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Published: September 17th 2010
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9/6/2010 Monday - Today we left Lhasa and started our journey towards Mt. Everest base camp. The first part of the drive was through some villages in a valley and then we really started to get into some mountains on the Kambala pass. The scenery was majestic and at the top which was 15,728 ft. above sea level was a view of the Yamzhog Yumco River. The English translation is “Jasper Lake”. It is a turquoise color that rivals the water in the Caribbean. This is one of the Three Great Holy Lakes in Tibet. When we started driving on the Kambala pass, we had to pick up a voucher with the time on it. We had to take at least 2 ½ hours to the next check point or the driver would get a ticket. In all we had four of these limits on the drive.
The second check point was the start of the Karola pass. At the peak it is 16,470 ft. On the drive we were actually in the clouds and several times very, very close to the snow capped peaks. We stopped at the Palgor Chorten, also known as the Palcho Monastery. This monastery
is unique as it is built in the Tibetan style and is reputed as the lord of Tibetan Stupas. A Stupa is a monument built for worship that contains a holy Buddhist relic of some kind. It is famous for the architecture, sculptures and mural paintings.
Then off to Shigatse for the night. On the final part of the drive, 9 hours in all today, we passed many barley farms. It is currently harvest season and it was very interesting to see that they still do everything by hand. Another interesting observation was all of the animals along the drive. They way out numbered the people. Many cows, yaks, sheep, chickens and dogs but only one pig. They were everywhere! The cows would sit by the front doors of houses with the door open. I wonder if they ever go in.
The roads were not bad. Paved with some spots having mud and rocks in the road. They have had a lot of rain this year so there was evidence of flooding and some mudslides. I have to say again how beautiful the drive was. Mountains on both sides of the road the whole way and
we even saw a glacier.
9/7/2010 Tuesday - We started the day visiting a “Yellow Hat Sect” monastery (Yep, still visiting monasteries) in Shigatse. The Yellow Sect is the largest majority of Buddhist in Tibet. The TaShiLunPo monastery was built by Gedun Drupa (the first Dalai Lama) in 1447. It was used by the first four Dalai Lamas and then became the winter palace for the Panchen Lama (second in command to the Dalai Lama). The current Panchen Lama, number 11, resides in Beijing and rarely comes to the monastery. It is famous for the largest Maitreya Buddha (Future Buddha) in the world at 86 ft. Also at the monastery are the original tombs of the 4th and 10th Panchen Lamas and a recreation of a tomb for the 5th - 9th built by the 10th since the originals had been destroyed. This was completed in the 1980’s.
Then off to Tingri on the “Friendship Road to Nepal” After a few miles we stopped at a sign “5000 Km to Shanghai”. I guess the road goes all the way across China to Shanghai. Glad we don’t have to drive back this way. We were cruising in
a valley in the mountains for an hour or so then started climbing the Ayatsola pass. At the peak we were at 17218 ft. That is a higher elevation than Mt. Everest bas camp by around 100 ft. It was amazing with nothing more than rolling fields on both sides of the road. We really were on the top.
Everyone knows how I love a good potty story. There were bathrooms here at the peak and the guide insisted that I use them. I’m including pictures because I think they are too good not to share. We also stopped at , of all places, a gas station before we left Shigatse. I asked the guide why she didn’t use either one of them and she said that she didn’t like the public toilets. Too funny.
A little further down the road and we arrived in Tingri. Only 4 hours driving today. Our papers were checked again before we could enter the town and then we stopped for lunch. Jason had yak noodles and I had chicken as my one yak dish was enough for a while. The noodles were actually pretty good and then off to
Karola Pass
The power lines make a convient place to hang prayer flags. check into the hotel. It is definitely a two star (according to their sign) or more likely a one star hotel. We should have power at 7:00 pm when they turn on the generator. For right now we have on a few extra layers of clothes because our room is freezing.
Because of all the rain they have been having there are several holes or dips in the road. We discovered the Tibet road cone is a rock painted red. The driver did a great job navigating around these throughout the drive. Can’t imagine hitting one.
Update on the power at the hotel. It came on as promised at 7:00 but the heaters are not being turned on. I guess we are sharing one of the twin beds to keep warm! Good thing for wool socks.
Tomorrow Mt. Everest Base Camp :-)
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