Tibet, China .. part 2 – Shigatse

On the third day of our tour in Tibet we set off to Shigatse in the morning, Tibet’s second largest city, . The elevation of Shigatse is around 3800m. The total distance to travel this day was around 350km. Driving towards west of Lhasa was indeed a scenic tour. After a little drive away from Lhasa we could see the natural scenery of Tibet.

Out first stop was near a stream, with a view of the Potala palace at a distance amidst the morning sun. It’s the beginning of the spring season, so we could see light green trees with mist covered snow capped huge mountains at the background.

After that we started climbing up to a high altitude mountain pass called Kamba La pass which is around 4800m of altitude. And the scenery started to take our breath away with winding roads and never ending mountain ranges.

We reached the top of the Kambala pass, to see the breathtaking view of the Yamdrok lake. It is a freshwater lake in Tibet, it is one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet. It was a great sight! Just like a painting, the turquoise blue color of the lake was unbelievable. Even though it was windy and cold we were stunned by the beauty of the view that we stayed out a long time taking photographs. There were lot of prayer flags put up by pilgrims passing by, which is a common sight in Tibet.

Then we started to drive down the hill, to reach the Yamdroke lake. As we got down from the Yamdrok lake it was really chilly. But we didn’t want to miss the chance to witnessing this huge sacred lake up close.

These beautifully dressed Yaks are here for tourists to take photographs with. Their owners charge you for taking photographs. Tibetan mastiff dogs are also used for the same purpose. You can find big fluffy Tibetan mastiff dogs with their owner along the road in many places.

After driving along the lake we started to make our way up where we came across another unforgettable experience. It’s the Karola glacier, which a very beautiful glacier that comes down almost to the roadside.

After that we arrived in Gyantse to see the Palcho Monastery (Pelkor Chode Monastery). This monastery has spectacular Kumbum, which is a multi-storied aggregate of Buddhist chapels in Tibetan Buddhism. It believed to be the largest such structure in Tibet.

View of the Gyantse Fort can be seen from the monastery on a rugged hill surrounding the town.

Then we arrived in our hotel in Shigatse planning to to take good rest as we are heading to Everest base camp the next day.

The next day morning, we started our journey a bit later, as our tour guide had to get Aliens’ Travel Permits for us to enter the Everest mountain range national park. After that we started our journey passing many beautiful valleys, mountain ranges and several farming villages. It’s surprising to see so many settlements even at this high altitude.

On our way we came to the Gyatso La pass (5248m), which has great views of many mountain ranges.

Then we arrived in a small town called Shelkar for lunch.

As we continue to drive up, the next stop was Pang La Pass (5050m). The stunning view of the Himalayan mountain range was an unforgettable experience. Since I was small I dreamt  of seeing the Himalayan mountain range, and finally it came true.

 Then we slowly made our way to the Mt. Everest tourist base camp through many scenic valleys. On our way there were many check points where our passports and permits were checked. At one place we were required to go into the check point to show our passport and permits.

When we reached the Mt. Everest tourist base camp it was really chilly and clody and it was getting dark. We were excited to see all the tents set up. But unluckily we could not see the magnificent Mt. Everest as it was cloudy 😦

This where the magnificent Mt. Everest should be seen.. but we were not lucky enough to see it today

The weather was really cold and windy.. soon it became so hard to stay outside so we went inside the tents to warm ourselves. The tents had benches/day beds around surrounding a fire fueled by yak dung (surprisingly there was no smell). We had noodled for dinner, which was cooked on the same fire. Yo do have meat and vegetarian options. Also plenty of green tea.

The public toilets were horrible, but I guess it has the best view in the world 😀 Take plenty of toilet paper, wet wipes and hand sanitizers. You don’t get running water in the camp. And you have just one light bulb in the tent powered by a battery, and no other electricity.

At night it was freeeeezing.. but there are plenty of quilts and you can crawl into your sleeping bags or cover yourself up with many cozy quilts.. (but still you will be cold 😉 )

In the morning when we woke up.. the area was fully covered with snow. It has snowed in the night, because when we came there was no snow at all. We were so excited to see the area covered with snow.. and most awaited moment..we could see the shadow of the Mt. Everest.. it was freezing so I could not take any pictures of the magnificent mountain.. but I will always remember that scene.

Then we started our journey back to Shigatse. The roads and all the areas were completely covered with snow. The journey back was slow as the road was slippery.

It was such a lovely sight… anywhere you look it’s all white and magical.

We arrived in Shigatse in the afternoon. We were all exhausted from the ride and the altitude, but we were not done for the day. After refreshing ourselves we were on our way again to see Tashi Lhunpo Monastery.

Tashi Lhunpo monastery was founded in 1447 by the 1st Dalai Lama. “On the west side is the tallest building of the monastery, which was built in 1914 by the Ninth Panchen Lama to house a gigantic statue of the Maitreya Buddha and is 26.2 metres (86 feet) in height.”

And also on the east side of the monastery is the old living quarters of the Panchen Lama.

That was the end of our stay in Shigatse. The next day we are headed to Namtso Lake, which I will continue in the next post 🙂

Enjoy!

To read my previous post on our first few days in Tibet : Tibet, China.. part 1