昨天（8月30日）下午，我们顺利到达了聂拉木，进山前的最后一个县城。

为了方便交通和适应海拔，我们这次的希夏邦马之行是从尼泊尔的加德满都开始的。从1300米的加德满都到3700米的聂拉木只有一天的车程。一路上穿过风景如画的兰唐山区，每一个转弯过去就是一道不同的风景，让人应接不暇。深深的山谷底下是咆哮的冰河，做白水漂流应该是不错的地方。一路上交通状况都比较方便，特别是过了樟木口岸后，崭新的盘山公路绝对一流的建设标准。路边很多容易发生塌方的地方都修建了人妨的岩壁，和自然岩壁融合得天衣无缝。

聂拉木是樟木口岸过来到拉萨、日客则去的第一个有点规模的县城，有不少旅店和饭馆。饭店的伙食还不错，蔬菜不少，就是很难见到肉类。我们在这里休整两天，明天开始徒步前往大本营，我们的重装将让牦牛帮忙驮着。从3700米的聂拉木到5200米的大本营，我们计划用四天时间以保证充分的时间慢慢适应海拔，一路上当然就是风餐露宿了。我们带了卫星通讯设备，如果调试顺利，到达大本营后应该能定期发回进展报告来。

谢谢大家的关注！

We arrived at Nyalam in Tibet yesterday (Aug 30th, 2011), the last civilized stop before we head into mountain.

For reasons of easy transportation and better acclimatization, our Shishapangma expedition started in Kathmandu, Nepal. It takes one day’s drive from Kathmandu of 1300m to arrive at Nyalam of 3700m, with 5-6 hours from Kathmandu to ZhangMu of 1800m, then then another 2-3 hours smooth ride to arrive at Nyalam. Along the way, we enjoyed the pleasant ride through the beautiful Langtang Valley, with roaring glacier water underneath and breath-taking views at every turn. The road condition was pretty good, especially after we crossed border at ZhangMu into Tibet. The recently built high way was smooth and safe, with man-made walls protecting spots that are susceptible to landslide or rock fall.

Nyalam is the first major town from ZhangMu to Lhasa. There are quite some hostels and restaurants. Food is decent here with a lot of vegetable but rarely any meat. We are resting here for two days and will start hiking towards base camp tomorrow, with the yaks help carrying our heavy equipment. We are planning for 4 days for the trip to base camp at 5200m.

We brought satellite communication equipment with us on this trip. Hopefully we will get it to work when we arrive at base camp so that I can report our progress every now and then. Thanks for your support. Please stay tuned!