Hearing about the highway planned on Mount Everest, Shaun Horrocks, features designer for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong decided it may be his last chance to see landscapes that may change within a year. According to Xinhua, the Chinese government has been planning a $19.7 million highway construction project. The project will facilitate the journey of the Olympic torch to the world's highest peak ahead of the Olympic Games, turning the 108-kilometer (67-mile) rough road linking Tingri County at the foot of Everest to Base Camp into a blacktop highway.
From June 7 to June 29, Horrocks and friend Steve Coward rode their bikes from Lhasa to Kathmandu, Nepal, via Everest Base Camp. Here are his reflections:
"Early on in the trip, we were riding along, and two girls came running up. These girls were running, laughing. They physically stopped us and ended up putting their bags on our bikes and running with us, dancing, saying "Disco" and singing the ABC's. After hours riding, and their running with us, it was getting dark and [there was] nowhere to camp. They got their father out, and they allowed us to sleep in their courtyard. They had boiling pots of water for us to drink. 
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