Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-04-20
ROUTE TO EVEREST
IN FAIRY REGION
Area Traversed for Climb De-
scribed by Former
Visitor.
BY ROBERT BYRON.

BY ROBERT BYRON.
Mount Everest, though visible from
DArjeeling, must b approached by
climbers from the north. Kampa Jong,
in Tibet, IS their real starting point.
A pass on the northern frontier Of
Sikkim leads to this place direct, but 1t
mains snowbound till full Summer. The
present Everest-climbing expedition
chooses an easier route, cutting across
the southeast corner Of Sikkim and
ascending to the T1betan plain by the
Chumbi Valley.
Seen from the Bengal plain, the
Himalayas are disappointing-a hard,
colorless rampant, indistinguishable from
other mountains. But upon their north
ern face there opens another world,
where the clouds cum as they do on
Chinese screens, and the sky Is 50 blue
that no brush could ever paint It; where
the bright light halves every distance
and the snow-peaks glitter like crystals
above the golden hills; where the yak
ploughs and carries. the crossroads are
marked with prayer-wheeb. and the
lama in red robe and yellow hat main
tains q secluded theocracy.
This Is the Tibetan upland, treeless,
gale-swept country, from 10000 feet to
$4,000 feet above sea-level. The English
climbers get but q cursory view OF 1t
on their way to more heroic adventure.
Yet there can be none who does not
respond to the ever-recurrent thrill OF
the Central Asian landscape.
Landscape Is Vertical.
The scenery Of Sikkam, on the way
up, delights the eye with all that TIBET
has not. Here are no 1nterm1naple
plains, no radiant skies. The landscape
is verticle and carried to such heights
that the armament, when visible AZ
all, resembles the oridce OF chimney
seen from the fireplace. In the whole
state there is scarcely fiat land enough
for a boot ball field.
Among these stupendous hills, Pc
meath these cathedrals Of trees that rise
so feet before they spread branch, the
human traveller becomes infn1tesimal.
The flowers are as unlike nature as
the design Of an ancient wallpaper +;
the iridescent butterflies, fitting across
the sun spots, are big as sparrows. The
spiders webs are so tough that they
knock the riders hat crooked. the
parrots shrek like housewives at BAR
gain sale. The noise OF one c1caoa
would outshrill the whistle OF . steam
engine.
At length, the cobbled path reaches
the bottom of the valley, crosses the
inevitable river, and begins to ascend.
The forest grows less dense. Bamboos
appear, growing taller and more robust,
till they give place to rhododendrons,
and the whole mountainside Is abla1e
with their posies.
Then the conifers begin, expresses
and silver frs, and at $4,000 feet the
rhododendrons become scrub, inter
spersed with dank yellow sedgeS. Peaks
that once usurped the whole sky have
receded into hidden depths. The conf
fers themselves thin out In gaunt,
Jagged regiments till the last is gone,
and only the pass lies ahead. the naked
threshold Of new world.
Prayer-F1ags Added.
Two cairns stand on either side,
adorned with prayer nags. to which the
servants add their quota. Between
them unfolds view Of 40 miles below
the wooded abyss Of the Chumbi VAL
ley; beyond, far up on the horizon,
the white peak Of Chomolhart, sentinel
Of the Tbetan Plain.
OF the three semi-independent states
sheltered by the Himalayas, Sikkim Is
by far the smallest. The capital Is
Gangtok, q pleasant little place on a
Here the Maharajah has his palace
Nearby stands the British residency,
in the same style Of architecture. The
post is an important one, for to the
political officer In Sikkim is intrusted
the conduct Of diplomatic relations with
Tibet.
Two passes lead from Sikkim into the
Chumbi Valley. The lower, the Nathu
La, can be reached In two days from
Oangtok, after q night at Changu, on
the edge Of the lake; and Gangtok
itself, at certain seasons, Il accessible
by car. But the second pass, the
Jelep La, though 14,400 feet above the
sea, and having an abominable descent
on the further side, Is more generally
free from snow, and is that used BY the
mail runners.
from Darjeelins, where the expedi-
ton formed its caravan, 1t u one days
ride to Kalimpong, the chief entrepot
Of the T1betan wool trade. Thence the
stages vary, according to the effort en-
ployed. I myself stopped the next night
at Pedong, a charming rest house IN a
meadow, and the following day pro-
oeeded to Ar, on the opposite side Of
the valley.
From Ar, after crossing the Rongli
River at 2,700 feet, the path ascends
10000 feet during the Is miles to
Lingtu. This Is an exhausting climb
for the ponies. The traveller generally
spends q night on the way Ut Seldom
chen, tiny village clinging to . pre-
earious ledge.
Ridge Il Knifelike.
There Is one more halt, either at
Gnatong or Kapup, among the sedges
and rhododendron scrub, and then
comes the Jelep La, frontier between
the old Celestial empire and the en-
pire of Hindustan. From this knifelike
ridge a glissade of 1000 feet leads down
into the Chumbi Valley, where yaks,
black and shaggy as hearth rugs, Craze
among woods Of larch.
The first moments In Tibet are a
strange experience. I shall never for
get my private excitement when, on
rounding a corner, rode straight into
q religious procession In front marched
women carrying the sacred books in
bundles on their backs. Behind came
. gold image in palanquin, attended
by monks in red robes and high,
pointed hats, to the beat Of drums and
the clash Of cymbals.
At Rinchengong, prosperous COM
munity of tall, broad-eaved houses
grouped round a golden chorten, the