Tibet Travel Notes | Namtso is not as beautiful as you think.

On the fourth day in Tibet, we went to Namtso. I was frightened when I met a vendor selling trinkets by the lake...

Going out early and coming back late is even busier than going to work.

We set off at 5:00 this morning, before dawn. Traveling is about spending money to buy pleasures, it’s true, you leave early and come back late, it seems busier than working, isn’t it?

The tour guide suggested that we rent clothes and oxygen.

Today’s tour guide is a girl from Chongqing, who is quite straightforward and straightforward. As mentioned earlier, she told us that the tour guide will get a commission from every purchase we make.

Before getting on the bus, the tour guide talked about the situation in Namtso. The highest altitude they passed was 5190m. If it rained and it was still very cold, she also told the situation of the clients she had taken with her. For example, some people had to go to Namtso because they did not rent oxygen. Namtso was severely rebellious and was pulled away by 120.

The tour guide said that she told us all the possible situations, you can choose whether to rent oxygen and clothes or not but it is still recommended that we rent clothes and oxygen before leaving the city.

Oxygen for rent. This is different from the dry oxygen you usually buy in supermarkets. This is medical oxygen, which looks more professional and has more obvious effects. The small bottle costs 120 yuan and can be used for about 1-2 hours. For rented oxygen, you have to return the bottle when you return. (Do you feel that the oxygen on the plateau is very valuable?)

Rented clothes. Hey, look at the big red dress that Miss Wuxie is wearing, it’s the one we rented for 80 yuan a day. The clothes are quite thick, especially suitable for the extremely cold weather on the plateau. Facts have proved that renting clothes is a wise choice, because it is raining and windy in Namtso, and it is really cold.

This time we stopped three times on the way from Lhasa to Namtso. Once at the Tanggula Mountain Observation Deck, where you can see the Qinghai-Tibet Line train passing by; once at the Namtso ticket gate; and once at Nagenla Pass. Here are the posters on the way. At the highest point, we finally reached our destination—Namtso Lake.

Tanggula Mountain, the only route for the Qinghai-Tibet Line, stopped to watch the train.

We arrived at about 8:30. The weather here at an altitude of 4630m was not very good. It was gray, drizzle, and windy. There was no blue sky and white clouds.

On the green grass, there were yaks leisurely eating young grass. A speeding train in the distance attracted our attention. It was natural to take photos and linger.

At the ticket gate of the scenic spot, it is still raining.

We arrived at the Namtso National Park ticket gate at about 10:00. It was still raining at this time, and it was a bit heavier than before.

The tour guide said that we were lucky today because it was raining and it was not closed, otherwise we might not be able to get in. Don't think that you are in a scenic spot when you go in. It is not a scenic spot when you go in. You have to drive for almost an hour and a half to get there.

Nagenla Pass is 5190 meters above sea level. The wind is howling and it's freezing cold. I don't dare to stay too long.

Around 10:48, we arrived at Nagenla Pass. There is no special scenery at this mountain pass, because there are no people around when it rains, and there is not much scenery to see on a cloudy day.

Because the wind was too strong and it was still raining, we got off the car and took pictures with this stone and then got on the car one after another. We probably stayed for less than five minutes.

ps: The tour guide said that when there are many people here, accidents often occur because of taking pictures.

The altitude here is 5190 meters, which is only 10m lower than the Everest Base Camp's 5200 meters. Maybe because of the high altitude, everyone is more interested in this place.

After watching the train on Tanggula Mountain, we reached the highest point of our life, Nagenla Pass, and finally we reached our destination - Namtso.

Namtso is also one of the three holy lakes in Tibet . It is 4718m above sea level. There are myths and legends here. It is said that "Namtso is the daughter of Emperor Shakten and the wife of Nyenchen Tanglha." (Source: Baidu encyclopedia)

Haha, I won’t tell the story here. If you are interested in mythology, you can find relevant information and read it yourself.

I saw a horse on the road and took out my phone to take a picture. Suddenly I heard someone shouting, it must be a local resident, "You get paid to take pictures, don't take random pictures" I was so scared that I quickly put away my phone. Woke up.

It takes about ten minutes to walk from the parking lot to the lake . Along the way, there were local Tibetans shouting and selling various trinkets, and there were also children jumping out to ask for food or money.

The tour guide said in advance that if you encounter children who come to ask for something, you can give them some food if you have it, but it is best not to give them money. We didn’t meet any children asking for things, but...

I met a person selling trinkets and pulled my umbrella unreasonably, which shocked me.

It was raining in the sky. Miss Wuxie and I were holding blue umbrellas and walking towards the lake. On the way, we met a man selling trinkets who shouted in front of us and told us to buy his things. We ignored him and started to follow him. When I passed by, he held on to my umbrella and wouldn't let go.

