It is the 13th. Our driver was stopped by the traffic police for rule violation. rmb200 fine and points drduction possible. Our guide quickly called his friend for rescue, and we finally set off after 45 minutes.
Just when we thought that was the end, there were 4 dogs chasing an antelope on the street, similar to the chasing game that the brown bear had with the russian police.
As our car travel parallel to the Yalu river, we saw the construction work of phase 2 of tibet railway in full swing. This new strerch will bring one from lhasa to the nepalese border via Shigatse.
The slopes always simmer with the broken beer glass bottles that has become all too familiar to us as we travel. Guess the tibetans like to drink and break the bottle after they are drunk. By the way, canned beer is the only can drink that came with its protective cover on top of the can. For all other canned drinks, use tissue or wet wipes to clean the opening before drinking. Yup, no separate glass or straw will be served together with the canned drinks, so please wipe.
After lunch, we drove on unpaved road (shortcut) to the hotspring. Whenever our guide told us that we will be taking a short cut, we knew that the road will be unpaved and rocky. We reached Yangbajing hotspring at about 3 plus. The ticket operator allowed us to send one representative to go in and recce. Yh went. If we stay the night, it will be 480 for a double room inclusive of the use of all hotspring facilities. If just use the hotspring, it will be 128 per person. The comfortable room made us forget about taking sunrise and sunset at Namtcho Lake. Plus the fact that no way accommodation at Namtcho Lake will be able to match the standard here, with attached bathroom and hotspring facilities. Plus the fact that the front tyre of our car just punctured, as the driver discovered. So everyone happily unload their luggage and check into their rooms. Wifi available. Only thing is the water in the bathroom are all from the hotspring, which is not for drinking. Our own mineral water supply are short. Plus there are no makan places around here. Only the geothermal power station stood next to the hotspring resort.
I quickly change into my swimming trunk and try the outdoor pool. Then went indoor for the medicinal hotpool. After playing afool, we wanted to take a shower. This is when we realise there was no shower in our own bathroom. We had to bring our own towel to the central shower room, which was quite dirty by the time I went in to bathe. Changbaishan hotspring that I went in January was cleaner and cheaper, but smaller in scale compared to this resort.
Indoor pool
We cooked instant noodles as dinner and tried to finish up the sausages K bought. Too tired to drive out to look for food in nearby villages. The bed was very comfortable and came with heater. The complimentary breakfast was as usual simple and not to our taste.
Once we drove off from the hotspring resort, a familiar train whistle thrown me off the chair. The green lhasa express train roared through the yangbajing station not far from us. We were all stunned and didnt react fast enough to take the photo of the train. For once we were admiring the train from outside instead of admiring the scenery outside from the inside of the train.
Not long after, a whole row of military vehicle at least fifty of them lined up neatly along the road side. They seemed to be searching for something. K asked: since the Shenzhou no. 10 was just successfully lauched a day ago from Jiuquan, could they be locating the fragments that dropped from the sky???
5 minutes later we reached the scenic view point to view Tanggula mountain, the highest point on the lhasa railway line we passed during the train ride.
We need to buy entrance tix into Namtcho Lake. The toilets there were foc, with water to wash hand. What a pleasant surprise.
After some distance of driving, we reached the mountain pass for scenic photo taking. The usual sign was the flags and tibetans scripture banners, which indicated highest point or the mountain pass, which was natural photographing point.
We had lunch at Yangbinguan.
Painting at Yangbingguan that depicted the geographical location of Turpan kingdom during the Tang Dynasty. The shape of the controlled area looked like the shape of the demon lady. So the princess from Tang Dynasty that married the king suggested to reclaim the lake at Lhasa to build Jokhang Palace. The lake was believed to be the heart of the demon lady.
The king that married the demon lady from Tang Dynasty, and shifted his kingdom capital to Lhasa.
The dishes were the most expensive we had ever seen. Wifi available so the guys were reluctant to leave the place to walk the lake. When we finally set off for the lake, what greeted us were the throngs of chinese tourists, herds of yaks waiting to be ride on for photo taking and revenue collection for the owner. The lake was abuzzed with commercial activities. Yh and I walked to the far end of the lake which was less crowded.
We then walked back to Yangbinguan. The guide suggested that we returned to Lhasa now and skip the hill climbing to visit view the lake from the top.
Return to Lhasa it is, though I actually wanted to climb the hill to see the lake from high ground, if time permits.
Mosque in the Lhasa city.
Sera Monastery. The monks were debating scriptures.
Map that summarise our journey. Red colour number is altitude in m, while green colour number is distance in km.
Some of the things I noted for this trip:
1. The dslr and the tin mug with fork and spoon were prolly the best thing I bought for this trip. Especially the tin mug and the fork and spoon. Only bought it on the actual day of departing. Wonder how was I going to cook my instant noodles n milo without them. For dslr need long telephoto lens to capture wildlifes. Set off early in the morning to maximise chances of spotting them. If timing permits, ask driver drive slightly slower in wildlife corridor.
2. Need plenty of wet wipes and hand warmer. Need down jacket in Ebc. Nothing will prepare you enough for the windchill in EBC. Torch light or handphone torch app came in useful in EBC and Zhada where no electricity available.
