25 - 29 July : 5 days in Tibet - Lhasa (3800m) to Chen La Pass (5200m) to Namtso Lake (4900m)

25^th July, Monday

We had to find out for ourselves that our flight was leaving from T3.  Good for us that we are seasoned travelers.  Our travel agent had not provided all the information on our flight.  We were flying on Air China CA 4125 which left Beijing at 7.40 am and arrived in Lhasa at 12.10 pm.  T3 was further from the other 2 terminals, around 6km away.  Had one gone to the wrong terminal, one would not make it in time to board one's flight.  The airport transfer provided by the hotel was packed.  The interesting thing was that the civic mindedness that one observed elsewhere was non-existent there.  Local travelers would sit their suitcase on a seat rather than let a human passenger occupy that seat.  

The domestic airport at Beijing Capital was as chaotic as we had remembered it. Although the airline ground attendant was really helpful in pointing out where to go and what to do, local travelers were shoving and pushing.  The security guard had to tell a distinguished local gentleman smartly dressed in suit, several times to stand in line and still he shoved and pushed to the head of the line as if he were entitled.  Do these folks have no pride and are they not ashamed of their behaviours?  Are they not concerned or embarrassed about the image they are projecting to the world or do they consider themselves so above the world or think that they can still afford that image in these times and age?  Custom and security had improved in that the line is outside with control enforced at the door.  Everything was thoroughly checked.  All camera equipment had to be placed into a bin.  That was the nightmare as expensive camera equipment run the risk of being damaged.  Surely, the latest and newest airports have technologies that are world class that could cope with checking these thoroughly without having to go through these needless risk filled steps? Could it be the training of those who perform security screening that require updating?  The steps result in a long queue and more time just to clear security at the airports.  

To enter the security line for passengers bound for Tibet, it was necessary to show the original Tibet permit.  The original bore a stamp in red ink.  Ours had our name and that of a French gentleman on it.  We had no idea why his name was on our permit nor had we the opportunity to ask that of our travel agent before we arrived at the airport.  Our agent had not thought it necessary to provide the information to us on email or other communication before we arrive at the airport.  Since we had not seen the permit before that evening, neither do we have a chance to raise any question with her.  Security at Beijing airport asked us about this other gentleman, and we said that we had no idea as we had only obtained the permit the day before.  This must be an usual thing as Security did not pursue the matter any further.  

The valley in the Himalayas
 through which we flew
to get to Lhasa

Once inside, we went to have breakfast of coffee and croissant.  We saw a Caucasian gentleman who was in our check in line earlier and wondered if he was our Frenchman named on our permit.  To board our plane, we would need to show our Tibet permit again.  For our flight, we felt lucky as we had empty seat between us and the other passenger. There were only 2 such empty seats on this flight.  Maybe being a foreigner and a frequent flyer has its perks here.  Our seat was near the wings but not on top of it.  Good.  And we note that the Caucasian foreigner we had noticed earlier was on the same row as us. 

Time passed quickly on the flight.  In flight show was a documentary showing Tibetan cultural events and landscape although the CD then to skip tracks and repeat themselves.  No one was paying too much attention.  The landing in Lhasa was not unlike the landing in Christchurch, New Zealand or Ushuaia, Argentina or Svalvard, Norway.  The mountains, being the Himalayas, appeared to be really close to the plane.  The flight turned around a valley and followed the river valley of the Yarlung Tsangpo between the mountains to the airport.  On the way, one could see agricultural fields on the river banks.  In other areas, the river is wide but shallow with lots of dotted islands in the middle on which little bushes appeared to have sprouted.  Nestled into the bottom of steep rocky mountain slopes are several monasteries and supporting towns or villages.  At some point one saw this long causeway across the river which enters a tunnel in the mountain and shortly thereafter, we landed at the airport.

The prayer flags

Not dissimilar to Mongolia, there was this cone of multicolour prayer flags atop a nearby hill. The airport was small and not unlike one in Mongolia.  We disembarked and the first thing we noticed that we ran out breath quite quickly, even just walking from the tarmac into the airport building on an incline carrying only our camera bag and hand luggage.  We must remember that we were at altitude and would have to take it easy for a while while our body acclimatized to the thinner air up there.  We slowed our pace while we went to the luggage area to claim our checked luggage.

  

Arriving at the airport in Tibet was like arrival at any domestic airport, there was no immigration checkpoint.  It appeared that the checkpoint was at the airport of departure.  Interesting.  People who were meeting guests were not permitted in the airport building.  A helpful lady came and told us that if we being met, our guide was probably out in the carpark and that was where we needed to go to.  So we proceeded outside.

Just outside Gonggor Airport, Tibet

Outside in the carpark, a Tibetan gentleman waited for us.  He informed us that only passengers were permitted inside the airport building.  He welcome us and wrapped a white silk scarf (the khata) around our neck, the traditional Tibetan welcome for visitors.  We noticed that the western gentleman would be part of our tour group too. Fr Franz is a diocesan priest from Beijing serving the German community there.  He is bound for Everest base camp.   Our guide told us that we would have an hour or so as the flight before us had been delayed an hour.  We tried to find a cafe nearby but there was none.  The driver took his prayer beads and went to sit at the fountain in front of the airport.

