Travel Notes|Secret Land at the End of the World-The Holy Elephant Gate left in the world

horizon

secret realm

"I don't write for fame,

It is to make me feel at ease as time goes by. "

If you have the opportunity to chat with old Tibetans, you will learn from them about a mysterious place, quietly hidden on the north bank of Namtso, facing the sacred mountain Nyenchen Tanglha across the holy lake. This is the secret place on the horizon hidden deep in the heart of old Tibetans.

The Holy Elephant Tianmen is located in Qinglong Township, Bangor County, Nagqu Prefecture, Tibet - on Chatolangka Island in the north of Namtso Lake. The map found it on the Tashi Peninsula on the south bank of Namtso. In fact, the Holy Elephant Gate is on the north bank of Namtso. Start from Damxung County and walk 9km to the gate of the scenic spot. After entering, drive 23km to a fork in the road to Namtso Township. Turn left and go west to go to the Tashi Peninsula. Don't go to the Tashi Peninsula. Go to the The other road goes north. Walk 56km from the east of Namtso. This road is all asphalt and the road condition is very good. After reaching Dongga Village, turn left and start to turn to a dirt road. Walk 30km on the dirt road to Gangxiong Village. Along the road of Namtso From the north, walk another 27km of dirt road to reach the Holy Elephant Gate.

Note: Don’t follow the navigation on this dirt road. The navigation will only show a washboard road. Take the old road next to it, which is much easier than the new road. (remember)

According to legend, in the eighth century, Guru Padmasambhava, who was invited by King Trisong Detsen to preach in Tibet, conquered Nyainqentanglha and betrothed Namtso to Nyainqentanglha, and they became a couple. When everyone mentions the third largest sacred lake in Tibet, they always talk about this love story. But behind this love story, few people mention the Holy Elephant Gate. Legend has it that on the night before the holy lake and the holy mountain got married, 108 gods spent a night to build this stone gate for the couple. The stone gate is shaped like a holy elephant walking from northeast to southwest. It was built specifically for the passage to the sacred Nyainqentanglha Mountain. People call this stone gate the Holy Elephant Heavenly Gate. After passing through the stone gate, you will arrive at Namtso, a lake that sparkles like a sapphire.

A huge naturally formed stone elephant stands on the vast shore of Namtso, with its trunk just deep into the lake, as if it is absorbing the sacred water from the snowy area. The body and trunk of the stone elephant are like a huge door, the holy door to heaven. As a holy place of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, countless eminent monks and hermits have practiced meditation here for thousands of years.

There is a temple ruins in Shengxiang Tianmen Gorge, overgrown with weeds and ruins. It has been destroyed for decades during the war years. It doesn’t matter how it used to be. It has been so decadent and forgotten for decades. Only the sun, moon, stars and the vast blue Namtso remain silently. The inside of the ruins is close to the cliff full of caves. The caves vary in size, function, and luxury. Some caves can only accommodate one body for practice, while some have expanded the outer walls. People gather in groups to chant Sanskrit chants, and some have Tibetan Buddhist Cave. The rock walls in the caves are often thick and black, caused by the smoke from cooking fires all year round. The shiny blackness makes the empty ruins feel deeply real.

Shengxiang Tianmen, tickets are 💰80/person, now (2019.10.15-2020.3.15) free, Namtso is half price during this period.

Tent accommodation in Shengxiang Tianmen is 💰150/person (including breakfast), and dinner is 💰50/person.

According to the Tibetan tradition of "turning around the mountains in the year of the horse and turning around the lake in the year of the sheep", Namtso has become a destination for believers to worship. And this also brought to light the "Holy Elephant Gate" hidden on the north bank of the Holy Lake. After standing quietly for thousands of years, it finally came to the world.

There is another temple near the Holy Elephant Gate, which is an abandoned temple. The surroundings of the temple are covered with weeds, and the walls are in tatters because they were destroyed in previous wars . But no matter what it is now, it was also very sacred in the past. Even though this temple has been forgotten by others for decades, it still closely relies on the Holy Elephant Tianmen and together protects the Holy Mountain and the Holy Lake.

When you stand on a high cliff, with goshawks hovering between heaven and earth, you can no longer distinguish the color of water and sky in front of you.

When you stand on the shore of the holy lake and let the waves crash into the natural inlet, you will have the illusion that you are standing in front of the vast sea.

Whenyou look into the distance and see the tall sacred mountain Nyenchen Tanglha standing between heaven and earth, you turn around in a trance and realize that you are still on the beautiful snow-covered plateau.

Remaining in the world

The icon of time

Meaning is not given by others,

But created by oneself.

Away from the crowds, the lake is quiet, clear and surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

This time I came to Shengxiang Tianmen with my father. When I was a child, my father was always busy. I still remember every time he took me to an amusement park and every time he played poker with me. Now that I have grown up, I suddenly realize that my father is also old. I always feel: "The important thing in life is not how many years you live, but how you live your life." Many people think that life is still decades long, but I think that life is However, in just a few decades, I don’t want to live by other people’s rules. I have always used practical actions to fight against dogma and rules. After graduation, I took the postgraduate entrance examination. Instead of studying, I had to work. As a result, I ended up working as a translator for military fighter jets in a far away place. Later, I thought the work was too easy and went to Beidiao. Later, when my job got better and better, I gave up everything and came to Tibet to sell goods. Cordyceps, in the eyes of others, I must have something wrong with my brain, but my father is the one who supports me no matter what decision I make. He usually doesn’t express it very much, but I just know that he will always be my strongest support. , is also the target of my pursuit. I hope that in the days to come, I can still stick to my original intention. If I live an honest life, the things I see will indeed be much brighter.

The world is as small as the scenery of a lake, and we met.

This is a girl I have to mention in this article. On the road these years, I have met too many people. Some people are selfish, some people do not care about the life and death of others, but some people help you without asking for anything in return. I have met many hypocritical people. In fact, I was also a hypocritical person before. You don’t know me before, so you don’t know. It is these years in the outdoors that have tempered my soul, so much so that I don’t like to travel with others on the road, and will only choose to go with people who are compatible with my soul. Meizi is such a girl, and Yiming is also such a girl. I used to go hiking in the mountains, chopping firewood and digging wild vegetables with Meizi. Unlike other girls, she had to look in the mirror and wash her face when she got up in the morning. She was the first one to collect firewood and come back to keep us warm and cook food without putting away her sleeping bag. people. And Yi Ming's companionship along the way is also the person who makes me feel warm in my heart. The people I met on the journey cannot be forgotten one by one. I can only wish to remember each other occasionally and feel warm in my heart, just like holding a bowl of scalding tea soup on a snowy night.