I didn't say anything, I just wanted to pull the umbrella back with all my strength, and I was still thinking, "I'll go, what if he doesn't let go, and the tour guide is so far away from us. Otherwise, I don't want the umbrella." Well, I still have a hat on my clothes anyway. "Haha, after thinking about it, my umbrella has broken free. It was just a false alarm. I had already thought of many scenes, hehe.

ps: Some Tibetans are quite unreasonable, so don’t have a head-on conflict with them.

There is no blue sky, no white clouds, and no snow-capped mountains. Once again, I have witnessed that the sellers’ shows are all “liar.”

Seller shows version of Namtso . The sky is so blue that it seems that all the blue has been exhausted, and the snow-capped mountains in the distance are dazzlingly white, seeming to exist to blend in with the blue. There are reflections and seagulls, how can it be so beautiful?

Today’s buyer’s show version of Namtso . The weather was gray and there was no snow in the mountains in the distance. The lake water lapped at the shore like waves, stirring up layers of spray. The obvious feeling is that the water here is not as clear as Yamdrok Yumcuo. (Maybe it’s the weather?)

Tap water on your forehead three times to pray for yourself. The tour guide said that if you dip your hands into the water of the holy lake and tap it three times on your forehead, it means praying. It is also a belief held by the local people in Yucheng. I wonder if you are willing to believe it?

Add a filter and the scenery is pretty good. Although the weather is gray, you can vaguely see a little blue in the water in the distance. This is the blue of the holy lake water, regardless of the weather. Find a good angle, shoot it, and add a filter. It will have a different charm, but it will lack the atmosphere of the plateau.

ps: The hair of the yaks here is very white and clean. It is much prettier than the yaks we saw at Yamdrok Yumcuo. What do you think?

We didn't stay here long. Because of the high resistance, the movement is a bit slow. It was raining and windy, so I didn’t go very far by the lake. I took some photos and then went back.

Although the weather is not great, there are still quite a lot of people. Traveling during the summer vacation in July and August is also a time when there are many crowds.

Looking at you again, I don’t know when I can come again . I came here because of your most beautiful face, but before I saw your most beautiful side, I had to say goodbye.

Leave regrets to the next time, but don’t know when the next time will be?

Learn about the surrounding environment of Namtso parking lot . There are bare mountains and muddy roads that have not been repaired. There is a commercial street selling trinkets and snacks near the parking lot. We passed by in a hurry without stopping too much.

At around 12:40, we left Namtso in the car. A round trip from Lhasa to tourist attractions can be done in one morning. What are you doing in the afternoon? Go back to Lhasa directly?

No, I have to go to the shopping store in the afternoon. Went to have tea and eat beef (The same place as before, I wonder if the staff there will all know us, we went both days, haha!)

Hidden tea.

The tour guide said that if the people she brings spend money here, points will be calculated for them, and when they reach a certain number of points, they can exchange for air tickets. However, no one in our car was consuming, hehe.

Here we tasted Tibetan tea including white tea, black tea and cordyceps tea. The ladies provided very good service. They promoted their teas to us, gave us free tastings, and finally tried their best to sell the products, which made me almost buy my hands.

But when I thought about it, I had to be sensible. If I bought it back, I wouldn’t drink it until it expired. (Haha, the rose tea given by Sister Chengwen was gone after a few days of brewing. When Sister Zhu came that day, she opened it and found that it had expired and had changed color.)

White tea. This is white tea, the color is quite nice, golden, and it tastes good. I have forgotten the specific taste, so I can no longer describe it using the five senses to make you drool. But the tea seller said that drinking three cups of this white tea can relieve high reflexes.

Dark tea. This is black tea, and the color matches the name a bit. Sorry, I can’t remember what it tasted like, ha….

Cordyceps tea . It is similar in color to white tea, but has different effects. Cordyceps tea, which contains things like cordyceps and saffron.

After drinking tea, he took us to eat beef. It was the same place as mentioned before, so I won’t repeat it here. Anyway, we had enough to eat and bought something we liked before leaving.

It was already 9:30 when we got back to Lhasa, and it was already dark. The driver took us directly to the hotel, and we ordered fish-flavored eggplant and soup from the Sichuan restaurant downstairs of the hotel to end the day.

About high reflex:

The altitude of today's trip is relatively high. When the car left Lhasa, the highest altitude was 5190m, and the lowest altitude was more than 4,000 meters.

Don’t sleep in the car when you go there. When we went there, the tour guide kept reminding us not to fall asleep. We might not wake up if we fall asleep. Haha, I always pay attention to the innocent little sister next to me. She looks listless. As soon as she dozes off, I wake her up.

Although I was given oxygen in advance, I definitely had high reflexes. Anyway, I couldn’t walk that fast, I was still a bit dizzy, and, well, I was also slow to react.

Finally, when I returned to the car from Namtso Lake, I felt hot and cold, very uncomfortable, and finally vomited in the car.

The tour guide said, you were fine at 5190m, why are you vomiting now? Haha, maybe the air in the car is too bad.