We had to drive back the same way we came, climbing the giant pass again. This time however, the view of the Himalayan Range was crystal clear. I watched it from the car, but I was itching to descend.
We continued on, driving through sandy dunes with the Himalayas to our left. After hours, the sand dunes ended and the rocks started to grow orange moss. This was joined later by green mosses, then shrubs. We were soon swiftly descending down a mountain pass along a gorge. There was no going over a hill, we were already at the top. The landscape changed drastically in a few short kilometers. We were dropping altitude so quickly, it was like a textbook cross section of the types of plants that grow at each elevation.
It took only two hours to go from the Alpine desert to jungle. We stopped at the border town for the night at the worst hotel I've ever seen. I'm sure I'll see worse. We begged the guide to let us try another place, but he claimed it was booked out, which was a lie. It was merely more expensive than the tour budget would allow. Jackie and I shared a dorm room for no additional cost, while Wen, Evan, and Caroline paid extra for a room. The second hotel was much better, lacking the suffocating mold and dirty toilets.
The five of us enjoyed our last Tibetan meal together and talked about what we'd seen in the last week. Like all last suppers, we all opened to each other and shared many personal details of our life. We then shared some beers on the veranda of our hotel, overlooking the darkened Bhote Kosi river below. We savored our last night in China.
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