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DAY 10 (2/2): LAST DAY IN LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏), 2017.09.25

Our driver Sangzhu dropped us near our hotel Trichang Labrang (赤江拉讓藏式賓館) in Barkhor Old Town. After dropping off our bags, we stopped by the eatery beside the hotel for a quick bite. The friendly eatery owners, a talkative young couple, were excited to welcome us and chatted with us. We ordered a Nepali platter, fried momo and two cans of local beer to celebrate the completion of our road trip. The momos were quite delicious, and went well with the beer made with Highland Barley. It was the last full day of the trip. After filling our stomach, we didn’t want to visit any attractions, but spent time wandering in Barkhor Old Town, checking out souvenirs, watching people, and photographing anything that interested us, until the dinner time. For dinner, we decided to try the Tibetan hotpot at “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱们的藏餐馆).

After returning to Lhasa, we stopped by the small local eatery next door from Trichang Labrang Hotel. The young owners were friendly and talkative.

To celebrate the completion of our 6-day road trip, we ordered some local beer and highland barley wine.

The most delicious snack we ordered was the fried momo (Tibetan dumplings).

For dinner, we revisited the “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱们的藏餐馆), the atmospheric courtyard restaurant nearby.

Again we ordered the highland barley wine (青稞酒). The wine came in an interesting bird-like pottery jar.

The main dish of the meal was the Tibetan hotpot. It came with vegetables, melons, beef, ham and yak meat.

We wanted to linger around Barkhor Old Town for a little longer after dinner.

In front of Jokhang Monastery (གཙུག་ལག་ཁང༌། 大昭寺), pilgrims, worshiped on the stone pavers as usual.

Other than pilgrims, tourists also gathered at the Jokhang forecourt.

In front of Jokhang main entrance, more pilgrims gathered to worship, including some Buddhist monks.

The sky was getting dark but the Jokhang forecourt was getting even more crowded.

Some pilgrims preferred to stay near the large flag pole in front of the Jokhang.

Around Jokhang, groups after groups of pilgrims and tourists walked the kora in clockwise direction around Lhasa’s most sacred site.

The kora route was flanked one side by souvenir shops and the other by the majestic facade of the Jokhang.

Along the kora route, many pilgrims were performing prostration the entire way.

Some tourists treated the pilgrimage forecourt as a public plaza and sat on the pavers to chill out among the pilgrims.

Among pilgrims and tourists, chilling out in the Jokhang forecourt included this large and gorgeous husky.

We would certainly miss the spiritual atmosphere of the Jokhang forecourt.

On our way back to Trichang Labrang Hotel, we passed by one last time the store where we bought our bottled water everyday of our Lhasa stay. The next morning, we would take the airport shuttle bus near the Potala and fly back to Hong Kong via Chengdu. Although short, it was a delightful experience for the three of us on the unique Tibetan culture and magnificent Himalayan landscape. Hopefully next time we could have more time and travel further to the western corner of Tibet.

