It rained all night but thankfully stopped by the time we got up. But it was still cloudy and cold when we started our ride up the last (two) pass of the trip, so we decided to use our 'extra' day and cut the ride into two. We would climb the short (not so difficult) pass today and the more difficult pass (Thang La) tomorrow. Change of plans - we decide ride the full distance, including the second pass, during lunch when the weather started to get nicer. The second pass was not as challenging as we thought, it was no more difficult than the other four passes we've climbed in the past two and half weeks. Ironically, when we reached the summit of Thang La, the sign above said - 'Enjoy the sights of Nepal, just at the Nyalam port' - it was like saying good bye to us. Even though we have two more days in Tibet, today felt like it's our 'last' day in Tibet.
The downhill portion was 15km of just giddy fun...and then our friend, the headwind, decided to pay us one last visit - for the next 40km! I thought the last 40km was going to be a gradual downhill to Nyalam; but no, it was constant uphill - downhill with the damn headwind. Once I got over the initial shock of the headwind and my body running on empty, the last 20km was absolutely beautiful with the landscape changing from grey arid plateau to green ridges. After riding 90+km in the cold, rain, wind and sun, we finally reached our destination - Nyalam. Our guide recommended that we have dinner in town since it was too late to camp and make dinner...we happily complied. Noodle soup and beer for dinner sounded like the perfect way to end our ride (and day)!
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