Tibet Trip Part 6 - Mountain Passes

A stupa with Mt Nojin Kantsang on the background. At Karo La.

As promised, I'm going to talk about the mountain passes that we went to during the trip! These mountain passes offer beautiful views and thus they deserve a special post. We went to a total of 5 different mountain passes. Two on the way to Gyantse (Kamba La and Karo La), three on the way to Basum (Tropu La, Gyatso La and Pang La). They are all located in different elevations and offer unique views. From rolling hills, to snow-capped mountains and the Himalayan mountains.

 The view from Kamba La

Kamba La pass (elevation 4280m) is located right before we reached Yamdrok Lake. It is here that I broke my elevation record mwahaha. It is a beautiful mountain pass at the end of a winding road, offering a beautiful view of the roads and hills in the distance. Sadly the weather was a bit cloudy when we were there. But nevertheless the yellow grass and the grey sky kinda gave a wonderful scenery.

 The most bad-ass dog award goes to...

There were a few locals who were handling their Tibetan Mastiff dogs! And they are so cute haha. I took a photo of one of them, probably the most bad-ass dogs I've seen heh.

 Prayers flags near Karo La

The next pass is Karo La (elevation 5045m), it is located before we reached Gyantse. We went to two spots here. The first one is a spot before the pass itself with a beautiful view of the surrounding snow-capped mountains and there was also a beautiful stretch of prayer flags on top of the road. It is a beautiful sight to see, the prayer flags dancing in the strong wind.

 Mt Nojin Kangtsang. See the avalanche?

Then we came to the pass itself and in the background, stands Mt Nojin Kangtsang (elevation 7191m). The mountain is huge and it is still covered in snow. Near the pass there is a stupa with a picture of Guru Rinpoche. While we were there, there was an avalanche in the mountain. And I didn't realise that I took a photo of it after I returned home and went through the photos I took! Lucky shot I guess.

 Tropu La 

Thanks Angely for the photo!

On the way to Basum, we stopped by three passes. The first one is Tropu La (elevation 4540m) and it offers a beautiful view of the rolling Tibetan hills in the distance. It's a common restroom stop I think. So there were lots of other tourists in the pass while we were there. I was a bit annoyed cause there was this German tourist who was hogging a spot taking photos of himself. While I was there waiting for him to get out of the spot so that he won't be in the frame heh. Oh well, got some nice shots!

 Gyatso La

The next pass is probably my favourite pass from all of the passes we went to. And also one of my favourite places in Tibet - it's Gyatso La (elevation 5248m). It is the highest pass that we went to and it is so beautiful up there. There was a lot of prayer flags that people hang and we were surrounded by hills too. But the place itself sits on an empty grassland, and its vastness is just amazing.

 The prayer flags. That's one of the boys who helped me.

I hung the prayer flags that I bought in Lhasa here, with the help of two Tibetan boys. But my flags were not long enough so I bought two more from them. Tujeche for the help! I'm so impressed by how much they can jump around to help me tie my prayer flag while I was feeling breathless watching them haha.

 It's so quiet here

Some of us went to hike on top of a hill in the distance. I tried to catch up with them but gave up halfway haha. The wind was so strong and I was quickly running out of breath. So I ended up just sitting on the ground on the foot of the hill. just enjoying the afternoon sun. When the wind stopped blowing, the place became very very quiet. I was enjoying the serenity there. It is really a pretty place. I wish I could have hiked to the top though, the view on top must be amazing.

 Taken at Pang La. Everest is on the left, hiding behind clouds.

Last but not least on our journey to Basum, is Pang La (elevation 5050m). This was the place where I see the Himalayas for the first time in my life. The pass is located on top of a high hill that we reached through lots and lots and lots of winding road. I could still remember like falling asleep on my seat and then suddenly I heard everyone cheered. When I looked on my left, outside of my window, a row of mountains could be seen in the distance. I suddenly felt so alive and excited hahaha.

 Five of the world's highest peak! Taken on our way to Shegar.

The view is so amazing! Although sadly Mt Everest was hiding behind the clouds. But seriously, I will never forget this moment. I've never been in the Himalayas before and neither have I seen the Himalayan mountains. So when I was there at the pass, I couldn't help but to feel so happy to see them! I think all of us were truly wowed by the incredible view. And also it was here that I experienced the strongest wind I have ever felt. I couldn't even talk properly cause it was too strong :P

Alright that's all for the mountain passes that we went to! Next I'm going to talk about other places that we stopped by on our way back to Lhasa - Shegar and a few stops near the Yarlung river.