Not sure what we do, we stood not far from our van and started introductory conversations.   We were interrupted by the sound of military plane overhead.  There was some sort of air exercise in progress from the sound of it.  Shortly, John, a Korean with an MBA from Tsingtao University who works for a Korean start up pharmaceutical company arrived.  Three of us would later be joined by two younger guys working in New York, one from Chongqing and the other from NY itself.  Our guide garlanded each with a white silk scarf. We boarded the minibus.  The guide told us that it would be an hour or so before we would be in the city of Lhasa.  He advised that we walk slowly and drink plenty of water as we would feel light headed whenever we exerted ourselves.  Lhasa is 3800m above sea level.  It was hot that day.  We had this strange feeling as if we were running a marathon as our heart beats were highly increased.

We made the request to get some water and drinks.  The driver stopped us in the first town out of the airport.  There were some convenience stores there and a few traditional restaurants.  We requested for a lunch stop as it was already past 2pm and we were really hungry.  The guide and driver agreed.  We walked into a noodle shop and they made yak noodle in broth for us.  They also served us yak milk tea.   The interior of the shop was very traditional Tibetan rural but the food was delicious.

After lunch, we drove along the highway towards Lhasa, passing barley fields on the bank of the Lhasa river after we appeared out of the tunnel on the other side.  The causeway across the Yarlong Tsangpo was impressive as was the Galashan tunnel connecting it through the mountains to the highway along the Lhasa river.  The highway was in the valley of the Lhasa and on both sides, the mountains loomed high.  

First sight of Potola Palace

After passing through another tunnel, we arrived at the first checkpoint.  Our guides asked for our permit and passports.  This was when we found out that tourists coming by plane had to carry an original of the permit whereas those arriving by train need only the copy of the permit.  The French gentleman on the same permit as us was arriving by train.

We crossed the Lhasa River on the Liuwu bridge and shortly after passed the Potola Palace on the way to our hotel in Beijing Street, at the heart of the old city.  Seeing the Potola for the first time was interesting.  It is an impressive building on the slope of a mountain and it is almost in the heart of Lhasa itself, albeit the modern half of the city rather than the old city. Our minibus continued its journey through the new city and soon arrived at the old city.  

entering old city Lhasa

The old city looked like a page out of a story book.  Buildings had intricate Tibetan colours and structures.  Colourful lattices and squarish patterns around windows, colourful prayer flags waving from poles atop roofs, tricycles with colourfully fringed canopies powered by single human peddler,  small trucks loaded with goods in gunny sacks, humans on motorcycles and men and women in traditional clothes.  The traditional costumes of the Tibetan are quire similar in many ways to those of those of the Andeans, which is rather interesting from an anthropological perspective.  Our hotel was within a compound demarcated by a colourful Tibetan gate.  It had its own restaurant and cafe, souvenir store and a clinic for altitude sickness.  In the clinic's windows were bottles of oxygen for sale. The clinic provide free diagnosis and check-ups relating to altitude sickness.  In the main hall, a shrine to the Tibetan gods.  The interior of the hotel was distinctly Tibetan.  Over the carpark between the two buildings that compose the hotels were rows and rows of prayer flags fluttering in the wind.  

Our guides checked us in and gave us our room assignment.  We had a room on the 2nd floor facing the carpark.  Reception of the hotel kept our passport for scanning and other administration for a few hours.  Our guide took our pass to apply for permits required to visit the Johang Temple and Potola Palace the next day.  The rest of the day was at our own leisure.  The five of us made plans to meet at 4pm to go and explore the old city together. We went to our room to settle in, take a shower and rest a little to prepare for the evening.

Me draped in the khata sitting on the bed in the hotel

At first, the plan was that we would walk all the way to the Potola Palace so that we could go and check its grounds.  We could not enter the Palace without permission but the grounds were open to public.  The skies were looking like rain was on its way.  So we decided to explore the old city itself.  Walking towards the centre, we passed general stores where interesting products like rock sugar, solid chunks of molasses, and bags of grains were sold. We were probably the least surprised as we had seen similar products on sale back in Borneo when we were kids.  

The butcher shop at the corner had meats for sale.  Meat cuts here were similar to those we find in Asia but not similar to those found in western countries.  To keep the flies away, the butcher burn juniper which produces an incense like smoke.  The shop appeared to sell beef during the day and goat at night. 

We turned down a lane and found ourselves in the street heading towards the market at the centre of the old city.  Shops selling traditional garb, huge containers of oil from yak for lamps, sovenirs and daily essentials.  There were less specialised stores and more general ones selling a mix of things.  Small lorries, motorbikes, and humans vie for places on the street.  The bikes and small lorries were very quiet except when they tooted their horns. They all run on electricity and not fossil fuels!!

