5 June - Tibet- Lhasa to lake Namatso to Lhasa

We have a new guide today - not quite as good, friendly or able to speak english as Dorjee. We have been spoilt!

The road to the lake travels alongside the rail track so we are able to see the countryside that we saw from the train. It's a five hour drive with the weirdest speed control system I've ever seen. As mentioned before there a numerous police checkpoints - well, along certain busy tourist routes the drivers have to stop at a certain point & collect a piece of paper stamped with the time. Then, on arrival at the next point, if they are early it means they have exceeded the speed limit & are fined $40 instant fine ( this is a huge amount to them). Now,the silliest part of all this is - we were running 7minutes early so stopped off on the side of the road to while away those 7 minutes in absolute full view of the checkpoint, sailed through dead on time.... No problem!

The altitude at the pass is 5195m ( higher than Mt Cook) and both of us felt a little light headed & out of breath. The lake is very large & a milky blue. The plains around the lake are dotted with nomad settlements. In the old days their tents would have been made from yak skin but now they live in houses with walls made of long run steel with polystyrene sandwiched together. The winds around here are so strong that the roofs are held down by stones and barbed wire stretched across the top & concreted into the ground.

The settlement at the lake looks like a construction site, full of prefab buildings, snotty nosed children begging in English .... Money money! We are staying in the 'best ' guest house & have a basic 2 bed room .. That's it. Toilets are a long walk away & very under par. The lake itself is lovely. It's a holy lake and has the usual flags & a temple built into the hillside. It's surrounded by snow covered mountains & as night approaches all the warm clothes we brought with us are in use.

By 9pm we are in bed as 'the electric' will be switched off soon. It's the warmest place & I have to say we're pretty tired.