ROADTRIP

As we finished the trek early, we had a few days to spare and took a minibus trip to China's second largest salt lake, Namtso, to stay overnight.



We set off in the afternoon with our guide and a few Chinese tourists (who rather unfairly, don't need to have guides). The ride was highly amusing. A convoy of groups like us hit the highway and due to a bizarre checkpoint system to prevent speeding, we all stopped at intervals to take photos and wait until it was time to go the next checkpoint, in order to avoid a fine.

The drive was great, the scenery was amazing, not unlike New Zealand but on a much larger scale. When I got bored of looking at the hills, I whiled away hours trying to take a successful photo of one of these guys, who lined the road at regular intervals. Like the terracotta warriors, they all had different faces.

When we arrived at the lake it was almost dark and after a quick walk to the shore to take the obligatory photo, time to find a guesthouse.

The novelty of Namtso is the small settlement of aluminium buildings set up 3 months of the year to cater to tourists. It was a bit scary to say the least but we survived it. There were even electrical outlets available after 8pm. Funnily enough, there were no bathroom facilities, not even a simple Tibetan trench. Hardly eco friendly, the attitude was "go wherever, we don't care." It was a relief to get in the car early the next day and return to the relative civilisation of Lhasa!

For a further look at Namtso, I suggest checking out the movie "Once Upon a Time in Tibet" an excellent production we caught on a flight last week. Highly amusing stuff ;)