Fresh food market on a street
that enters Bakhor Street

In the central market were fresh food - fruits, vegetables, prepared food, solid chunks of yak butter, curds and everything else one could see.  Many of the locals wore their traditional dreel.  We were hungry so we went in search of food and ATMs to get some local currencies.  It started to spit so we decided to take a break and have dinner.  We settled on this vegetarian place.  The imitation meat and fish dishes were delicious and one could not tell that one was not eating a meat dish.  Although it looked like a high end restaurant and had the ambiance and services of one, the cost was less than 50 RMB for each of us.  It was excellent value.  The sky stopped spitting while we ate.

Painting holy pictures

After dinner, we decided to check out the centre city plaza.  To enter the centre of the old city, one has to pass through a checkpoint similar to the security arch of airports.  Police manned these checkpoints to ensure no personal weapon enter the centre plaza of the old city.  We had stumbled onto Bakhor Street, the circular street that circumvent Johang palace.  Thousands of locals and monks in saffron robes were walking around at pace in clockwise direction on Bakhor Street.  All carried either prayer beads or spin prayer wheels walking as if in a trance.  Some were doing prostration in front of the temple.  There was a line of locals lining up to enter the temple.  There were folks doing prostration on Bakhor Street; they walk sideway two steps and did a prostration on the third.  These folks must be really fit as they had no problem doing quick repetitive prostration.  The walkers walked faster than any of us.  We decided to join the devotees for a single circumnavigation of Johang Temple.  Incense burn in large urns and there were a few prayer flag piles.  Devotees were of all ages, from the very young through to the very old.  Tibetan women wear a scarf or hat around their heads and the men their hair long braided with a strip of red material.  There were several rows of prayer bells as well and devotees spun them.  There were also benches where devotees sat and prayed with their beads or prayer wheels. Among all that, a non Tibetan Chinese couple were taking their wedding photos - he in a suit and she in a traditional Tibetan costume.  They looked so out of place outside the Johang temple.

Bakhor Street at sunset
with its praying locals

Leaving Bakhor Street and going back to our hotel, we chose a different lane to see what other secrets the old city held.  We observed shops that sell images of Buddhas, thangkas being painted, and dwellings tucked between retail fronts.   We bought some fresh fruits from the street fruit vendors.  Just as we turned down Beijing Street to walk back to the hotel, we turned towards the Potola Palace and saw the most amazing looking sunset.  It looked as if the rays of the sun were putting a show against the clouds.  Even the locals were photographing this beautiful sunset.  What an amazing welcome to our first evening in Tibet.

The amazing sunset

Back at the hotel, it was time for early bed time as we were tired from the early morning start and the demands the thin air was making on us.   Just outside, we purchased some water and iced green teas.  Our travelling companions were experiencing slight headaches although we have been spared thus far from all such symptoms.  Back at the hotel, we noted that massage by a blind person was being offered in the other hotel building.  John and we went to check out that massage place.  There was only one masseur so we differed to John and told him to give us his review.  If it were good, we would have the same massage the next night.  

26^th July Tuesday

This was the day for our city tour.  5 of us were split into different groups with others that had arrived throughout the day before.  John was with us as well as the Frenchman whose name was on our pass.  There were several others.    

We would first visit Johang Temple.  Our guide walked with us to Bakhor Street and then went to purchase tickets for entry into the temple.  It was drizzling wet and cold that morning.  Still the Tibetans were on their prayers round around the temple.  There were even more people in the morning than the evening before.  Many were doing their prostration before the temple and around it, inspite of the sprinkling rain.  Many more queues to pay respect inside the temple, bringing vats and pots of hot yak butter as offerings.  Our guides said that peak prayer times for the locals were before and after work hours.

Johang Temple

Our guide took us through the temple and provided us with an introduction.  Lhasa meant city of Gods. Johang is the most holy and most important temple to the Tibetans.  Built in the 5-6th Century by the King who had 5 wives, two of whom were foreign born - one from Nepal and another a princess of the Tang Dynasty.  The Chinese wife built a temple in a lake where the Buddha image she brought from China was placed.  Johang was built by the Nepali wife and faced Nepal.  She too had brought a Buddha image from her land of origin. The temple honour Maitreya Buddha.  During one of the wars, the Buddha images exchanged location.  The main shrine of the Buddha there is the one originally from China and depicted him when he was 12 years old.  The temple had undergone many expansions, the latest by the 5th Dalai Lama.

The pilgrims outside Johang Temple

We learn that there are five Buddhas.  The first Buddha is the original.  The second is the leader from India that brought Buddhism to Tibet  (and he is a combination of the next 3 Buddhas).  3^rd Buddha is the Buddha of the past, 4^th is the present and 5^th is the future.  5^th is always portrayed as if he were sitting in a chair.

Making up the rest of the group that morning were an older gentlemen from Canada, an American with a Chinese girlfriend working in Beijing who was doing his MBA (he appeared to be an upstart who spoke fluent Mandarin), the Frenchman, another American and his room mate, an Englishman.  The Canadian appeared to be completely ignorant of Buddhist principles and could only see things from his Judeo-Christian perspective, so he was having problems understanding elements of Tibet Buddhism.  Buddhism has its own myths and mysteries as well and incorporate shamanism to some extent.  He was opinionated and dismissive of concepts that were in contrary to the Judeo-Christian definition of God. 

