Day 2: September 29, 2006
Nyalam - Lhatse

















First stop of the day, about 30 minutes outside of Nyalam, is a cave site used by Tibet's famous yogi and composer of songs, Milarepa, who lived from the late 11th to early 12th centuries.

















Our first view of a Tibetan village, with yak dung drying on the walls to be used for fuel..

















Cory admiring the dung.

















House at the small village near the cave site...

















Looking south down into the valley and the Himalayas in the distance.

































The cave site was closed due to all the construction going on around it (a possible temple?). The entance to the cave is the small red-roofed structure between the 2 new buildings going up...

















House across the highway...


















Another village on the way up to the pass...


















Arriving at Tong-la pass (5,120 meters above sea level)


















Snow line is pretty darn clear


















Prayer flags are typical at all passes (and other high places)...


















...as well as little rock cairns..


















hard not to stand in awe of the vast landscape...


















Shishapangma (8,012 meters)

















Self-portrait at Tong-la























Carved yak horn and silk scarf offering


















Sign marking the Qomolangma (Everest) Nature Reserve























Toyota Land cruisers are the vehicle of choice, and give a sense of scale...

















Wind-powered prayer wheel


















Ruins along the roadside


















Landscape on the way to Tingri


















First view of Everest (8,848 m) and Cho Oyu (8,153 m) on the way to Tingri
(I'm not sure which peak is Everest)

















Hungry Tingri dogs

















Hungry Tingri tourists


















Tingri taxi


















Making friends























I could never tell if this was a boy or girl (boy I think)

















More infrastructure work. Roads and housing is going up everywhere....


















Mountain view at Tingri


















Wide open road ahead....



































Construction bringing traffic to a halt. Luckily we were able to skirt it be following the river in our 4WD..























Looks like he was given the green light through the traffic jam as well


















A monastery and ruined fort (on the peak) along the river


















Lots of cargo trucks on their way to Nepal waiting for the road to re-open...


















Courtyard at the hotel in Lhatse

















View out our hotel window. Black smoke belching out of the 'hot shower'

















View out the back of the hotel. Manure bricks line the rooftops.

















Here you can see the whole exciting process....Notice the handprints?

















Valley of the Bramhaputra (Yarlung Tsangpo) River valley around Lhatse






















Prayer flags on top the hill



























































Solar water heater








































Fields of barley ready for harvest










































































































Evening harvesting


































King of the Hill


















Back to our hotel, the aptly named " Lhatse Tibetan Farmers Adventure Hotel"