After breakfast we checked out of the hotel at 8:00 A.M. This was the morning that we would take a 2 1/2-hour scenic drive up the mountain to Yamdrok Yumtso (Jade Lake). The steep switchback two-lane road had only a couple of places to stop for pictures.
Morning View of River
We stopped at a place where we could photograph views of a river in the morning light. Then we got back in the bus to continue the upward ride. Fairly close to the top we stopped at another lookout where we had the opportunity to buy souvenirs and pay $2 to have a picture taken with a large mastiff dog. I didn’t need to have a picture with any of the dogs, but I enjoyed looking at them. I took a picture of the setting.
Vendors by the roadside
We saw some yak at the side of the road near the top. When we got to the top, we had another opportunity to buy jewelry from the local ladies and to have pictures taken with one of the mastiffs. I decided to pay $2 to sit on a yak while Paul took my picture.
Yak at the side of the road
Carol and a Yak Overlooking Jade Lake
Altitude at top of the road today: 4800 meters=15748 feet high. This was the highest altitude both Paul and I have experienced when standing on the ground.
The bus then started down the mountain, and drove to a restaurant where we could eat a “simple lunch” as Tenzin called it. A local man walked around the tables and played a stringed instrument while he sang a Tibetan folk song. Our group decided that this lunch was the best meal we had in Tibet.
Tenzin then took us to the airport. We sat in the airport several hours, due to our plane being delayed. Some of the delay could have been due to some military planes taking off shortly after we sat down in the waiting room. Most spoken and written announcements were not in English, so it was difficult to know what was going on. When our plane finally arrived in Lhasa then took off for Chengdu, we were about three hours late.
We were met by Johnathon, taken to our hotel, then we dropped into bed at 10:30. It was a long day…..
~ 4 miles