View of Bakhor Square to Potola
Palace from Johang Temple

His questions resulted in our guide not sharing limited commentaries about that temple with us.  We finished our official visit in an hour.  Since we had free time, we wondered around the temple on our own.  We found secret stairs and nooks and corners and had a great time exploring that temple.  We stayed for an extra hour or two.

The upper balcony at the top of Johang Temple offered a great view of Bakhor Square and Potola Palace.  As the rain passed and the sun came out of hiding, the views improved. Johang Temple also appeared to have accommodation for pilgrims.  There was also a crew taking pictures of the murals that covered every inch of one of the inner walls.  They were either producing an artistic work or preserving the image digitally for posterity.

We walked back to our hotel where we were scheduled to meet at 1pm to go to the Potola Palace.  Before that, we grabbed a snack at our hotel room of fruits and nut bars.  A minibus picked us up and took us to the China Post near the Palace.  Our entry ticket was for 2.30pm.  We wandered through the grounds for a while and then we had to queue to enter the Palace.  We were told that we had exactly 1 hour to finish our tour of the palace.  And photography was not permitted in most rooms inside the palace.

Me in front of
Potola Palace

We found our guide to be a queue cutter at first but since it was earlier than 2.30pm, we were thrown off the queue so had to requeue.  The Potola Palace was amazing.  The walls were really really thick, around 3m.  The top walls were not concrete but of straw tied together and plastered to keep the weight down.  There are two sections – the red section and the white section.  The numbers of room we were permitted to visit were limited.

We found out that the same king that built the Johang Temple first built a meditation cave here on the red hill but soon more were added to it.   That edifice eventually became the Potola Palace.

At one point, it housed the regional government of Tibet until 1959.  It was the winter palace of the Dalai Lama.  Built by the 5^th Dalai Lama, his death was not announced for 17 years to ensure the completion was not interrupted.  Consequently, the 6^th Dalai Lama was already a teenager when he was discovered and not a child as was usually the case.  The 6th Dalai Lama then renounced his monk hood to be a lay person.  He was also the only one to have been born in Mongolia.  The important Dalai Lamas of Tibet were the 5^th, the 13^th and current Dalai Lama.   Dalai Lama means ocean of wisdom.  It was a term bestowed by the Mongolian, and not of Tibetan in origin.  These days, the Potola Palace house few monks responsible for the upkeep of the place.  It is a museum and not longer an active monastery.

The way to Potola Palace

To enter the palace, visitors must first do a long climb, with us all panting and breathing heavily on the way up.  We went through the various rooms that we were permitted to visit, among which were the current Dalai Lama's living quarters before his exile.  The view from the windows of the Potola Palace of Lhasa was also spectacular.   Photography was allowed in the open courtyards.  The interesting black curtains were woven out of yak hair and it was thin but effective protection from the sun and the rain but let in the ventilation. The white walls of the Palace was white washed each year after the monsoon.  At the exit, the only place in Lhasa where we could pick up souvenir books on the Palace, we purchased one.  The palace stamped it with red ink the words "Official souvenir from the Potola Palace, Tibet."  Very impressive.

Locals circumnavigating the Potola Palace

The way down was easier.  Our guide gave us the option to return to the hotel with the bus or make our way back later.  We decided to abandon our guide.  John and we decided to hang out together and the Englishman decided to join us.  We got some yak yogurt to try which we shared with him.  After exploring the grounds, we decided to sit and people watch on a bench in front of the Palace.  Locals were also circumnavigating the Potola Palace in prayers.  The Tibetans prayed more than the Muslims or any other religion was our impression.  As much as we were watching the locals going about their lives, they were watching us as well.  A mom had her little son posed with our foreigner.  It was amusing.  

Opposite the Potola Palace was this huge garden park and directly in front of it, a monument to the Red Army of China.  The positioning of its and the double Chinese flag made out of metal that adorned every street lamp or red Chinese lanterns that were the street lamps gave this place an ambiance of two competing forces.

After sitting a while, we walked to the huge stupas.  From there, we decided took a rickshaw, all 3 of us together for 20 RMB back to our hotel.  It was a seriously tight fit.  We were hanging off the side most of the time.  We must have been really heavy for our peddler but he never complained nor acted as if it were not a normal load.  We weaved in and out of vehicular traffic.  At times it did not feel too safe.  It was an experience indeed. We promised ourselves we would not ride three to a rickshaw again.

