Soggy Moose Travels : On the Road To Gyangtse

Traveling to Gyangtse:

Yesterday I purchased some Prayer Flags for the Adventures Club. The colors of the Prayer Flags are representative as follows: Blue is for the Sky, White is for the Clouds, Red is for Fire, Yellow is Earth and then Green is for Water.

Briefing: Peter spoke about the geology of the Himalayas and how they were formed from the

Indian Plate and the Euro Asia plate. These tectonic plates are composed of the same material and thus one would not slide under the other. Thus, these two plates are basically stacked upon on each other, causing this area to have such great elevation. Next the various critters we may see were discussed and we need to keep a sharp eye out.

Tomorrow is Yam’s birthday so we celebrated with a cake this evening. Yes the cake was early because the future evening dining cake availability was an uncertain proposition. The cake we did have was great.

After dinner we boarded our bus and arrived at the Potala Palace right at dusk. We walked along across the street taking photos as darkness approached. The Potala Palace is very impressive at night.

After our breakfast, Lynn and I decided to do our morning walkabout and found a really nice trail by the river. We arrived back at the hotel, got our bags out and meandered to our meeting point.

Today, and from here on, we are in a Buick Mini Van. There are two clients per van, a driver and a guide. On these long touring days we have scheduled bathroom breaks every two hours. As there are limited facilities available, a separate vehicle drives ahead and sets up two bathroom tents.

Our drive today takes us from Lhasa to Gyangtse which should take about 8 hours and we are traveling over three very high passes. The first pass we cross in Kumba La at 4890 meters. Here on the summit we have a great vista over Yamdrok Lake’s turquoise waters and high snow covered peaks in the background. At the summit there are local folks who have yaks and Tibetan Massifs for you to ride and or pet for a fee, Lynn rode the yak. From the pass summit, we made our way down to the lake where our lunch tent and been set up shoreside for our lunch.

After lunch we drove around the lake and were able to see Pika and Blacked neck cranes. Granted the crane were at great distance. Next we ascended to the summit of Karo La pass at 5010 meters. Here we took a short walk across the summit. Back in the car we continue to look for Blue Sheep and soon we spot a group grazing along the road. We then cross over Simi La Pass and make our way into Gyangtse.

We stop at the Gyangtse Hotel where we get checked in and hope the hot water and heaters work. The lobby of this motel is amazing. From the back side of the hotel there is a goat and sheep herd tending to the landscaping. Lynn and I walked about the town as it is the third largest city in the Tibetan region. The local shops seemed to consist of motorbike shops, mini marts, dry goods stores and local restaurants, We stopped at a local bakery for some pre breakfast as the dining room will not open till 0830.

After dinner we returned to our room and got ready for bed after doing our evening chores.