 Sunset in Shegar

We stayed in Shegar for one night before making our way back to Shigatse. I didn't get the chance to explore the town, but I did share a great evening with Angely, Karli and Will! So it was after dinner and Will returned to our room first. I went to see Jamie first to pass her some medicine and when I returned back to the room, Will was packing his bags and he asked if I wanna join him to see the sunset. It was still quite early so I joined him. And then we asked Karli and Angely and we were all set.

 Beer, sunset, laughter. What else can you ask for!

We went to this spot near a river that offers a beautiful view of the sun setting. Will bought a couple of beers and we were sharing them, over a chit-chat session and just appreciating the view in front of us. Although it was here when it hit me that... The trip is coming to an end. I really didn't wanna leave Tibet, it's been a wonderful wonderful 8 days in this beautiful land and well, that evening was really a great chapter of an incredible journey's epilogue. Thanks for that evening guys! I'm going to miss you all.

 Part of the Yarlung

On our way back to Lhasa on the 27th, we drove along the Yarlung river. It was a road that we haven't been on (we took a different route on our way to Gyantse from Lhasa) and the view of the river is amazing. The water of the river is turquoise in colour and we can see it flowing beautifully. 

 On our way to Lhasa

I was feeling really sad on that day because we would be leaving Lhasa the next day, heading for home. But well, the Yarlung river reminds me that time always moves on and nothing is permanent in this life. I am just holding on to the faith that I will one day return to Tibet. There is a time for everything and everything will be beautiful in its time. So well, I'm really hoping that I'll come back again :)

I was listening to a lot of Buddhist chants on our way back to Lhasa and as I looked out of the window, and reflect on the past 9 days, I couldn't help but weep a little. Because Tibet has been such an amazing amazing place, and the Tibetans are some of the most wonderful people I've met on earth. I really felt like I didn't want to leave this place. And I just want to give nothing else but all my blessings to this wonderful land and her people. I've definitely left a piece of my heart in Tibet.

Alright, that's all for this special post about the mountain passes, and that is all for the trip! I'm going to talk about the thoughts I have about this whole incredible journey in the next post, and conclude this Tibet series. It's been an awesome time reminiscing about my days there.

PS: Happy 1200th post my dear cloudsofsunday!

Tibet Trip Part 5 - Everest Region

 On top of the world. Sort of.

This is the last segment of my trip, and definitely its climax too. We left Shigatse for the Everest Region at 8 AM on the 24th of April. Our destination is Basum village which is located just about 40 KM from the Everest Base Camp. We had a long day ahead of us on this day, but it was definitely an enjoyable drive because we went to see so many beautiful places! We passed by three mountain passes (Tropu La, Gyatso La and Pang La), which I will talk about on a separate post.

 Basum! 

To zoom ahead, we reached Basum (elevation 4270m) at about 6.30 PM. Basum is a quaint little village and oh my goodness I wish I can stay for a month here! Anyway we stayed in a guesthouse owned by a local there. We went to our rooms first, the guys all shared one big room while the ladies shared small rooms together. We then hang out on the first floor. A super cosy living quarter with heating element in the middle. We were all given yak butter tea/black tea and it's such a comfort for the body.

 Prayer wheels near our guesthouse

I decided to walk around the village for a while. It was around 7 PM but the sky was still blue (the sun sets at around 8.40 PM) and it was such a pleasant evening. In front of the guesthouse there were a few local kids who were just so energetic! And they were asking us to play with them. Ruth was already playing with them, and she was asking me to join in cause she was running out of breath haha. Well it's not an easy feat to play with Tibetan kids at an elevation of 4270m. Karli and Angely were playing with them too. I decided to go in again cause I was feeling so cold.

 Ruth, the kids and I

I wish you all nothing else but great health and happiness!

The kids didn't give up and knocked on the house window to ask me to come out haha. So I had an idea. I brought my Ricola sweets with me and gave them. I felt so bad cause... They didn't like it! Haha. It was too spicy for them I think. After all they're like 4 - 6 years old. Some of them spit it out and they were saying "Ka-Tse! Ka-Tse!" and Jamin was telling me that it means spicy. So... I understood. Sorry kiddos! One day I'll come back and bring chocolate and sweets okay haha. Non spicy ones.

 Me hanging out with a friend I made in Basum.

Meet Tso-mo (which means lake)

They were so energetic! I didn't know what to play with them so I ended up just telling them stories outside of the guesthouse. Anyway something "awkward" happened hahaha. So while talking to them one of the girls told me in Chinese "Your teeth looks weird". Well yes I do have one tooth protruding out on my upper jaw. So well I just told them yes so you better brush your teeth daily okay! If not your teeth will look like mine haha. It's so funny but then they were nodding their heads and went like "brush teeth brush teeth!" I hope I taught them the importance of brushing your teeth teehee.

