Namtso Lake in Tibet

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Day 12: Lhasa - Namtso Lake in Tibet

Today we had to wake up earlier than usual since we stayed with Pasang at 7 to go to Namtso Lake in Tibet, one of the places we most wanted to know on this trip and that we can finally enjoy today.
After a shower and a quick coffee, we leave Tashitakge Hotel Lhasa, to meet Pasang and get underway for today's visit. The journey by car will be approximately 5 hours round trip, since Namtso Lake, although it is only 270 kilometers from Lhasa, there are many speed radars on the road, so the route is extended, both for double the time it would take on any Spanish road.
Here, for what they tell us, speed controls are very common in addition to radars. These, as we can see today on the way to Namtso Lake in Tibet, are somewhat rare, so to speak.
You arrive at a point on the road where there is a small office where you are handed a paper and where there is a cartel in which the minutes you must take to travel the next x kilometers are indicated. So far everything could be logical, if not for the equivalences, which are totally exorbitant, of the style having to travel 30 kilometers in 65 minutes, on a properly paved road, without curves, in which one could go perfectly to 70-80 kilometers per hour.
It is for this reason that on many occasions the car trips in Tibet they become endless, although with the immense luck for us tourists, that we can delight in the incredible landscapes and scenes that are happening while we travel through this incredible land.


As soon as we leave the city, we take the road that runs parallel to the road through which we reached Lhasa on the Train of the Clouds, almost a week ago, from where we enjoyed stunning landscapes, dotted with small towns, which make This start of the trip a unique moment.

Train of the Clouds

The mountains at this time are still snowy and look in such a way that they look like meringue candies, giving us really incredible images, which make us not separate the view of the car windows in the whole journey, in addition to confirming what we already thought : Only for these landscapes is it worth the trip to Tibet.
We make the first stop at route from Lhasa to Namtso Lake in Tibet when it is 9:30, in an area where there are bathrooms, where we take advantage of entering and more after drinking enough water to combat altitude sickness, especially as of today, we will reach 5000 meters and in In the next few days, we will start the route through Tibet.

Incredible landscapes on the way to Lake Namtso

At this point we are already 4300 meters and 0 degrees, which we notice in our body, both because of the cold and the feeling of tiredness after walking for a few minutes, trying to walk surrounded by these incredible landscapes and spectacular views with the snowy mountains of the surroundings.

At the moment the altitude sickness is not affecting us too much, although we do notice some fatigue and some fatigue, despite having been sleeping for 5 nights in Lhasa at 3650 meters. And it is that as we had read and they recommended us, it is not advisable to stop being alert to the symptoms, since they can appear at any time, even if you already have some days of adaptation.
We continue the trip, always surrounded by landscapes that we will not forget, so that at 11 in the morning we arrive at the place where we have to buy the access tickets to Namtso Lake, which Pasang buys while we pass the permit and passport control and Tre the other side waits for us with the car.

Controls to enter the Namtso Lake area

From this moment begins an ascent between snowy mountains, impressive, where we pass through the Lakenla pass at 5186 meters high, then undertake a descent to Namtso Lake, located 4718 meters.
As expected, at this point of the trip you have to stop to see the views and enjoy of the maximum altitude at which we have been so far on this trip.

Lakenla Pass

Lakenla Pass

At this point in the day, our body continues to behave quite well, although I (Vanessa), I have a slight fatigue that makes me move a little slower and above all, take special care to make efforts and continue drinking water to be as hydrated possible.

The descent to Lake Namtso begins

We arrive at Namtso Lake in Tibet at 12 noon, at which time Pasang and Tre leave us in the area to enjoy it for more than an hour, after giving us the explanations and above all, warning us of the altitude we are at and the need of taking things easy to avoid problems.

Namtso Lake in Tibet or Nam Co, a sacred Tibetan lake, almost 5000 meters high

The Namtso Lake in Tibet It is the second largest salt water lake in China and is also considered by the Tibetans as one of the three sacred lakes. With something more than 70 kilometers long and 30 wide and 7000 meters high of some of the mountains that surround it, this is one of the most incredible landscapes we have seen so far.
From the parking lot, where there is a bathroom area, without doors and to the Turkish one, in addition to several restaurants and small shops, in which they even sell small bottles of oxygen, which we see using several tourists, from where a small slope is lowered, from which is already beginning to see Lake Namtso in the background.

Namtso Lake in Tibet

It must be said that from any area the views are excellent, but it must be borne in mind that the lake is immense, so it is worth focusing on a couple of areas and enjoying them to the fullest, to avoid having to be running from one side to another.

Namtso Lake in Tibet

Namtso Lake in Tibet

We don't need more than a minute on the shore to confirm what we thought. The Namtso Lake in Tibet It is pure nature.
From what we had read, the melting begins in mid-April, and at this time it should be practically free of ice, but we are against the forecasts, with most of the frozen lake, taking us some images that we did not expect and We have to confess, they are a great gift for us.

Namtso Lake in Tibet

Namtso Lake in Tibet

Due to the altitude, we can not forget that the Lake is 4700 meters and passes through a passage that is more than 5000 meters, it is advisable to make this exit when you have been a few days in Lhasa, since the slope of more than 1000 meters is not a joke.

