This was our first scenic stop out of Lhasa and it was breathtaking, both figureatively and literally. To get to the lake, you climb from 3700m (Lhasa's altitude) to 4700m (15,419 feet). This means driving up the side of Gangbala Mountain, which takes about half an hour to 45 minutes and involves tons of curvy roads and hairpin turns that throw you from one side of the car to the other. As the altimeter in our Land Cruiser climbed higher, I began getting a headache from the thinning of the air. Also, my abs began to hurt as I inadvertently kept clenching them to avoid falling too far to either side (and smushing Kitty and Charles into their door).
We kept seeing the snowline getting closer and closer, and the anticipation was building because we knew that we'd be seeing something amazing. And we were right. As you clear the summit of the mountain, the view of the top is replaced by the lake:
In what quickly became a recurring theme for the trip, the weather was freezing cold and the altitude was giving me a headache, but the view was so stunning that I ran around in circles taking pictures anyway. Which means I quickly ran out of breath and was gasping a bit as I got back into the car :-)
After a little while at the top, we drove down to the shore to take a closer look:
The one above is probably my favorite.
After a little while at the top, we drove down to the shore to take a closer look:
The one above is probably my favorite.
The full set is here and includes a picture of me on a yak :-)
1 comment:
Gorgeous view!
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