Our welcome dinner was scheduled for 6.30pm.  We all went to Lhasa Kitchen where Nepali food had been ordered for us.  The cuisine was interesting though not a new thing for us as we had Nepali restaurants in Australia which served relatively authentic food.  Still, it was a good place to meet the entire group of visitors.  After dinner, we led a group towards the river as we wanted to go there.  The French and Canadian, two Englishmen and John went with us.  Evan and Davie came with us at the start but they left partway.  We got to the river and the French and Canadian left us.  The rest of us took a cab for 11 RMB to the stupas next to the Potola Palace.  A crowd had gathered there to see the Potola Palace lit up.  We stayed till around 9pm because the crowd appeared to be waiting for a light display that had taken place there the night before.  Even without the light show, the palace looked really majestic all lit up.

The Potola Palace - all lit up late at night

After 9pm, we started our walk back to the hotel after grabbing an ice cream each.  There were so many people all looking for a cab.  John said the massage was ok but it was like a friend doing a massage for a favour rather than a pro job as the family gathered around and chatted with her when the masseur was administering the massage.  We decided to give that a miss.  The next day we would all go our separate ways.  John, the Frenchman and we would be the only members travelling together to Namtso Lake.

As we entered the hotel, John complained of a headache and we suggested that he called into the clinic for consult re his altitude sickness as he had also not slept well the night before due to the same symptoms.  He went in for a check up and told us not to wait up with him, so we retired to our room.

27^th July, Wednesday

We were scheduled for a 9am departure.  We sat chatting with the two English guys for breakfast.  A local gentlemen on the same shared table overhearing us joined our conversation.  We had a fun discussion.  Then the Canadian joined us.  We are not too sure why but he took it upon himself to tell us that we were the most opinionated he has ever met.  We told him that we have no problem with his opinion and that he need not agree with ours.  We put our opinion forward so that a discussion could be had.  He was free to disagree with us.  We were at the edge of asking him if he would say the same had the statements we made came from the mouth of a 51 year old white male!!

John said that he has to return to Korea as work needed him.  He was cancelling the rest of his trip and heading out to the airport after breakfast.   He was also not feeling too well the evening before and had a consult with the high altitude professionals at the hotel lobby.  Too bad.  The Frenchman would be the only member of our team to travel with us.  We were looking forward to having John as a traveling companion as we got along rather well.

We had a good chat in Mandarin with our driver as we waited for the rest of the group to appear.  He loved our deposition.  We were joined by an American young man with his girlfriend who hailed from Xian.  She was not feeling too great and was concerned about the altitude as they had been at Yomdrok Lake the day before.  They decided to opt out of the trip to the lake.  There was a lady from Netherlands who was also not feeling to well and had opted out as well, making a total of 4 who had opted out.  The last thing before heading to the lake that we had to do was to pick up three more who turned out to be a Singaporean with his son and his wife who was originally from Beijing.  They had lived in Beijing for the past 6 years but would like to return to Singapore in 2 years after their son finished high school. 

The journey to Namtso Lake was interesting.  We left via the Northern part of town, past the Government office and through long stretches of road constructions.  Traffic was hellish and the view was mostly industrial and not so interesting until we leave the city limits of Lhasa.  The speed limit was 50 on the road to the Lake.  It was a narrow and windy road and there had been significant number of accidents.  The road was climbing most of the time.  The trip there would take 5-6 hrs.

As we had been late picking up the Singaporeans due to all the opt outs, the start was delayed.  Before too long we stopped for lunch at this small town.  The Singaporeans suggested that we take 30 RMB each menu fare.  We all agreed and had a great meal.  The Beijing lady was quite pedantic.  She was worried that we may be served leftovers if we opted for lesser cost menu fare.  

She also had interesting opinion about the Tibetan Buddhism, saying that it was the best population control mechanism in that young man of reproductive age tend to spend some of these years as a monk in the monastery.  She said that due to the success of this mechanism, the Tibetans have managed to keep and maintain their population around the 1m mark.  One wonders on what facts she based her beliefs of who owns Tibet and all these information. 

Shortly after lunch, we reached the entrance of the Namtso National Park.  We had to get out of the bus to pass the police check point.  We got back in on the other side of the checkpoint.  Just before it, there were vendors of local delicacies, photo ops with Tibetan mastiff, and a bathroom.  There were both squat and sitting toilets available.  Still not as sanitary as western toilets, these at least were not such that a visit to the bathroom required disinfecting the soles of one's shoes shortly after.

The vultures near the sky burial area
not far from the checkpoint to Namtso National Park

As we waited for the police clearance, the Frenchman spotted some vultures and was terribly excited.  The Tibetans practice sky burials where the bodies of the dead were fed to the vultures in the circle of life.  Later as we pulled away from the checkpoints towards our destination, we would observe more vultures.  Not far from there was a site for sky burials. These are not tourist destinations.

A significant feature of our drive is the presence of the Qinghai-Tibet railway.  The Singaporean family and our Frenchman had come on that train.  The Beijing lady informed us that as many had suffered altitude sickness the train cabin did not smell too nice.  Nor were the bathroom.  Our previous experience with Chinese trains back in 2009 had put us on notice that the bathrooms on those trains had been the worse experience even when the trains were the ultra modern high speed maglev trains.  The locals do not have the civic mindedness to ensure that the experience for their fellow travelers were not interfered with by their individual behaviours.

