Shigatse

One of the highlights of a trip to Tibet is being able to visit Everest Base Camp. And today was about making it to the half way point. And while most of the day was spent sitting in the car – the scenery was...er...erm...er...sorry can't thing of a good word to describe it – it was that good.

On the way to Shigatse we stopped at the amazing Yamtso Lake.

Wow:



Smile:



Prayer flags:



Here's an interesting factoid: Prayer flags are different colors to reflect the five elements:

White - Wind
Blue - Sky
Green - Water
Red - Fire
Yellow - Earth

When we were told green was water the first reaction was: but water's blue. Except in Tibet - where the lakes are always a pleasant (not nasty looking) shade of green :-)

Here's a link for anyone interested in more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_flags

A type of prayer flag called a wind horse:



On the shore of the lake - tiny cairns built for luck:





And then it was on to Shigatse.

On the road to Shigatse: California skies got room to spare - but Tibet's skies are so large - you feel like everything else is swallowed up by them:



A photo break:



Just one of the many Glacier's:



A traditional Tibetan village in the middle of know where - sadly - we weren't allowed to visit it due to the travel restrictions:



Random shot:



The green waters of Tibet:





Gyantse Monstery:



Our tour guide conned us by saying you couldn't stop and look in - which turned out to be a lie - oh well...

Goat carcasses for sale in Shigatse:



We were all feeling pretty wasted because of the altitude – and after hunting around town for Internet, ended up going for food. I wasn't feeling great so had a pizza – which was really good (and just what I needed) and half a bottle of beer (which was really good - but not what I needed :-).

And then it was off to bed...