Leaving Lhasa, we piled into the Land Cruiser, with Betty sitting in the jump seat in the back with our luggage (she was the smallest one), Rami, me and David in the middle and Wu, our friendly and very informative guide in the front along with Dawa, our Tibetan driver who was quite friendly though only spoke a few words of English. On our first day, we headed back along the Lhasa River towards the mountains, making our first pass early in the day at something like 4,800 meters (about 15,000 feet). We climbed and climbed, finally reaching the top, a small pass of the road covered by overhanging yellow, green, red, blue and white prayer flags. We also drove past the vendors, some of them known to bring their huge dogs with costumes or yaks into your pictures and then trying to charge you for the picture. Luckily Wu knew better, so we stopped just after the pass for some incredible views to the mountain lake below. Being at such a high elevation, it was fairly cold, though the sun is also intense. We also worried a bit about the elevation, as this was slightly lower than Everest Base Camp, where we'd be staying for one night. Our next pass was even higher, at 5,020 meters (about 16,000 feet), and I actually did feel a small headache as we got out of the car, something that didn't bode well for the rest of the journey, though I hoped my body would acclimatize quickly, so that I wouldn't be miserable for the trip.
(Our first bathroom/smoke break, strategically timed for a wonderful view of the Lhasa River in early morning. Wu also mentioned that this area is a popular place for water burials where the family releases the body into the water for the fish to eat, hence fish not being a popular meal in Tibet.)
(This is the view from our first pass, looking down on the lovely Yamdrok Tso lake, at 4,440 meters in elevation. That mountain in the background is appropriately part of the Snow Mountains. Something may have been lost in the translation there.)
(Nice shot by Wu. I guess after being a guide for many years, he has a bit of experience with these kinds of pictures. And we actually continued down this road, along the side of the lake afterwards for hours of beautiful scenery.)
(A closer look at the Snow Mountains, probably from the same pass.)
(For a little less than a dollar, I couldn't resist the yak picture. At least the yak didn't seem to mind.)
(Me and my new friend. Photo courtesy of Rami Amir...actually, I think Betty took this one with Rami's camera.)
(A set of prayer flags at the second pass, over 5,000 meters high. We didn't stay long, as it was cold, a bit windy, and a bit headachy.)
(This colorful lake was next on the horizon, though it's actually a man-made lake used for hydroelectric power. It's still beautiful.)
(The other side of the lovely lake, along with the striated rock.)
(More prayer flags and wonderful looking lakes. This was quite a scenic drive. Well, most of Tibet is a pretty scenic place.)
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