The tents of the Tibetan nomads

There were animal crossing too from the herds of the nomads as in Mongolia.  The nomadic tents in Tibet though had ther own distinctive design and features.  Often their outer shell were woven from yak fur.  

Bridge across the streams were roughly and appeared custom and hand made were draped with a multitude of colourful prayer flags.  They looked like they would not bear the weight of more than a few pedestrian crossing at any one time, but we are sure that they are strong and fit for purpose.  Every so often, we spied a solitary looking monastery hidden in a valley.  We also spied the occasional ruins of what could have once been a fortress or a fort from long ago past.  Our guide could not tell us more other than they were probably from when there were wars between Nepal and Tibet.  A google search said that those occurred in the 18th century.

Nyenchen Tanglha

Shortly after lunch, we arrived at the Mt Nyenchen Tanglha lookout.  Mt Nyenchen Tanglha is 7162m tall.  The Nyenchen Tanglha ranges would be visible to us all the way from there to Namtso Lake.  A huge pyramid of prayer flags stood at the base of the lookout.  Monks in safron robes and tourists alike walked clockwise around this.  The view was amazing.  More prayer flag pyramids can be seen on the slope ascending the mountain.  The glacier in the high valley was easily visible.  In the lookout area, a Tibetan decorated yak stood in front of where nomads charge tourists to ride or photograph them.  Unfortunately, the information placards at the lookout were only in Mandarin or Tibetan.  Nothing in English for the foreign tourists.  

Power transmission poles could also be observed.  Presumably, there are hydro generation stations somewhere in these mountains.  Among these on the grassland, herds of sheep and yaks grazed.  Regularly appearing were the huts presumably inhabited by the the maintenance crew for the Qinghai-Tibet railway.  The mountains were so high that the shadows cast by the clouds above created interesting patterns on their peaks.  In the stream, vehicles with picnickers can be observed; not too different from the practice in Mongolia.  We also passed several more villages and towns and police check points at cross roads leading to various other places in Tibet. 

The brook

As we climbed further, there was a fast rushing brook next to us on our left.  This is a tributary to the Lhasa river.  We passed local herders herding their yaks and goats. Construction materials were brought at times to site in baskets on sure footed mules.  At some point, we came to a dead stop on a slope that was almost 45 degrees.  A car had apparently spun off the road and was being retrieved by a tow truck.  Traffic on both side of the road had stopped as the tow truck tried to maneuver itself to get to that car.  Apparently they had pulled over to the side to make a photo stop but had slipped off the road.  We got out of the mini bus after our wheels were chalked.  It was difficult to walk on such a steep slope.  It took a good part of an hour for the matter to be resolved before we were on our way again.  The place where the accident took place was rather pretty so we spent sometime trying to make some nice pictures.

The mountain tops got increasingly impressive in colours, height and features.  Before too long, we were at La Ghen Pass, our highest point for this journey at 5190m, the same elevation as Everest Base Camp.  It was really windy up here.  The rocks of the peak at the look out looked bare of vegetation.  At the lookout, heaps of prayer flag pyramids and juniper incense burned.  From the lookout, we could already see the shore of the famous Namtso Lake.  The road towards it from the pass was downhill passing a ridge that looked like the back ridge of an old fossilized dinosaur!!  Vegetation here were unique, as if they were cakes of green floating on the brown rocks.  We descended down the windy road towards the shore of the lake, passing on the way nomadic settlements which provided us with a peek into their every day lives.

Namtso Lake with the ridge enroute
from La Ghen Pass (elev 5190m)

Next to yak cloth covered tents were heaps of yak dung built into walls of corrals where the animals took shelter presumably in winter.  These were also burnt as fuel in these place where trees are scarce.  Nomads both males and females can be seen herding animals and collecting the dried animal dung in huge plastic bags. Some rode horses and others on motorcycles.  Children can be seen at play and doing chores.  

We made another photo stop at the bottom of the windy road before heading to the shores of the lakes.  Here some locals gathered, dressed in dark glasses and their bodies hung with strings of beads which they were trying to off load on to visiting tourists.  This is the part that we liked the least ... this is the part that made Tibet feel very much like the rest of China.  A sparrow came to check out an apple core.  Here we could see the shore of the lake and the storm that was approaching, dark low clouds  casting deep shadows on the peaks of the mountains.

We approached the village next to the lake shore.  Here there were restaurants and rest houses.  These were the only accommodation available at the lake.  These were only inhabited during the summer months as La Ghen Pass is not passable in winter.  The village was set out in a circular form that surrounds the shore of the lake such that to get to the shore of the lake, there were only two exits from the village.  The village did not appear to have running water nor toilets with sewage system.  There was an outhouse for the entire village, a long building divided into two halves.  On one side, the men with women on the other side.  Each consists of a hole in the ground divided by low walls.  There were no wash basins to wash hands afterwards.  It was most primitive.  It was also not lighted at night so one would have to bring one's own torch and of course cleaning products.  They were all squat toilets and juggling was a required skill :-P.

