WHEN I caught my first sight of the northeast ridge of Mount Qomolangma, at 7:10 p.m. June 24, I felt I was one of the luckiest people in the world.

Qomolangma, which means “Goddess Mother of the World” in Tibetan, is the Chinese name for the world’s highest mountain.

In the West, the mountain is commonly referred to as Mount Everest, which was named after Sir George Everest, a British military engineer who served as surveyor general of India and surveyed the peak from 1829 to 1843.

At 8,850 meters, the mountain sits on the crest of the Himalayan Range between Tibet and Nepal.

I had been dreaming of visiting Mount Qomolangma since I was 13, when I first learned of the world’s highest peak in a Chinese geography class.

My dream finally came true as I joined, through the travel agency Tibet China Travel Service, a four-member tourist group in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, on June 23 to make a four-day and three-night trip to Mount Qomolangma.

The other three members in our group were a young couple from Guizhou Province and a Hong Kong doctor.

Our driver Liao Siquan, in his late 40s, is a veteran and has been driving from Lhasa to Mount Qomolangma since he moved from Sichuan Province to Tibet in 2002. For our group, he drove a Toyota 4500 landcruiser.

On the first day, Liao drove us about 300 kilometers from Lhasa to Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet, where we stayed overnight.

Although it’s only about 100 kilometers from Shegar, also known as new Tingri, to the Base Camp at the foot of Mount Qomolangma, it usually takes about four to five hours since the cracked and winding dirt roads demand much caution.

This section of dirt roads is also the toughest and most tiring on the whole trip to the mountain.

Our group should have arrived at the Base Camp around 5 to 6 p.m. on the second day. We were behind schedule because our Toyota 4500 landcruiser broke down shortly after passing through the Lulu Checkpoint around 1:30 p.m., and turning off the Sino-Nepal Friendship Highway to enter the nature reserve of Mount Qomolangma.

Liao had to spend about an hour repairing the car after he drove up a series of switchbacks to the Pangla Pass, at 5,200 meters, where we took time to enjoy an uninterrupted view of the Himalaya Range, its peaks protruding through clouds far away.

As Liao drove slowly down the pass and through the Zhaxizong Township, the last village on the way to Mount Qomolangma, I kept asking him when we would finally see the mountain, and he asked me to be patient.

“I met a female tourist from an inland province who traveled to Mount Qomolangma five times, but couldn’t see the true face of the mountain because of bad weather,” Liao said, “So you have to prepare for the worst.”

All five people in the landcruiser shared my feeling as we had our first sight of Mount Qomolangma, although most of the peak was still shrouded in a thick cloud under a clear sky.

“You people are already very lucky, and I hope the sky will clear up before sunset so that you can see the true face of the whole peak,” Liao said.

The Hong Kong doctor surnamed Ma, in his late 30s, said he also felt very lucky he had made it to the foot of the mountain despite slight symptoms of high-altitude sickness.

Of his two Hong Kong companions who had flown to Lhasa several days earlier, one couldn’t stand the reaction to the high altitude, and had to fly straight back to Hong Kong, and the other was immediately sent to hospital suffering acute mountain sickness, and was still in hospital when he left for the mountain June 23, Ma said.

As we reached the Rongbuk Monastery, the highest Buddhist monastery in the world, at the foot of Mount Qomolangma, we decided not to stop and visit it instead the next morning and headed directly for the Base Camp.

We finally arrived at the Base Camp (about 5,200 meters) around 7:30p.m. The camp is actually made up of about 20 Tibetan-style tents, which provide accommodation for tourists.

Because the Mount Qomolangma area is about two hours behind Beijing Time, the sun does not set until 9 p.m. in summer.

After leaving our luggage at the hotel, we decided to take a ride in a Tibetan buggy to the Second Base Camp (about 5,300 meters), where mountaineers start their ascent to the peak, to watch the sunset.

The Second Base Camp is also the highest point tourists can reach.

The buggy is the only means of transportation available between the two camps. The uphill ride takes about 40 minutes or about one and a half hours on foot to reach the Second Base Camp.

As our group reached the Second Base Camp around 8:20 p.m., the thick cloud shrouding the peak still hadn’t moved.

At the camp, there is a small hill, about 20 meters high, the top of which serves as a platform for tourists and photographers to get a better view of the peak.

But I found it too difficult to breathe at the 5,300-meter altitude so I decided to stay at the foot of the hill and take some photos of the peak.

About 20 minutes later, the night began to fall, but the cloud continued to hang around the peak.

I was feeling bad about not being able to see the whole face of Mount Qomolangma from such a close distance at the Second Base Camp, when I heard a sudden cry, “A storm is coming!”

I immediately walked to my buggy and tried to sit down and cover myself with a raincoat as heavy rain, accompanied by strong wind, began to pour down.

Everyone in our group got wet through as our buggies rushed us back to our tent in about 30 minutes. As we walked into the tent in wet clothes, we felt cold, hungry and tired.

As the rain continued and the strong wind blew hard, the temperature outside the tent dropped below zero degrees Celsius. We wondered if we would have a clear day the next day to see the true, whole face of Mount Qomolangma.

(To be continued)

<2022> Chinese citizens must have a a temporary travel permit issued by Tibet Tourism Bureau to travel to Mount Qomolangma.

Residents of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao must have a travel permit as well as a valid passport.

Foreign tourists who want to travel in Tibet are required to have a Chinese visa as well as the Alien’s Travel Permit issued by Tibet Tourism Bureau.

All tourists are required to show their documents at the Lulu Checkpoint to enter the nature reserve of Mount Qomolangma.

<2022> To travel to Mount Qomolangma, tourists can join a small tourist group through a travel agency in Lhasa.

The fees, including an admission ticket, board and lodging normally for four days and three nights, range from 1,300 to 2,000 yuan (US$170-265).

If you drive on your own to the mountain, you must pay 180 yuan per person for an admission ticket in Shegar.