Tibet & Nepal : Part 6 - Yamdrok Lake and Shigatse

5 Sept - Today, we are leaving Lhasa. We are going to Shigatse, the second biggest city in Tibet.

We stopped at a checkpoint, and there were people selling food. They knocked on our windows.

We stopped at a sky burial site. Here, the dead body is chopped into tiny pieces and given to the eagles to eat. The dead body is chopped on that rock where the prayer flags meet. I could see blood stains on the rock. There was a huge prayer flag at the burial site.

On the way to Shigatse, we stopped at Yamdrok Lake. Paid RMB40. The Lake was really blue. Turquoise blue, they call it. It is told that this Lake is shaped like a coiled scorpion.

Locals were selling their trinkets here. If you look at them, they will pester you to buy them.

We stopped for lunch at a small town.

Stopped at Karo-la Pass to see its roadside view of the Glacier.

View of the glacier. There were locals there forcing themselves into the photos. And if they do enter, we have to pay them. So, we told them we would like to take photos of ourselves.

There, a Tibetan dog is available for a photography session. The furry red thing around its neck can be removed. My friends paid RMB5 for a photo with the dog. Very large dog and its saliva was dripping out. Can you see the saliva at the edge of the mouth?

Stopped at a hydroelectric dam. The river that powers the dam is so blue.

This is Pelkhor Monastery in Gyangtse. We asked the guide if its worth going into. She told us that this monastery has 3 sects. We didn't enter into this Monastery. We had seen the main monasteries.

We have reached Shigatse (3,860m above sea level). This is a mini version of the Potala Palace. Once upon a time, the minister of Shigatse went to Lhasa and saw the Potala Palace. He wanted to build a similar palace in Shigatse. He didn't have a paper, and so he drew on a carrot. He rode back with a horse for 3 weeks. The carrot shrunk. So, the Potala Palace he wanted to build was small.

True story.

Our accommodation for the night.

We walked around Shigatse looking for a place to eat.

We ordered a medium flask of butter tea. I love butter tea. It is thick and feels warm in the throat. And a bit salty though because of the butter. I drank 60% of the butter tea as most of my friends didn't like the taste.

My dinner : Yak meat with the potato inside. Yak meat is very chewy. It was tasteless. The chilli next to it is sweet. The other pink dish is radish.