The accommodation and retail area
Namtso Lake

Since it was only overnight, we had already taken the decision that no shower would be required.  We would also sleep in our street clothes for the night just to make life easy.  We were all to share a single room in the rest house.  Our guide and the driver was sleeping in a different bunk house.  The single room had some electricity outlet that we had to share. Our guide also brought in an oxygen tank for us in case we need it for the night.  There were 5 beds in the room arranged side by side.  On each bed, a thick duvet and a sheepskin blanket as well as a pillow.  There were windows but no heater or air conditioning.  The ceiling was tent cloth.  It was quite chilly in the room.  The guest house keeper would open the door for us when we need to enter.  We just closed the self locking door unless one of us was in it.  In the hall of the guest house was a samovar which provided hot water for hot tea or noodle.  They also serve hot food.

Holy Rocks and Monastery at Namtso Lake

We left our luggage in the mini bus and took our camera equipment with us into the room.   We took that with us to as we went to explore the lake.  There were two places where sunset could be observed over the lake, the top of the rock next to it or around the other side of the shore.  The latter was a considerable distance away and the former require some serious climbing of the rock.  We were not feeling the best.  A headache had begun and we were trying to exert ourselves as little as possible to reduce the speed of the heart beats.  It was averaging 110 beats/min.  The air at 4900m was really thin.  We could hear other visitors to the area expressing their discomfort with the same symptoms.

Namtso Lake

We walked slowly down to the shore of the lake.  We could see that the huge rock was swathed with kilometers of colourful prayer flags.  At the foot of that huge rock were several buildings that were probably the monastery.  The sign at the entrance of the lake was amusing : You are in heaven.  Please cherish everything here.  Environmental practice everyone's responsibility.  It was reminder to treat one's rubbish accordingly.

Locals ready for business at Namtso Lake

Visitors were Tibetans, Chinese and a handful of foreigners.  Locals were hawking beads and animal rides.  We saw some great photo opportunities.  Then we went in search of our feathered friends that live there.  The water of the lake was crystal clear so much so that one could see the stones at the bottom of the lake, not unlike Lake Baikal in Russia and Lake Khuvsgul in Mongolia.  Namtso Lake is the highest salt water lake in the world.  It is also the largest in Tibet.  The lake is inhabited by fishes without scale.  A few flocks of brown head gulls, adults with juveniles could be seen at the lake sides.  These were attracted to locals and visitors who tempted them with bread crumbs.  We walked along the lake shore and was about to head to the holy rocks and the monastery when the storm came.

The storm over Lake Namtso

The mountains were hidden behind thick black clouds in minutes.  A double rainbow emerged.  We hurried back to our accommodation and decided to have a light dinner in the hope of alleviating the headache.  We had a small bowl of hot noodles.  The Singaporean family ordered dinner.  The wife was rather rough on her hubby who was patiently trying to appease her.  She was not feeling the best as she appeared to have the worse of the altitude sickness.  Still.  Nothing he did appeared to sit well with her.  We were staying out of domestic matters.  

Shortly afterwards, the rain passed so we went back outside.  We found outside pool tables near the lake shore where locals were playing games of pool.  We were too late to head out to catch the sunset so we went back to the accommodation.  It was getting really cold as well so we put on all the layers we had brought with us as well as our really warm skull cap from Mongolia.  Then we crawled into bed, in preparation for an early morning the next day for sunrise.

We wrapped ourselves in the duvet with the sheepskin blanket over that.  It was still quite chilly but after a while we began to warm up to a balmy ambiance inside our cocoon.  The only issue was that our headache got worse.  The veins at the sides of the forehead felt like they were pulsating hard.  Our heart raced like we were running a marathon.  It was generally very uncomfortable to be lying down so we sat up intermittently.  Sitting up felt a little better.  The Frenchman and the young teenager appeared to be not affected by it all. The other two adults and ourselves were up multiple times that night to breath from the oxygen tank to alleviate the symptoms of altitude sickness.  Going to the bathroom in the death of the night was also an adventure.  As power was generator driven, lights went out around 11pm.  The hall of the guest house was as cold as an icebox and without any illumination of any kind.  We were trying our best not to disturb our room mates as we got dressed to brave the cold outside.  It was our least comfortable night for this entire adventure thus far.

28th July, Thursday

Sunrise at Namtso was easily observed as one only had to go as far as the lake shore to see it.  As soon as the skies were a little light, we woke up and walked to the lake shore again in search of a good spot to watch the sunrise.  Photographers were already out there looking for their spots too.  Slowly the sun rose, catching first the peaks of Nyenchen Tanglha ranges, the prayer flags on top of the holy rock at the lake shore, the mountains on the far side of the lake and finally the lake itself.  It was a pretty progression.   

