China - Tibet Autonomous Region and a bit of Japan on the way home

[Matt_01]

Heading to Nyingchi first stop was to drop the chaps of at their hotel.

The below is not the road to Nyingchi just a photo from the wagon.

 

[Matt_01]

On the way to Nyingchi the guide advised the tour company had upgraded us to a different hotel, bonus I thought and that is where it ends. The hotel was new modern and comfortable but for a number of small reasons I did not like it. As I am running behind I have included breakfast as well which was very average.

 

[Matt_01]

I walked back into town in the early evening to take a look around and was glad I did. The locals have dance gatherings around town.

 

[Matt_01]

Some more photos of Nyingchi, I also came across gardens and a green house.

 

[Matt_01]

They also put on a light and water show on the river and the mountain side, music blasts out at the same time. Not sure it it happens all the time but I don’t think there is a festival on or any other special event. It was all quite impressive.

At a guess I think I know what this restaurant may specialise in, I could be wrong.

 

[Matt_01]

Heading up the the mountains through the Segrila Pass to see the highest mountain in the region and then onward to the Lullang Forest. The Segrila Pass is part of the Friendship Highway which runs from Shanghai to the Nepal Boarder and is over 5000 km long. It is called route 318 and the characters say ‘must complete go in your life time’. The guide mentioned that over time the highway went into a state of disrepair but it is being fixed. The Segrila Pass has is basically a narrow winding road with great views and traffic speed is as fast as the slowest vehicle as there are not many places to overtake and there does not seem to be any slow vehicle turn outs. On some of the bends depending on the size of the vehicles traffic may come to a stand still as they navigate a way around each other.

 

[Matt_01]

I have just realised I am referring to the guide as ‘the guide’, he has a name it is ‘Bob’. He did tell us his Tibetan name but just likes to be called Bob, so from now on if if you read about Bob I am referring to the guide.

 

[Matt_01]

We arrived at the the mountain viewing spot and it was quite popular. It was a bit difficult to get a good photo of as the clouds kept rolling through.
The mountains we are here to see.

Clouds got in the way.

 

[Matt_01]

Next stop The Lullang Forest.

Local wares for sale

Been here for under 3 days and have not suffered AMS, the forrest is about a few hundred meters lower than the previous stop. The rise and final steps shown below did knock the wind out of me. It is like going to the gym as it doesn’t take long to get your heart rate up.

 

[Matt_01]

On the way back to Nyingchi we passed a local on a pilgrimage to Lhasa by praying 4 station which is in the laying position then standing and then repeating the action. Bob said they start in their home town so in this person case it could take several years to complete. The purpose is for mental health and physical body. If I understood Bob correctly the pray sequence is to Buddha, Drama and Sanga, this is based on the hand positions. I hope I got all that correct. I found a video on YouTube that may explaine it better Tibetan Monk Praying The photo is not good as we had already passed the person.