In the Namtso Lake in TibetThere are five small islands, which Pasang tells us, years ago, occupied pilgrims, who crossed the frozen lake in winter, to spend the summer there, waiting for the lake to freeze again in the new winter, to cross it again and return to the mainland
Today this is prohibited by the authorities, so these small islands are completely uninhabited.

Namtso Lake in Tibet

Namtso Lake in Tibet

Although the lake is frozen, we must be aware that we are in the middle of the thaw season, so some areas where water begins to circulate and other areas where ice begins to rip with weight begin to be seen.
Given this, it is highly recommended to go very carefully and avoid taking the typical photos jumping, something we see makes some other tourists, risking first to suffer the consequences of altitude sickness and second to fall into the water if the ice eventually breaks.

Namtso Lake in Tibet

In front of Namtso Lake in Tibet there is the small Thasi Dor Monastery, which you will see both from the car park and from the lake itself, where some monks live today.

Thasi Dor Monastery

After just over an hour in the area, enjoying incredible landscapes, we decided that the time has come to eat. It is at this moment that we remember Pasang and his recommendations to bring something to eat. Not only because of the places that we have seen in the area and that we believe we would not have liked too much, but because of the possibility of sitting in front of the Namtso Lake in Tibet and enjoy a picnic in front of one of the most incredible landscapes in the world.

Namtso Lake in Tibet

It is 2:30 in the afternoon when we finish the visit to Namtso Lake in Tibet to get back to Lhasa, and make a visit to the city to visit the Tshurpu Monastery, which is on our way.

Remember that any foreign traveler who wants to travel to Tibet must do so through an agency (IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TRAVEL TO TIBET FOR FREE), either by adding to a group or privately and having, before entering Tibet, a fixed route, that the agency will have submitted and must be approved by the Chinese authorities.
To obtain the visa and all permits, it is necessary that this itinerary be approved by the authorities. It is also not possible to modify the itinerary on the fly, something very important to keep in mind, as it will force you to be clear about what you want to visit from the first moment, since based on that, the agency will manage the permits.
In our case we have traveled with The China Guide, who managed all the permits after designing a personalized itinerary together, with a guide in Spanish and that has led us to enjoy as we had never imagined this magical place.

But it is almost 5 in the afternoon, when we are a few kilometers away when we find a monumental traffic jam in the middle of the road, due to a great collapse due to the amount of trucks there are, which make our plans begin to truncate, and that we are collapsed and unemployed and with the time it is it does not look very good.
In the end it is after 6 in the afternoon and seeing that we do not advance, Pasang proposes us to make a change and remove from the tour the Tshurpu Monastery, where we will not arrive for the time it is and visit the Sakya Monastery, the day we go to the Camp Everest Base, which for what it tells us, is impressive.
We gladly accept this change of plans, so call the agency to confirm this change and to verify that we have the permits to access, and with everything confirmed, we have another one to take out the snacks that we have left, plus those that carry Pasang and Tre and have a small picnic on the road until finally, when it is 7 pm we start to circulate so "normal", to get to Lhasa when it's almost 9 at night.

Being this time and seeing that the day is quite clear, against the weather forecast, we tell you to leave us directly in the Times Square Mall area, to dine there and then take the opportunity to take the night photographs of the Palace from Potala.
And said and done, although the dinner we had planned we changed it for something faster, a menu in the KFC and the truth is that today we are not very hungry after the hours we have been in the car and the altitude, so After this impromptu dinner, when it is 10 pm and seeing that it is already closed night, we set off to the Potala Palace, just over 1 kilometer from where we are.

We follow the same route that we did yesterday to do in Lhasa, excluding the Potala kora and starting our visit by the lake that is right in front of the Potala and where the night leaves us a truly spectacular vision, with the incredible Potala Palace reflected in the Water.

Potala's palace

From here we continue to the Grand Plaza, where there is no one at this time, and where, like this morning, we can take the photographs in total solitude, something we have to say is appreciated and much more in a place like this.

Potala Palace from the Grand Plaza

We follow the road to Yaowang Mountain, the incredible viewpoint, where we enjoy incredible views of the Potala, which we would not know if they are even more impressive than those we could enjoy yesterday morning.

Potala from Yaowang Mountain

Potala's palace

It is approximately 11 at night when we decide that the time has come to return to the Tashitakge Hotel Lhasa and more after the day we are taking today, so we have to look back for the last time and take what is probably the last image we have the Potala Palace at nightfall ...

Potala's palace

We try to stop a couple of taxis but we are not lucky, directly for not wanting to stop or for not understanding each other, since one who stops, directly when we show him the address of the hotel tells us not to sign, so we chose to ask A tuk tuk that takes us to the hotel. After a few minutes of negotiation, in which several drivers intervene, he tells us that he takes us for 30RMB, that counting that we are approximately 2 and a half kilometers from the hotel and the tuk tuk is not motorized, but rather is a bicycle, we found a Price more than reasonable.
And so, after 20 minutes, and giving a tip of 20RMB after seeing the effort we had made, we arrived at our hotel and our bed, which awaits us with open arms to give us shelter until tomorrow, the day we will begin the route through Tibet that will take us to the Everest Base Camp, with which we will fulfill another of our traveling dreams.

Day 13: Tibet route by car: Lhasa - Tsedang - Yungbulakang Palace

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