Shigaste via the most amazing lake view
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2007
1
29
58
Trip End
Oct 22, 2007
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Shigaste,
China
Monday, October 1, 2007
Speaking of driving... they are LUNATICS!!! Driving along the main road consisted of cars, trucks, buses and coaches all overtaking each other without ever looking in their rear view mirrors. The way it works is that drivers put their hand firmly on their hooters and pull out to overtake. There is often oncoming traffic so lots of bobbing and weaving goes on. The double yellow lines in the middle of the road do not mean that overtaking is not allowed, just that there was more paint available to the road painters :-) The roads were also busier than usual as today was the 58th Chinese National Day and the start of the so-called "Golden Week" when most of China is on holiday.
OK, that's my little tirade on the drivers over, time to talk about something far more spectacular.
We climbed the Kambala Mountain Pass which once again took us to an altitude of over 5,000 metres above sea level.
Lake Yamdroktso
The reason, to see the views of Lake Yamdroktso. This is one of Tibet's longest lakes as well as being on of the holy lakes.Annie was concerned that I would not be able to see the lake from so high up. Well, it was spectacular! The view was of a very long, beautifully varied colour lake in shades of blue and turquoise. The lake went on for miles in either direction and around the sides of the mountains out of our sight.
We climbed up to the top of a hill which was apparently not the done thing as we ended up being completely alone (all those mad coaches and cars were going the same route as we were so just a few other tourists :-). We sat taking in the breathtaking views of mountains, lakes and valleys for a while and even saw the top of the Himalaya Mountain range in the far off distance. Unfortunately Mount Everest was shrouded in cloud. When we got back down our guide said he saw where we were and was somewhat amazed that we climbed up given the altitude we were already at.
The only effects of the altitude that we occasionally felt was a tingling in our fingers and feet. This happened mostly in the morning after showering. Going back down the Kambala Mountain Pass caused this effect in both of us as well as for our guide. It was very weird, much like the feeling of being really cold in mid-winter with no way of warming your hands and the blood not pumping through your fingers. We all sat on our hands until the warmth and feeling returned to normal and then I promptly fell asleep for the next hour or so (I think I have motion-sleeping-sickness as it only takes a few minutes in a car, bus train or any other vehicle for me to fall asleep.
Lake Yamdroktso
It is not uncommon for me to be asleep on an aeroplane before it has even taken off!)Unfortunately the road via Gyantse was closed for tarring as it has been for the last 8 months so we had to travel to Shigaste via the same route as we would return. This road is the road that connects Tibet and Nepal and is called "The Friendship Highway", what a great name for a road.
We arrived in Shigaste around 4:00 PM. It is Tibet's second city and described as being a lot more quiet, relaxed and laid back. This was immediately apparent as we drove through the city centre. With a population of less than 100,000, a village by Chinese standards, and at an altitude of 3,900 metres above sea level which is 200 metres higher than Lhasa it also felt a lot cleaner, had less dust and the most magnificent clear blue skies for our visit.
The main attraction in Shigaste is the Tashilhunpo Monastery which is also part of the Yellow Hat sect but this was the seat of the Panchen Lama as opposed to the Dali Lama. The Panchen Lama is the second most important of the Lamas.
There were four significant sights within this monastery for us to see; a giant statue of Jampa, the Maitreya (smiling / happy) Buddha, which is huge at nearly 27 metres high. The tomb of the 10th Panchen Lama which is about 12 metres high, made of solid gold and encrusted with jewels! Another tomb, this one made of solid silver and also encrusted with jewels was a really special one, it holds the remains of the 5th to 9th Panchen Lamas which the 10th Panchen Lama collected and entombed after their four tombs were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.
Lake Yamdroktso
Finally there was the Great Hall which was built by the first Dali Lama in the 7th century and where his throne still sits. It is quite a magnificent hall lined with benches for the many Monks that have and continue to pray in this monastery.We have been diligently listening to statistics reeled off by our guide. We were advised that statistics in China, Mongolia and Tibet should be taken with a pinch of salt. This monastery was the best example of this we have had to date. Our guide said there used to be some 3,500 Monks in the Tashilhunpo Monastery but there are now a mere 600. We overheard another guide quote 2,000 to 400 and The Lonely Planet guide book, the font of all knowledge, quotes 4,000 to 600. Is anyone correct, is the average of about 3,166 to 533, does anyone really know?
After seeing all of this we had one of our best experiences. We were sitting on the stairs leading down to the courtyard, another place of prayer and chanting for the Monks, relaxing and looking at some of the photos we had just taken when an elderly Monk came over as he was interested in seeing our photos. He allowed me to take a photo of him which is now one of my favourite photos of the trip so far!
That evening we had supper in a local restaurant that, very cleverly, has its menu in English so we saw some of the other people we had seen earlier tramping the same well-worn tourist path. We had a delicious meal along with a Lhasa beer and a really nice evening chatting to some American students studying Chinese in Shanghai and Beijing.
