Tibet 07

Day 7-9

Damxung -> Lhasa ->Drak Yerpa -> Lhasa (fly back home)
Namtso Lake, Drak Yerpa mountain

This is the highest point that we have made throughout our trip! Read the red numbers below the rock. 5190m. That will be my record for a while. :)

Though Tibet is modernizing gradually, most of the people are still nomaids like this! These two men take care about 40 to 60 sheeps and a couple of Yaks too. The animals were scattered around the endless field. I felt like they would run away and they did, everytime I approached one of them. But I guess they aren't that stupid. They recognize their owner. So while the lambs enjoy their green day under the blue blue sky, these two men sit down in the middle of the field like this and make thread out of the sheep's fur. I thought you would use machines to do this, but these men were just using their hands and a wooden tool. I tried to copy what they were doing. I squished the fluffy sheep fur into a thin strong thread, just as they did. My endless silent struggle made the guys next to me look at me with a worried eye. I humbly had to give up.

Since we are heading at least 4,000meters above sealevel, the air is not as strong as it is below. Not only strong sunlight, but limited oxygen. Throughout the trip the tour guide strongly recommends not to do any rash behaviour: such as running, jumping, or drinking. Still, even if you don't do any of these rash behavior, the guest could easily feel tired or even sick. And in that case, they provide you oxygen. Yes, this person here is sampling some oxygen. Because there is at least two or three people who get this high alititude sickness, the bus picks up a few of these oxygen tanksalong the way up. The oxygen comes out pretty slowly and in small amoutns, but after about five or ten minutes of this oxygen you could really feel the difference. We couldn't be any happier when we came down back to Lhasa, around 3,000. So much more fresh oxygen!

One of the second biggest lake in Tibet: Namtso Lake. 4,718 meters above sea level, Namtso Lake's surface is about 1,870 square kilometres. What makes this lake unique is that its one of the highest salt lake in the world. Namtso meaning "Heavenly Lake" you could tell that this is another important religious sight for the Tibetans. Unfortunately, I was feeling a bit sick by this day, so I didn't get to take a closer view of the lake. But still, from far away, I could see that the lake's calm lasting mightiness. What is more, in the winter time this lake freezes up so that you can walk across the lake to the other end. Even in Seoul river such stories were true probably only 100 years ago, not today.

Korean snacks in Tibet! Proud Proud. :)
The night view of Potala Palace