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More blog posts on Tibet 2017:
JOURNEY ABOVE THE CLOUDS, Tibet 2017 (西藏之旅2017)
DAY 1: TOUCHDOWN ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD, Lhasa
DAY 1: TRICHANG LABRANG HOTEL (赤江拉讓藏式賓館), Lhasa
DAY 1: KORA AT BARKHOR STREET (八廓街), Lhasa
DAY 2: FIRST GLIMPSE OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 2: KORA OF DREPUNG MONASTERY (哲蚌寺), Lhasa
DAY 2: DREPUNG MONASTERY (哲蚌寺), Lhasa
DAY 2: JOKHANG MONASTERY (大昭寺), Lhasa
DAY 2 : SPINN CAFE (風轉咖啡館), Lhasa
DAY 2: NIGHT VIEW OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 3: POTALA PALACE (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 3: SERA MONASTERY (色拉寺), Lhasa
Day 4: KORA OF GANDEN MONASTERY (甘丹寺), Lhasa
Day 4: GANDEN MONASTERY (甘丹寺), Lhasa
DAY 4: TEA HOUSE AND FAMILY RESTAURANT, Lhasa
DAY 5: ON THE ROAD IN TIBET
DAY 5: MORNING IN SHANNAN (山南)
DAY 5: SAMYE MONASTERY (桑耶寺), Shannan
DAY 5: SAMYE TOWN (桑耶鎮), Shannan
DAY 6: YAMDROK LAKE (羊卓雍錯)
DAY 6: PALCHO MONASTERY (白居寺), Gyantse
DAY 6: WORDO COURTYARD (吾爾朵大宅院), Shigatse
DAY 7: ROAD TO EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營)
DAY 7: EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營)
DAY 7: STARRY NIGHT, Everest Base Camp
DAY 8: PANG LA PASS (加烏拉山口), Mount Everest Road
DAY 8: SAKYA MONASTERY (薩迦寺)
DAY 9: TASHI LHUNPO MONASTERY, (扎什倫布寺) Shigatse
DAY 9: ROAD TO NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 9: EVENING AT NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 10: SUNRISE AT NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 10: LAST DAY IN LHASA, Tibet
EPILOGUE: FACES OF LHASA, Tibet

February 3, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: གཙུག་ལག་ཁང༌།, བོད་, ལྷ་ས་, Barkhor, barley, beer, Buddhism, 西藏, food, highland, Jokhang, kora, Lhasa, momo, monastery, pilgrim, pilgrimage, restaurant, Tibet, Tibetan, 咱们的藏餐馆, 大昭寺, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 10 (1/2): SUNRISE AT NAMTSO LAKE (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.25

At 4718m, staying the night at Namtso was cold, but metal cabin at Sacred Sheep Guesthouse (當雄神羊賓館) allowed us some decent rest. We woke up at 6:30am, quickly get ourselves ready and headed up the hill at the tip of Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島). Like many visitors to Namtso, we get up early just for the sunrise over the placid water. At 7:15, we found ourselves standing among several dozens of tourists standing at the north side of Tashi Dor Peninsula, awaiting for the first beam of sunlight from the east.

Facing northeast, we stood on the slope overlooking the placid water of Namtso Lake. At 7:20am, the horizon began to brighten up.

At 7:35am, a tint of orange signifying the arrival of the sunrise.

It felt like all visitors at Namtso were standing on the northern slope of Tashi Dor Peninsula to watch the sunrise.

Over at the southern side of Tashi Dor Peninsula, sunlight cast a orange glow on the highest peaks of Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山).

Sunlight slowly swallowed the darkness on the hills of Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島).

Looking north to where we saw the Milky Way the night before, the focus of the morning scenery was shifted to the placid water of Namtso Lake and Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains.

The campsites and tourist facilities at the waterfront were blanketed in the shadow of the Tashi Dor Peninsula.

Finally the sun rose above the Tashi Dor Peninsula.

While most tourists watched the rising sun, I preferred the scenery of the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains and the lakefront lagoons.

At 8:50am, the sun was already high up. Namtso Lake returned to its famous deep blue colour under the pristine mountain air.

At 9am, we walked down the hill and returned to Sacred Sheep Guesthouse.

We took one last look at the Namtso Lake on our way down.

We passed by the trailhead one last time before entering the area of Sacred Sheep Guesthouse.

For a brief moment, I walked off to the lakefront near Tashi Dor Temple (扎西島寺).

Looking back up the cliff I could see the lookout where we photographed the Milky Way the night before.

On the otherwise bare landscape near the shore, simple structures and metal cabins were erected catered for tourism. It is actually a good idea to restrict all tourist activities of Namtso Lake only at Tashi Dor Peninsula and minimize tourist access to the rest of the lake for natural conservation purpose.

Before leaving Namtso Lake for Lhasa, I quietly bid farewell to the beautiful lake, and soon the Tibetan Plateau all together. In less than 24 hours we would be on the plane on our way back to Hong Kong via Chengdu.

