Day 4 of our trip to the top of the world and we were on the road to Gyantse, one of the more pleasant towns around Tibet. Half way there we passed one of the holiest lakes in the area: Yamdrok-Tso.
Driving over the summit of Kamba-la (4700m) the lake lies several hundred meters below the road and with the clear weather was a fabulously turquoise colour. The second summit pass we got to that day lay at 5050m above sea level and cut through the mountain range at the foot of a massive glacier, which due to global warming has receded by several meters already … shame how we are destroying the magnificent landscape without even having seen it in most cases. Â Â
Gyantse itself was great. Wandering the streets we found a nice little backpacker hangout (with heater, which we eventually got going after the whole family helped out), where we had banana pancakes, ginger lemon tea with honey and Yak burgers (well not me, being vegetarian and all, but the others did). Liked it so much that we stayed there all afternoon and evening, being highly amused by the business cards people had left behind under the glass tables – amused mainly due to the effects of the high altitude and due to some of the stuff people had added to their cards.
The next day, before setting off to our next destination we visited another temple: Baiju temple – one of my favorites of the trip. Influenced by Nepali architecture, the gigantic temple was just breathtaking. Encompassing 9 levels where you could walk around, one had great views over the town and the sun coming up over the hills … As Tibetans burn incense in the morning it added to the whole atmosphere.
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