Friendship Highway: Lhasa to Gyantse

It was a "very blue sky" kind of day as we left from Lhasa early morning, starting our journey along the Friendship Highway (one of the most scenic routes on the Tibetan Plateau) towards Nepal... we thought a bumpy, occasionally unpaved road was ahead of us and were happy to have a good 4x4 car for the 4-day-drive (apx 800 kms) to the Nepalese border. But it turned out pretty quickly that the road was much much better than we expected...

From ASIA - TIBET - Friendship highway

The road led up to Khamba-La pass at over 4,700m where we had stunning views of the deep turquise Yamdrok-tso, one of the four holy lakes in Tibet, while the snow-capped Himalayas pierced the clouds in the distance...

From ASIA - TIBET - Friendship highway

After a lunch stop at one of the en-route Yak resturants we continued our way to Gyantse, passing again through very dramatic landscapes: wide open, green countryside

From ASIA - TIBET - Friendship highway

... suddenly turning into the land of eternal snow as we passed by the Kharola Glacier

From ASIA - TIBET - Friendship highway

... just to get us back to the dazzling "deep-turquoise lake-view" type of scenery:

From ASIA - TIBET - Friendship highway

From ASIA - TIBET - Friendship highway

Arriving to Gyantse, we set off to visit the Gyantse Fort. The stiff 30-minute climb to the top of the Fort was well worth the effort for the great lookouts of the surrounding Nyang-chu valley, the town itself and the compound of the Pelkor Chode Monastery.

From ASIA - TIBET - Friendship highway

There, on top of the Fort, we found a mysterious message we did not obbey:

From ASIA - TIBET - Friendship highway

And now THE CHALLENGE from Tibet: What does this sign really stand for?
Play to win a Ganesha statuette to bring you good luck.


All our photos on Tibet Overland Tour


The journey of our travel along the Friendship Highway continues with the next blog entry....