's tough going out here.
Next stop is the fortress monastery of Sakya, an imposing quadrilateral structure that looks about as inviting as your local Death Star.
There's only so many comments one can come up with to described wilderness. This isn't one of them.
The locals have better things to do that watch another Land Cruiser disgorge its shutter happy tourists. Like deliver the afternoon yak butter tea to the laborers in the field.
Mei has the advantage that she has someone to complain to in two different languages.
Somewhere out over the horizon is Everest. Supposedly. Seems like we should be getting close now.
Always the optimist, Rock is sure it's just around the next bend.
Approaching the second overnight stop, the someone euphemistically named town of New Tingri.
If this is the new version, I'd hate to see Old Tingri.
New Tingri is little more than a rag tag collection of rundown buildings, outnumbered two to one by rabid dogs. Luckily, your adventurers are far to weary to do much more than tumble into bed... just in time for the blast of the alarm clock.
Day three and not a cloud in the sky. Which is a good thing; imagine coming all this way and having Everest covered in clouds. Then imagine sitting in the car with Mei for 72 hours on the way back after said disaster. Then stop right there and find a convenient crevasse to throw oneself into.
The final climb to Everest base camp is a dizzying ascent up the kind of mountain they have no business putting a road over.
False alarm. The first peak that comes into sight looks quite cool, but alas it is a mere impostor.
But that doesn't stop the camera men. After all, should we fail in our ultimate quest, we can always pretend this is the real deal. Let's face it, they all look the same on Facebook anyway.
And then, suddenly and almost unexpectedly, there she is. See it was just around the next bend after all.
Everest in all her glory. All 8,848 magnificent meters. Where's my kiwi flag when I need it?
Made it! Rock is finally allowed to break out the chocolate that he's been eying up during all those long days of sitting in the car counting yaks.
The Rongbuk monastery enjoys perhaps the best view in the world, looking straight out over the desolate alpine valley to the towering north face of Everest. Even after monastical overload, it's impossible not to be impressed.
Base camp is just that, a lonely collection of yak hair tents huddled together against the unrelenting elements.
But inside is quite comfy, once you get the yak dung smoldering and the tea kettle chirping away.
This is not your typical been there, done that moment. It's not every day you set up camp at the foot of the world's tallest mountain.
Kind of puts things in perspective, no?
The afternoon is reserved for a hike further up the foothills for an up close and personal encounter with Everest. Base camp is over 5,000m, and you feel every single one of them when trying to do the hour long trek. Which really hammers home just what an incredible feat actually climbing the thing is. It's hard enough just to get to the foot of the mountain; imagine if that was only the start instead of the ending.
Magnificent desolation.
For the tail end of the rainy season, the weather is remarkably clear. An amazing piece of luck for a team that usually imports the long white cloud.
Mei is starting to wonder where the holiday ended and the boot camp started.
Prayer flags flap wildly in the freezing wind. Even the mighty alpaca fleece is feeling the strain in the icy mountain air. Maybe yaks will have the last laugh after all.
The highest post shop in the world.
Victory is sweet. Especially now that Mei finally let Rock eat the chocolate.
Sunset over the north face of Everest. Might as well chop up the passports now, it just doesn't get any better than this.
The end of a long day, and an even longer journey. Actually it's not the end of the journey, we've still got to drive all the way back. Shudder.
Lights out team.
Hmmm... would have been better off leaving those lights off.
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