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January 31, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ, གནམ་མཚོ་, 納木錯, 西藏, highland, lake, landscape, mountains, Namtso, Nyenchen Tanglha, Peninsula, scenery, sunrise, Tashi Dor, Tibet, Tibetan, 念青唐古拉山, 扎西半島 | Leave a comment

DAY 9 (3/3): EVENING AT NAMTSO LAKE (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.24

Often considered as one of the most beautiful lakes in China, Namtso Lake ((གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯) failed to disappoint us. Sangzhu dropped us at Sacred Sheep Guesthouse (當雄神羊賓館) where we stayed the night. Probably the most established guesthouse in Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島) of Namtso, Sacred Sheep Guesthouse is in fact a simple building lined with metal cabins as guestrooms. We dropped off our bags in our room and stepped out right away hopefully to catch a glimpse of the scenery before sunset. Behind our guesthouse, there was a trail leading up the hill at the northwestern tip of Tashi Dor Peninsula. Several motorcyclists gathered at the trail-head. They offered to take us up the hill for a small fee. We preferred to walk despite the sky was getting dark. Before twilight, we reached a lookout overlooking the southern shore of Namtso Lake and the beautiful Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山) beyond. The last twilight was soon replaced by myriad of stars in the indigo sky, then came the moon and the Milky Way rising above the tranquil Namtso. It was a different starry night than two nights ago at the Everest Base Camp, but the wind was equally chilly and the scenery revealed the same magic of the Himalayan night sky.

The tip of the Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島) is the only spot around Namtso where tourist facilities are allowed to establish.

As we reached the lookout on the hill, the sun was setting fast behind the mountains.

The southern shore of Namtso Lake and the snow-capped Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山) defined the horizon ahead of us.

Slightly after 8pm, the sunlight began the fade away beyond the horizon.

At around 8:45, the Milky Way emerged from the indigo sky over Namtso Lake.

At around 9pm, the sky was dark enough for us to count the shooting stars.

Once again we were fortunate to admire the beautiful Milky Way in the clear sky.

Tourist cars kept on arriving at the Tashi Dor Peninsula.

Despite the chilly wind and our hungry stomachs, the magnificent night sky made us to stay for longer and longer. There were three other visitors, two from China and one from Hong Kong, taking photos of the starry night with their tripods alongside us.

I set up the tripod and camera on a rock to capture the night sky, and we just sat on the rocks behind to enjoy the scene.

Appeared as bright as the white cliffs of Dover, the majority of the Tashi Dor Peninsula was actually made of limestone.

At about 9:45pm, we decided to call it a day and return to Sacred Sheep Guesthouse for a late dinner. If not the cold temperature we could have perhaps stay a little longer at the lookout. No matter what, it was another magical night for the three of us.

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January 30, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ, གནམ་མཚོ་, 納木錯, 西藏, highland, lake, landscape, mountain, Namtso, night, Nyenchen Tanglha, sky, star, starry, Tashi Dor, Tibet, Tibetan, 念青唐古拉山 | Leave a comment

DAY 9 (2/3): ROAD TO NAMTSO LAKE (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.24

Before noontime, we left Shigatse behind and headed northeast towards the sacred Namtso Lake (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯). It would be another long day on the road. We would not reach our destination until 8pm in the evening. It was a journey of mixed feelings: being excited about seeing the famous sacred lake and troubled by the fact that Namtso would be our road journey’s final stop before returning to Lhasa for the last day of our trip. Unlike the past, the road conditions had significantly improved throughout Tibet, but the distances between sights are enormous. In 2005, a paved road had been constructed to the Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島) at Namtso Lake, where most tourists including us would stay the night right by the lake. This would offer us the opportunity to enjoy the night sky and sunrise by the sacred lake.

“Namtso” in Tibetan literally means “Heavenly Lake”, so as the Mongolian name “Tenger nuur”. Given its high altitude, sublime scenery, and pristine deep blue water, there was little surprise why the ancient Tibetans and Mongolians would consider Namtso “heavenly.” With an area of 1920 sq.km, Namtso Lake is the largest lake in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The famous salt lake is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, notably the magnificent range of Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山). At an altitude of 4712m, the lake surface is frozen for over six months in the year. During summer, the lakeside lush green plains offer great pastures for cattle and sheep.