Sunrise over Namtso Lake, Tibet

As soon as sunrise was over, the local tourists began leaving the lake area.  We must be the last visitors to leave our accommodation.  We waited for the Frenchman who did not appear until seconds before our departure time of 9am.  Just as we were about to leave but before the French man boarded the bus, the son of the accommodation owner came over with an old Tibetan gentleman who needed to get to the village at the bottom of the hill after La Ghen pass.  He asked if we could take him.  It is customary for visitors to help with such cases, so our guide and driver agreed as did the Singaporean family and we.  The Frenchman was a little surprised to see the local gentleman in the mini van with us, sitting at the back of the mini bus on the left side.  He was not too pleased when we explained the situation but said nothing.  The driver told us that he had not slept well too the previous night.  We set off to return to Lhasa, along the same paths that we came the day before.

At La Ghen pass, the Frenchman tried to make it our problem to get this Tibetan gentleman off the mini bus.  He said the latter was interfering with his photo efforts.  We refused to get involved.  That was something he had to take up with the guide himself.  The Frenchman was angry with us as if it were our responsibility to ensure that he got his ways.  We just ignored him.  We were also tired so we fell asleep on part on the trip as soon we started descending from La Ghen pass as the symptoms of altitude sickness abated accordingly.  

At a rest point on the way back to Lhasa

The way the same sights caught the light in a different direction made the views somewhat different.  Still, we could not help feeling a little disappointed that what our agent originally promised us ... that we would this day head to Yamdrok Lake will not take place.  Instead we were just retracing our steps back to Lhasa, which made it feel like the waste of a day to explore something new in Tibet.  While we understood that it was difficult to arrange everything, the cancellation of Yamdrok Lake did not come with lowering of any fees that we had to pay for this trip.  We felt more than a little cheated.

We drove straight back to Lhasa without stopping for lunch or snacks, making only the stops to ensure that the mini bus complied with the speed limit.  Then we were diverted off our intended route onto an unsealed road along the Lhasa river which was still under construction.  It went on for kilometers.  The result was that we were late arriving back at our hotel at 2pm.  The rest of our time that day was our own.  We were dropped off before the driver took the Singaporean family to their hotel slightly out of town.  The Frenchman was still not talking to us so we did not bother to do anything with him.  Both of us were assigned rooms next to each other, with view of the Potola Palace and Johang temple simultaneously. Next to our room was the drying roof top for the hotel.  We walked out there to find a great view over the old city of Lhasa.

Since it was a nice day and we were still early in the afternoon, we decided that we would head out to Lahlu Wetlands which was where we wanted to go to photograph migratory birds to Tibet.  We tried to get the hotel to help us arrange for transport to the main gate but no one appeared to know how.  So we got in touch with our guide only to be told that no foreigners are allowed there.  He also advised against us trying to find a way to visit a sky burial site.  We were really disappointed.

What next?  We had heard about the Muslim sector not far from our hotel so we decided to walk there instead.  On the way, who should we bump into but the local gentleman that sat at the same table as us at breakfast at the hotel the days before.  He was out shopping at a cafe where we had stopped to get a bite to eat before continuing with our afternoon exploration.

Grand Mosque of Lhasa.  Minaret peeping from behind

We headed to the Muslim sector, near the Chaktse Lgang Police Station. Security check was required prior to entering the street.  We looked around and it reminded us a little of Kashgar and a little of Xian.  The mosque in Xian looked like a temple from the outside.  The Grand Mosque of Lhasa was the same with only two small minarets peeking from the top of the gate.  The mosque was closed to visitors.  We got only as far as inside the main gate to the compound.  

The hoopa bird sitting
on a concrete fence
the prevent access
to the Lhasa River

We next tried to get close to the bank of Lhasa river in the hope of seeing some birds among those islands in the middle of that shallow river.  But there were buildings or a concrete fence along the bank of the river and we could not access the river bank in any way at all.  We spotted another hoopa bird on one of these fences. 

It was hot and we were in neighbourhoods where foreigners were seldom seen.  Good thing we did not look so foreign to the locals.  We turned around to walk back in the direction of our hotel.  On the way, we thought it might be a good idea to get a picture book of Namtso Lake or Lhasa so we visited bookshops but there were no such publications for sale!!  That was disappointing.  We walked back to Bakhor Street to procure some last minute souvenirs and walked a last round closewise around Johang Temple.  This was our way to say farewell to the city of Lhasa.  We then went back to our room.

Traditional dancers doing that traditional dance
on top of a temple in old city of Tibet

In our room, we heard singing and chanting.  Opening our windows, it appeared to come from a rooftop somewhere in the old city.  We took our long lens, opened that door to the airing rooftop area next to us and got as close to the edge as was safe.  On top of a roof area of presumably a temple, there was an event going on for hours that evening that involved dancing and singing ... the dancers move back and forth with a stick in their hand with which they hit the ground to create a rhythm .... we remembered seeing this dance presented in the documentary shown on the Air China flight from Beijing to Lhasa ... after much research over the internet, we finally understood what the dance was about.  These devotees were pounding the pre-ground agra to waterproof the flat roof of the temple that had been constructed not so long ago.  

Here is a link to the animation of what I saw and heard ... keep hitting next until you get to the music part : http://www.tibetheritagefund.org/old_web/5_architecture/5_01/5_01_01_en.html