3. Stock up mineral water especially in places with water disruption like Saga and places that supply slimy hotspring water like Yangbajing. Need it for brushing teeth even.
4. If you could afford it, hire a four wheel drive. Otherwise your butt will suffer. Best one four wheel drive takes four person. Need to save one space for driver and one space for the guide. You do the math.
5. Make sure your vehicle door can open both sides and window can wind up n down at will. I missed many photography opportunity cos all the windows except the driver's and the guide's can be opened. The guide was sleeping most of the time so forget about asking him to take pix for you during the drive.
6. Before going tibet take hongjingtian, after reaching tibet start taking Gaoyuanan. Diamox helped but will have slight side effect like numb fingers. You need doctor prescription for buying diamox in Singapore.
7. it is good to have a bottle of water for washing hands. Useful after natural toilet break. Have a bottle of shower gel as many motels do not supply such stuff.
8. Food wise, sausages, bbq meat, chips, cashew nuts, milo, cookies, cup noodles come in really useful.
9. Always have your passport with you so that when the guide ask for it at the check points, you can pass to him quickly.
10. Swimwear is compulsory at the hotspring. That said, I have seen locals wore shorts in.
11. Good to have a pair of slippers that are high enough. Useful to survive you in flooding toilets and filthy bath rooms. The sandals provided by the motel and on train, if they do, are too low and will land your feet in flooding water.
12. You can actually take the minibus at the camp area near EBC to the actual base camp once during evening and once the next morning. Most guides will not tell you about the morning ride as they wanted to leave for the next destination asap. Your luck if you have such guide.
13. Many beautiful small wild flowers. July will be canola. Starry skies in EBC. Mysterious Guge kingdom ruins at Zhada. Shy wildlifes. Dont miss them if your time permits.
14. If comfort is your priority in travel, Tibet may not be for you. For that matter, China.
15. Hiking and trekking are all part of any trips in Tibet. The soles of the shoes must be sure grip else very dangerous. It is not the brand or the price. My RMB 30 china made studded sole canvas shoes gave me much more confidence than my S$250 Columbia high cut hiking boots. I owed my life to this pair of Liberation Shoes (解放鞋)。They saw me through all difficult terrain including scrambles. You can get them anywhere in China.
16. Sun is relentless here. Wear long sleeve to protect yourself from UV. Need big hat. Dry weather. Moisturise yourself as much as possible.
17. Ask for less oil and less salt in your dishes. The sweet and sour pork is my fav dish after long car ride. Appetising. Let them know in advance if you cant take spicy food.
18. The tibetans expect you to write down the dishes on a book. Go to the kitchen to see what they have. Else do it the foolproof way-beef noodle.
19. You will be surprised that China Post sell very beautiful souvenirs and postcards even at the camp site near EBC.
20. Even taking pictures with location sign board or sheeps crossing road cost money. Ask before you snap if you are not sure. Important especially if you do not understand mandarin or tibetan language. I had seen tussle near a photo vantage point. Ugly scene.
21. Only engage recommended tour operator. The tour guide of my friend's cousin forgot to bring one permit. Five hours of waiting for him to return to fetch the required permit.
22. For town like Saga, where only one or two good hotels are available, they can be fully booked two weeks in advance by the pilgrimage tours from India and Nepal. Remind your guide to help you book way in advance.
23. Have enough cash as entrance tix can be expensive.
24. Take off your hat when enter any tibetan temple.
25. I like the motel I stayed in Lhasa cos it is a family run motel, with meeting square surrounded by rooms. Need to carry luggage from the side of the road, cross the street and walk some 50m to the motel. If you could afford it, Yak Hotel is a better choice.
26. How to tell the tibet antelope and the white butt goat from one another? Simple. The tibet antelope butt is not white in colour.
27. The snow mountains used to be fully covered with snow even in june. Nowadays sigh....blame it on global warming.
28. The Taiwanese group that also finished their tours same date as us, went to circle the sacred Mount Kailash, which took two days. According to sc and yh, they saw a herd of tibetan antelopes in the number of hundreds. They saw the very rare black colour crane too. Even their very experienced driver dropped his jaw when he saw such a magnificent scene. He never saw it before.
29. White colour building in a temple is for the monk to stay in.
30. In Sera Monastery, I saw the kids crawl under the scripture cupboard to seek blessings. I also saw a tint of black paint on their nose. Pilgrims pour yak butter into the lamp as offerings.
31. Dicos is quite a nice fastfood joint in Lhasa to chill in. They have free wifi, just ask for password. In terms of restaursnts in Lhasa and Shigatse, our verdicts as follow:
Lhasa : Mikeamy. Very long queue. Sit third floor. Ask for dish recommendation. Free wifi, ask for password.
Shigatse : Wudoer. Highly recomnended on the web. I like their tibetan pork chop, more friends like their muttons.
32. Love the youtiao soy bean milk as breakfast in the morning.
33. Summer is the construction period of Tibet. Expect road closures, digging, jams, dusty everywhere.
34. Post office open till 7pm during summer. They sell a lot of cute postcards and unique souvenirs.
Thanks for reading. Please click here to return to the Travel Index Page.