The first part of the road journey passed along the valley of Yarlung Tsangpo River (ཡར་ཀླུངས་གཙང་པོ་ 雅魯藏布江).

The railroad along Yarlung Tsangpo River (ཡར་ཀླུངས་གཙང་པོ་ 雅魯藏布江) stood out from the landscape. It was probably Tibet’s only rail service between Shigatse-to-Lhasa.

We also passed by many narrow strips of Highland Barley fields on the steep slope above the river.

At 4pm, we were approaching the lush green valley plains of Yangbajain (羊八井).

At the green valley plains of Yangbajain (羊八井), yaks and sheep grazing in front of the 700km Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山).

Yangbajain (羊八井) is also famous for the geothermal fields and hot spring resort. We stopped by the hot spring resort but decided not to take a dip.

15 minutes before 7pm, we reached Lakenla (那根拉山口) at 5190m.

At 5190m, the Lakenla Mountain Pass (那根拉山口) offered us a glimpse of the Namtso Lake from a distance.

Time was getting late. Under the late afternoon sun, the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains welcomed us at the gateway into the Namtso Lake area.

After over eight hours on the road, we finally reached the Namtso Lake.

With Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山) to the southwest, our car headed over to the tourist accommodation and restaurant area on the Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島) in full speed.

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January 28, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ, གནམ་མཚོ་, 納木錯, 羊八井, 那根拉山口, 雅魯藏布江, 西藏, geothermal, highland, lake, Lakenla, landscape, mountain, mountains, Namtso, Nyenchen Tanglha, pass, Peninsula, road, scenery, Tashi Dor, Tenger nuur, Tibet, Tibetan, Yangbajain, Yarlung Tsangpo, 念青唐古拉山, 扎西半島 | Leave a comment

DAY 7 (2/3): EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.22

Formed by Everest’s Rongphu Glacier (絨布冰川), the Rongphu Valley offers us a designated natural approach to the majestic Mount Everest from its north side. The valley stretches from Rongphu Monastery (རྫ་རོང་ཕུ་དགོན་ 絨布寺) in the north to Mount Everest in the south. In front of Rongphu Glacier sits the base camp for professional climbers. Somewhere between the climber’s base camp and Rongphu Monastery lies the Tent Village catered for the rest of the visitors. At the terminus of Zhufeng Road (Mount Everest Road), the Tent Village is the closest spot to Mount Everest accessible by vehicle.

Thanks to Google Maps, we can now obtain a clear three dimensional birdeye’s view of the Tent City of Everest Base Camp and Mount Everest.

Slightly after 6pm, we had finally entered the Tent Village of Everest Base Camp. The first impression was like arriving at a busy parking lot in a valley.

Crafted by the Rongphu Glacier (絨布冰川), the base camp is flanked by peculiar rock cliffs towering up the sky.

Our driver Sangzhu parked the car and led us into Tent 21. Apparently all tents were pretty much identical with similar price per bed.

Inside Tent 21, there were about 8 bed spaces in a common dorm setting, a shelf of food and drinks, a stove, a few tables and a counter selling tourist souvenir. The owner also stayed with us in the tent.

In the middle of the Tent Village, there was the world’s highest post office where a few tourists were waiting for the postman’s return. Apparently the post office doesn’t sell postal stamps there but can mail out postcards if a postal stamp is already attached.

Behind the Tent City, we could see Mount Everest emerging from the fast moving clouds. Perhaps the time was too late, the environmental friendly shuttle bus between the Tent Village and the climber’s base camp was not running when we were there. We followed other tourists to walk along the rocky path towards the mountain, and reach a stone plaque after 15 minute’s walk.

The rewarding moment had finally arrived as the clouds began to thin out. The tallest mountain on Earth was right in front of us. At 8848m the summit of Mount Everest was still over 3600m above us, despite we had reached 5200m above sea level.

