The Sino Nepal Friendship Bridge was built in 1964, just two short years after a brief border issue with India. The bridge is quite small and inconspicuous -- barely 50 meteres long and nine meters wide as it crosses the Bhote Koshi River -- but it provides a vital link between Kathmandu and Lhasa.

Kodari in Nepal and Zhangmu in Tibet are the closest towns to the bridge. The whole area has become an impromptu Free Trade Zone as merchants from Nepal, India, Tibet and China Proper flow down the Friendship Highway to converge on these two border towns to hustle and trade.

The major sights on this highway include the road itself, which winds through some of the most extreme landscapes the woprld has to offer as well as several turnoffs and just the world's most maassive mountain.

Much of the road is unpaved and will definitely contribute to backside bruising. On the 900km trip from the bridge to Lhasa, you will pass Mt. Everest, go over several breath-robbing passes and most likely stop in Shigatse, one of Tibet's most important towns.

Be sure to stop at one or all of the passes and take pictures of the surrounding valleys and peaks -- including Mt. Everest, which is best
viewed from one of these passes.