 This is the living room/dinner place. So cosy eh.

Dinner was served after that. A pretty wonderful noodle soup with egg for me! The weather was getting cold and so that bowl of noodle soup is super comforting for me. After dinner we hang around the living room again and suddenly the son of the owner of the house came and gave Angely, Karli and me shot glasses. I was like oh dear. But thankfully he only gave us beer hah. Well we're supposed to avoid alcohol in the high altitude but when the owner of the house gave you beer, you can't say no eh.

 They use yak dunk as fuel. No smell at all!

After that Richard, Scott, Will and I decided to do a night walk. The night sky was rather clear and it was scattered with stars. The stars looked bigger than what I usually see at home! And I was telling Will about this and he was like "Well you're 4000 metres higher than where you usually see them" haha. That's so true. I went back to the guesthouse shortly after that to go to sleep. So thankful for the thick blanket. I was happily snuggling inside. And in the blink of an eye dawn arrived and we woke up to leave for EBC! It was such an exciting dawn, couldn't believe that I get to see Everest.

I really love Basum and I wish I could stay longer! It's a beautiful village and locals are so friendly. Very thankful and grateful of the hospitality that the guesthouse owner has given us. Our one night stay in Basum will remain with me forever. Basum is really a place where life seems to forget itself, and reality seems to slowly drift away in the thin mountain air. What's left is just bliss.

 Mt Chomolangma and Rongbuk monastery.

Shot with my film camera.

We left for EBC at 6.30 AM and our first stop was the Rongbuk monastery, which is the highest monastery in the world. This was the first time that we get to see a clear, unobstructed view of Mt Everest, or also known as Chomolangma - Mother Goddess of The Universe. I could still remember going up that small hill and just literally dropping my jaws. I was so speechless. Never in my life have I expected myself to see Mt Everest with my own very eyes. And I am very very thankful for this day.

 Lost for words, really.

Seeing Chomolangma being bathed in the golden sunlight as the sun rises is one of the most beautiful scenes that I have witnessed in life. I was lost for words and I will definitely remember this as I lie on my deathbed. I always smile to myself whenever I look at the photos I took :')

We went to explore parts of the monastery after that. My guide was telling me that Guru Rinpoche used to meditate in this area! The monastery has a chapel dedicated to him and I prayed inside. Isn't it amazing how he once used to walk in the area, meditated and so on? I recreated this scene in my mind and whew, I wish I could see how this place was thousands of years ago. And even meet him!

 Inside of the tent. It's super warm and cosy.

This is the stove at the centre of the tent. I don't wanna leave haha.

After that we left for this area called the tents' hotel. Apparently you can spend a night here but due to the high altitude it's not really recommended. We went inside a tent where it is so so warm and comfortable. We were served with tea again and I just didn't want to leave it haha. I found out here that the weather outside was -6 degrees! This is the coldest I've been on earth. No wonder I didn't want to leave the tent. I was just sitting beside the stove. It's so cosy and nice heh heh.

 Still lost for words

The yellow tents are for the climbers!

To go to EBC, we had to take specialised shuttle buses that bring us from the tents' hotel area to the base camp. Well it's not exactly the "base camp" cause it's off-limit to people who don't have climbing permits but you can see it from the distance! This is the closest that we can get to Everest. And she gets more and more majestic and beautiful as we go nearer. It was very windy and I had to stop for like every 10 steps cause I was out of breath. But whetever it is, it's worth everything. I still couldn't believe what my eyes saw! The majestic Chomolangma in the short distance.

 The river near the base camp. It's so quiet here.

There were lots of yaks who were transferring supplies to the base camp. Despite the place being kinda crowded, it is surprisingly quiet. There was this blissful sense of emptiness and silence. Perhaps it's the altitude that we are in, and perhaps it's because we're at the roofs of the world. I was standing beside this small river that originated from the glacier of the mountain and I was staring in the distance. It felt blissfully serendipitous. Like the whole universe came to a standstill.

We then returned to our tent to have a quick lunch before we made our way to a town called Shegar, where we spent a night in Shegar before driving back to Shigatse. That was all for our adventure in the Everest region. Definitely a journey I'll never forget forever.

Heaven's calling in the distance. So I packed my things and ran.

I've always been so fascinated with the world, this planet we call our home. This place we live in before we leave our bodies behind forever. To be given the chance to see the highest peak of the planet is something I am feeling really grateful and thankful for. I left the Everest region with a good takeaway that the mountain has given me - a lesson in humility. I love being in the mountains, because they taught me how small we are in this world, but at the same time they taught me that we can also do great things in life. Don't give up, stay humble. And you're good to go!

I hope to see the South side of Mt Everest one day. So see ya in Nepal again, Mt Everest! :)