9 June - Tibet - Lhasa to Shigatse

What an amazing climb up to the pass taking to Lake Yamtso Tso !!. A stop at the top for pics & for a small fee one could have photos taken with a Yak, a baby goat or a Tibetan Mastiff, ( a type of dog that looks like a St. Bernard). We snake down the other side & hug the side of the lake until we reach the sacred point where there is a Stupa, flags, little piles of rocks & you can put your fingers into the water.
Onwards across a rather bad road & then up the other side of the pass. It's barren countryside, we are surrounded by snow capped mountains & are kept company up the hillside by gleaming power pylons that look that they are striding up and over the mountains.

We stop for a brief while at the Kharologlacier - height about 5560 metres above sea level. As we get off the bus we are surrounded by local people wanting to have their photo taken with us for a fee. They are very persistent but our group is as persistent in refusal.
We use the toilets and oh dear ..... I could write an entire book on this subject. Sufficient to say they were at least vacant. By this I mean they are all squat & out in the countryside the ladies is simply holes in the ground with a thigh high wall separating each hole & no door.
You have to provide your own paper.

Our lunch stop was at Gyantse & then onto Pekor Chode Monastery near Kumbum whose point of interest is that 4 sects of Buddhism worship here. We are seeing a lot of monasteries but each one is slightly different. There is an excellent view from the top and you can see the fertile valley - Tibetans call it the Gyantse breadbasket. The main crop grown around here is barley which is made into Tsampa, a popular meal where the barley is ground then made into balls or sausage shapes by mixing with yak butter. These are served with thick yak yogurt. The yogurt is fine but the tsampa is an acquired taste.

I use the bathroom for which there is a very small charge. The water to wash hands was not working so a 3-4 yr. old boy had the job of waiting outside then rushing up & pouring water over your hands.

The afternoon passes trundling through the fertile valley to the city of Shigatse. One more monastery to visit, Ta Shi Lun Po, this one houses the tallest Buddha in Tibet. The Buddha was built first then the building last.

It's been on a long day & dinner, showers & bed beckon.