Our rewarding minutes ticked by as the sun began to set. Everywhere was getting dark quickly except the snow-capped Everest that was tall enough to receive the day’s last bit of sunlight.

At 8pm just before sunset, Mount Everest stood silently under the yellow spotlight of the setting sun. Looking at the shear beauty of the snow-capped summit, recalling all the past expedition stories and absorbing the legendary aura and spiritual power of the Everest, it was truly magical.

It was time for us to retreat into the tent and shook off the cold. We had a simple meal of instant cup noodles and canned sardines.

At 9pm, the boy of the owner was already sleeping soundly in bed under thick comfortable blankets.

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January 20, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: base, camp, Chomolungma, 珠穆朗瑪峰, 珠峰, 絨布冰川, Everest, Glacier, highland, Himalayas, Mount, mountain, post, Rongphu, scenery, tent, Tibet, Tibetan, village, Zhufeng, 大本營 | 2 Comments

DAY 7 (1/3): ROAD TO EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.22

Referred by Tibetans as “Goddess Mother of Mountains,” Chomolungma (ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ 珠穆朗瑪峰) which commonly known as the Mount Everest, towers beyond the rest of the Himalayan peaks along the border between China and Nepal. From the north, tourists can come close to admire Everest’s majestic north face from the Tent Village (珠穆朗瑪峰大本營), where a cluster of tent structures were set up to serve tourists, while the real base camp for climbers at 5200m is off limit to normal tourists. At 5150m above sea level, the Tent Village of Everest Base Camp was the highest point in our entire journey. Arrived in Tibet for a week’s time and we were well acclimatized for the high altitude. Our plan was to stay the night at the Tent Village to boost our chance to see the world’s highest peak. Weather was of course the biggest unknown. It was not uncommon for tourists to be let down by poor weather and find the snow-capped Everest well concealed in the clouds.

At about 8:30am we left Shigatse for Tibet’s Everest Base Camp. In the car, we were excited and kept our fingers crossed to hope for a moment of clear sky when we arrived at the base camp. We spent most of the day to cover the 350km distance from Shigatse to the base camp. The route was mainly well paved along the China-Nepal Friendship Highway, except the last 100km of gravel road before reaching the Tent Village.

Shigatse is known as the “fertile land”. Along the journey, we often passed by golden fields of Highland Barley (青稞).

Political slogan such as “strengthen ethnic unity, create a beautiful Tibet” could be seen everywhere in Tibet, even on remote mountain slope.

As we headed west on the National Highway 318 (China-Nepal Friendship Highway), we passed by a number of roadside shrines and mountain passes with colourful prayer flags.

Despite Tibet is mainly arid in climate, its river valleys are fertile and heavily cultivated.

The National Highway 318, known as the China-Nepal Friendship Highway, is a nicely paved road that connects Shigatse with the Zhangmu border town.

Some parts of the valley seems like a semi-desert, covered with sand, gravel, salt and moss.

At around 2:30pm, we stopped by a restaurant at the intersection of National Highway 318 (China-Nepal Friendship Highway) and Country Road 216 near Shelkar/ New Tingri (ཤེལ་དཀར། 協格爾鎮) for lunch.

After lunch, we journey continued southwest towards the Everest Base Camp. Before our car left the National Highway 318, we passed by some highland pastures.

In less than an hour, we finally left the highway and arrived at the gateway of Everest National Park. Sangzhu dropped us at the admission office to get our admission tickets.

We continued to drive on Zhufeng Road (Mount Everest Road) for another 2 hours. The sun was moving west as we get closer to our destination. We were a little nervous because of the unpredictable weather, but also full of anticipation. At 5:20pm, we were just minutes away from Rongbuk Monastery. Beyond the clouds in front of us we could barely make out the profile and tip of Chomolungma or Mount Everest (ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ 珠穆朗瑪峰).

At 4980m above sea level, Rongbuk Monastery (རྫ་རོང་ཕུ་དགོན་ 絨布寺) is the highest monastery in the world. It offers tourists simple accommodation.

