starry | Blue Lapis Road

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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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

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 7 (1/3): STARRY NIGHT, Everest Base Camp (珠峰大本營), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.22

After a instant noodle meal, I rested in the tent for a bit and decided to head out with my tripod to test my luck. I put on all the warm clothes I brought with me. At 5200m above sea level, it could get below freezing temperatures and gusty wind even in the summer nights. Luckily the coldness was bearable, at least for a period of half an hour that I stayed outside. I didn’t venture far but just returned to the rocky path behind the Tent Village. At 9pm, the sun was long gone but there was still a tiny bit of twilight light behind Mount Everest. With a tint of lilac colour on the snow-capped summit, Chomolungma (ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ 珠穆朗瑪峰) or Mount Everest appeared to be even more mystical than two hours earlier. Fortune was on our side as it was a clear night with the new moon, offering one of the darkest night of the month. It also coupled with the right season that the Milky Way was already high up in the sky at the particular time of the night. If not the frequent interruptions from other travelers who either walked by with strong flashlights or those overly curious ones who urged me to show them my photos and taught them how to photograph the night sky, I could have stay longer to enjoy the peaceful starry night in front of the mighty Mount Everest.

I came out a little late. There were only a few minutes of purple twilight light. Away from any source of light pollution, the sky over Rongphu Valley was filled with stars and shooting stars.

A moment later, the purple light was gone and the tone darkened. The Milky Way appeared to be brighter but the mystical aura faded away.

As I stood silently, other tourists kept on coming with strong flashlights. There were a few similar to me who brought out tripods to try their luck shooting the night sky. Surely they had the same fortune as I did with the perfectly clear sky and magnificent Milky Way.

Without the purple twilight, Mount Everest remained as a recognizable silhouette in the background. The true protagonist of the night sky was undoubtedly the fascinating Milky Way.

After half an hour standing in the wind, I thought it was time to call it a day.

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January 20, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ, camp, Chomolungma, 珠穆朗瑪峰, 珠峰大本營, Everest, 西藏, milky way, Mount, mountain, night, star, starry, tent, Tibet, Tibetan, twilight, village, 大本營 | Leave a comment

DAY 30 (2 OF 2) – STARRY NIGHT, SAMAIPATA, BOLIVIA

Accompanied by the sound of cicadas, the light of fireflies, and the faint shadows of agave plants, seeing the southern sky at a clear spring night in Samaipata was a real treat for us.