Yamdrok Lake

In the mountains outside Lhasa, past the airport, there lies a holy lake, Yamdrok, which sparkles turquoise between the green mountains and the snow covered peaks. Tashi and Tse Tan drove us the 50 km outside the city to this beautiful place, which is approximately 14,500 feet above sea level. When we got out of the van, we were immediately bombarded by people trying to sell us cheap necklaces. Pushing past them, we started up the hill, where they would not follow. The higher we got, the more we huffed and puffed, but the more beautiful the scene as we left behind the parking lot and the tourist-hungry hawkers. John, Ethan, and I continued climbing, setting our sights on the highest peak near us, where, upon our arrival, all of our huffing and puffing was made worth it. We had a 360-degree view of the mountains, only one of which was higher than we were at nearly 15,000 feet. The other half of Yamdrok Lake, which is 60km long, and the 2nd largest Holy lake in Tibet, had come into view, and we could see an entire range of snow-covered peaks at its other end. Our lungs were burning, but we had a sense of accomplishment and knew that we could rightfully scream, “I’m on top of the world!”

After our return to the van, and a few obligatory group photos, we began the descent back into the city. Along the way, our guide stopped and asked a middle-class housewife whether we could see her house. Built about a year ago, it had been painted in Tibetan style, and the porch held a weaving loom and butter churn. Tse Tan told us that this family would be considered middle class. They had the cutest kitten, and a ferocious guard dog. After we’d offered her a few RMB and some Olympic pins, we returned to the van, where a group of neighborhood children had gathered.

 

They hammed it up for some photos, and we gave them each some candy before returning to the city, where Tse Tan and Tashi dropped us off to do some shopping. Mirjam and Fran leave tomorrow, so we picked up a few things before meeting Susie and Dan for dinner at Lhasa Kitchen. Sipping ginger-lemon tea, we discussed our travels, Tibet, FOOD, and Buddhism. Amazing how these Londoners we met on the train to Lhasa felt like old friends, and this group of 7 people, with 5 different nationalities represented, got along so famously. 2 plates of cheese momo, 1 plate of yak momo, 2 orders of shabaleb bread, 1 plate of vegetable momo, 2 soups, 2 plates of rice, and 2 plates of mutton masala later, we rolled out of Lhasa Kitchen and down the street to Tibetan Yak Yoghurt, where we enjoyed a tasty yak yoghurt treat and picked up some of the gifts they sell. The girls at the shop know us, because tonight was our third trip to the shop, and we joked and chatted with them for a while. Meeting local people is so fulfilling, and more than the people of Beijing were, the Tibetans are welcoming and giving. Each experience with them is a blessing.