Lhasa, Nyingchi, Shigatse – Another Side of Travel – Nyingchi
From July 10 to 12, we decided to join a small group tour with a driver—six of us—heading to Nyingchi.
From Lhasa to Nyingchi, we took the Lalin Highway, covering nearly 400 kilometers. This route passes Mila Mountain Pass at an altitude of 5,000 meters, cutting through tunnels in the mountains. On the way out, we visited Basong Tso, then continued upstream along the lake to Xin Tso. The next day, we followed the Yarlung Tsangpo River to Sosong Village to see Namcha Barwa Peak (not easy to spot in the rainy season). After that, we returned to see the Buddha Palm Sand Dunes and then the Niyang scenery.
Nyingchi lies east of Lhasa and has the lowest average elevation in Tibet. Bayi Town, the heart of Nyingchi, sits at 3,000 meters, making it a great choice for entering Tibet. There's a train from Nyingchi to Lhasa, taking about four hours.
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Nyingchi is lush and verdant with abundant vegetation, giving it a 'forest oxygen bar' feel—altitude sickness is rare here. Basong Tso has a surface elevation of 3,480 meters, the lowest-altitude large lake in Tibet. In the lake lies Tashi Island, said to be a 'hollow island' not connected to the lakebed.
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Continuing upstream from Basong Tso, it's a bumpy two-hour ride to Xin Tso.
This 'bone-rattling road' can make you feel like you're held together by screws and about to fall apart any second. It's made of gravel, puddles, and potholes; once it rains, it turns into a muddy mess, prone to landslides and falling rocks—hard on both car and body.
Nyingchi's rainy season feels more intense than Lhasa's: it can rain nonstop for 24 hours, even under a blazing sun. At Basong Tso and Xin Tso, the rain did stop for a while in the afternoon, but by evening it picked up again, eventually 'washing out' the bridge connecting our accommodation to the parking area outside the scenic spot. (Many bridges there are quite basic and easily damaged by floods or falling rocks.) We worried we'd be stranded, but thankfully the local infrastructure crews responded quickly and repaired it in no time—we were lucky.
Xin Tso is still undeveloped, incredibly pristine, and breathtakingly beautiful—a scenery that lifts your spirits.
The area is vast, and to explore on foot you'll need to wade through icy, fairly deep water. Make sure to dry off quickly, keep warm, and avoid catching a cold.
During the rainy season, thick clouds blanket Tibet, not the best time for mountain views. We waited a long while, but as the rain grew heavier, Namcha Barwa Peak never revealed itself.
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The Buddha Palm Sand Dunes are unique, surrounded by the Yarlung Tsangpo River and mountains. According to information, these dunes lie in a wind-prone section of the middle and lower Yarlung Tsangpo. From late autumn to late spring, gale-force winds blow, and river sand exposed on the riverbed during the dry season is carried and accumulated year after year, forming this striking landscape. Its scale is second only to the Wolong Big Sand Dunes.
Finally, we crossed the Yarlung Tsangpo River Bridge back to Lhasa.
Back in Lhasa, we decided to take a break and treat ourselves to a good meal at a local restaurant. (The food along more primitive scenic routes tends to be equally rustic, with hygiene standards close to nature.)
Mid-meal, one of our companions suddenly suffered altitude sickness—dizzy, weak, her face and lips losing color. I dashed to a nearby pharmacy to buy an oxygen cylinder and altitude sickness medicine and administered them immediately. A kind waitress brought sweet tea and sugar water. After over two hours, she gradually recovered. We went together to the nearest hospital's emergency room, where her blood pressure, temperature, and oxygen saturation all tested normal—a huge relief.
Altitude sickness is quite unpredictable. Locals, even doctors, say that 'travel fatigue and lack of rest easily trigger altitude sickness,' and that makes sense. Just because you don't have symptoms at first doesn't mean you won't develop them as you go along. Thankfully, the rest of the night passed without incident—'getting enough rest' is so important.
