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 | Tibet Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 10 of 39 |  |
 Magic Mount Kailash, West
Tibet by Claus_Qvist
Geographically, West Tibet is a highland desert, framed by three mountain ranges. Of these, the Himalaya in between Nepal and Tibet is the biggest and the most famous, however, the Trans-Himalayan Range, running parallel to the Himalaya, isn't bad either. Kailash belongs to this range.
Apart from the snow in the mountains, the region doesn't get very much precipitation, and, as the average altitude of the valleys is way above 4000 meters, chances of succesful agriculture is close to zero.
For that reason, the people of West Tibet is still living their lives as nomads, tending their goats and yak. Every now and then, they pass by a village, sell a few animals which they trade for barley, tea and clothes - and then they carry on. Just like their parents did it before them.
The main drawback is transportation (see that chapter). The Chinese have made it illegal to travel by anything but government approved LandCruisers; for your saftey, of course, however, the biggest threat to my saftey was the constant playing hide-and-seek with the Chinese police.
Very stupid system, so be prepared to spend a lot of time just waiting for an option to get on. Still, it's an absolutely magnificent place, and everyone with a lot of energy and a poor will to obey the silly bureaucracy should give it a try. After all, you won't be sentenced life-time in jail! Leave a Comment
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 “Wel-come to Everest Lodge and
Restuarant.” by tiganeasca
Ahead of us is what appears to be an abandoned windowless concrete building on the back of which is a crudely painted announcement: “After Everest B[ase] C[amp] all the tourist are not permitted to go up. If any want then contract B C staff. If any tourist group without contract B C then we punish (fine) 200 U S dollar.” Another wall sports a bright red “STOP” followed by a few lines in Chinese. Halfway up the glacial ridge on our left is a long squat stone building housing Chinese authorities. Outside it is a tall flagpole with the bright red Chinese flag.
More welcoming is a blue sign with hand-painted lettering: "Wel-come to Everest Lodge and Restuarant." There is a brief line in Chinese above. Underneath, in smaller lettering, is the caution, “Base Camp Altitude (5200M).” There is even a homey touch—a big old saucepan hanging from the signpost.
The best vantage point for the object of all this travel, by the way, is a small hill no more than a hundred feet high. It offers a slightly more elevated and completely unobstructed view of Everest. Leave a Comment
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 by tiganeasca
Attractive when she wore her serious face, her smile truly lit up her face. It would have been hard to resist a demand for anything when that smile appeared. We could spare only one or two pens and had long since learned that money only brings more beggars. Nor did we have candy or gum or any other the other common gifts we had been giving away.
Keen to offer something, I recalled a tip I had read before leaving home: people will often welcome even pictures of Tibet itself for many of them have never been far from home. So, after checking to make sure that this was true, I ripped out all of the picture pages from one of my guidebooks. I silently thanked the editors for ensuring that my book had exactly as many pages as there were children. They were thrilled. Candy, money, and toys aren't the only thing these children want. Leave a Comment
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 by tiganeasca
Yumbulagang sits in the Yarlung Valley atop a rocky ledge. Although it is not particularly high (the walk up the ridge takes a lazy half hour), the brightly painted buildings present a striking profile, silhouetted on a rock spur against brown cliffs and rocky overhangs. The higher one climbs within the complex of buildings, the broader the vista. Soon, the entire valley is laid out before you in both directions, terraced fields looking like a patchwork quilt and the lonely road so rarely hosts a vehicle that civilization dwindles into insignificance.
The chapel itself is a series of interconnected small buildings. (Re-)constructed of stone and wood, Yumbulagang boasts bright yellow roofs and more prayer flags than I saw anywhere else in Tibet. After climbing up and down simple log ladders--it seemed more like treehouse than religious building at times--we eventually walked down the long path again. Leave a Comment
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 An unfortunate sight in Tibet by Backpackin_MacLeave a Comment
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I know much of Tibet is covered in high altitude desert, but I still didn’t expect to see such huge sand dunes! These were along the road back from Samye, and the picture doesn’t really do it justice. The greenery in the front of the picture is not grass, they are waist high bushes! Leave a Comment
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 weather changes all the time by Bonobo2005
The colours change all day, and so does the weather! If the sun is out, it will be pretty hot, but it can easily be 15 degrees Celsius lower some hours later! Leave a Comment
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 Damxung truck stop by Bonobo2005
It was a great ride on good roads in a bus filled with an appealing melange of thick smoke and a tasty yak butter smell. Disturbed noise from the radio speakers on max volume.
From Damxung a junction leads to the road to the Lake (40 km).
Since there's no public transport we had to hitch. After we refused some ridiculous offers from jeep owners, a young Tibetan man on a kind of tractor, also in use for short distance taxi, stopped and he would take us to the Lake. Leave a Comment
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 from the top of the hill by Bonobo2005
I stayed only for 2 days at Nam Tso, but it was amazing! Then heavy snow was coming and I took the opportunity to buy a cheap seat in a 4WD back to Damxung. Leave a Comment
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 sunset and offered yakhead by Bonobo2005
Also traveller's accommodation is available on the "island", which is connected at one side with the mainland though.
Since the lake has spiritual importance, usually pilgrims are around and you'll find prayerflags and cairns everywhere. Doing the circuit around the small island is a must (ca. 1-2 hrs. slowly)! Leave a Comment
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