If the sky was clear, we could see the Mount Everest from the stuba at Rongbuk Monastery (རྫ་རོང་ཕུ་དགོན་ 絨布寺). Yet, luck was not on our side. All we could see was a thick layer of clouds.

We knew Chomolungma or Mount Everest (ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ 珠穆朗瑪峰) was right in front of us, but we just couldn’t see it with our own eyes. The Tent Village of Everest Base Camp (珠穆朗瑪峰大本營) was just minutes away. All we could hope for was a moment of clear sky before sunset.

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January 17, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ, barley, Chomolungma, 珠穆朗瑪峰, Everest, 青稞, highland, Himalayas, landscape, mountain, road, scenery, Shigatse, tent, Tibet, Tibetan, village, 大本營 | Leave a comment

DAY 6 (1/3): YAMDROK LAKE (ཡར་འབྲོག་གཡུ་མཚོ་ 羊卓雍錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.21

At 4441m above sea level, Yamdrok Lake is one of the three sacred lakes in Tibet. This was where Tibetans came to search for the reincarnated soul of the Dalai Lama through chatting, praying, and throwing holy items into the water to get a reflecting hint on the location of Dalai Lama’s soul. Devoted Tibetans come to do the kora around the lake to pray for good luck and happiness in the following year. For tourists, Yamdrok is famous for its stunning scenery with its coiling scorpion shape, pristine turquoise water and surrounding snow-capped mountains. Located in Shannan along Road S307, between Lhasa and Shigatse, Yamdrok Lake is pretty much on everyone’s travel itinerary who ventures beyond Lhasa.

We knew this would be a long day on the road. We needed to travel for about 380km from Samye Town to Shigatse via Yamdrok and Gyantse.

We left Samye at about 9am and reached Yamdrok Lake slightly after noontime. We first stopped by a lookout along Road S307 to enjoy the overview of Yamdrok Lake from a high level.

Some travelers would just stop by the road to take in the scenery.

If the sky was clear, we would see the distant snow-capped mountains.

Along the balustrade visitors crowded at the best spots to photograph the turquoise lake.

Eateries and souvenir vendors surrounded the parking lot.

Dozens unfortunate Tibetan mastiffs dressed in funny outfits or had their hair dyed in vivid colours stood by the balustrade for everyone who was willing to spend 10 yuan for a souvenir photo.

Partly due to the strong and chilly wind at the 4441m altitude, and partly due to the noisy and overly energetic tourist crowds, we didn’t stay for long at the upper lookout.

Next Sangzhu drove us down to another lookout by the water, where we final got a close encounter with the sacred turquoise water of Yamdrok. Souvenir vendors set up their stalls along the steps down to the shore. By the waterfront, Tibetan mastiffs were replaced with Tibetan yaks posing for souvenir photos.

By the time we reached the water, the sky seemed to a little clearer than when we were on the upper lookout.

Local tourists gathered at the signage that said “Yamdrok, Three Great Sacred Lakes, 4441m.”

After Yamdrok, our journey continued to head west. The blue sky was well hidden.

Soon we saw an open area along the highway with a lookout to the Korola Glacier (卡若拉冰川). The sky was grey and we were a little behind schedule, so we chose to stay in the car and take photos of the glacier from the road.

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January 12, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: ཡར་འབྲོག་གཡུ་མཚོ་, 羊卓雍錯, 西藏, highland, kora, lake, Sacred, scenery, Tibet, Tibetan, turquoise, Yamdrok | Leave a comment

Blue Lapis Road ultramarinus – beyond the sea

Posts tagged “highland”

DAY 10 (2/2): LAST DAY IN LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏), 2017.09.25

DAY 10 (1/2): SUNRISE AT NAMTSO LAKE (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.25

DAY 9 (3/3): EVENING AT NAMTSO LAKE (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.24

DAY 9 (2/3): ROAD TO NAMTSO LAKE (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.24

DAY 7 (2/3): EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.22

DAY 7 (1/3): ROAD TO EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.22

DAY 6 (1/3): YAMDROK LAKE (ཡར་འབྲོག་གཡུ་མཚོ་ 羊卓雍錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.21