The SHANGRILA Experience, Outdoor Adventure Travel to Tibet, YunNan, SiChuan, XinJiang, Hong Kong, Laos, Sabah, Kazakhstan, Java

- Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, the arduous 233km on Highway 13
In my opinion, this is the best way to see the beautiful country of Laos. Get on a bike, enjoy the Laos countryside, wave to the children and the very friendly Lao families, smell the padi fields, be close to the ground. Sabaidee Sabaidee everywhere! It feels extremely nice to have the Laos children running out of their houses to line-up alongside the road, extending out their hands and waiting for you to ride past to do a high-five with them! They are very thrilled! Trust me, you will be as well!

In a nutshell, to really see Laos, please do walk the streets, cycled through the villages, eat at the local good stalls, swim the rivers & streams and play with the children. Sabaidee, sticky rice, mango salad, rivers, streams, waterfalls, caves, hot sunny weather, padi fields, water buffaloes, elephants, temples, Lao Lao whisky, Beer Lao, night street markets, sindad, make sure you do not miss any of these! Khop Chai Lai Lai.

Day01: Luang Prabang (300m) to Kiew Ka Cham (1380m)
Distance: 78km
Est. time: 10hr (with about 1hr lunch break)
The 1st part from Luang Prabang to the first major village with school (Xieng Ngeun) is relatively easy with undulating slopes not more than 50m changes over about 32km (~2hr). First real real ascend starts after Xieng Ngeun village and climbs steadily for about 15km (~2.5hr) to 1st highpass (1050m), before descending down to the river (440m) and a bridge for 8km (~0.5hr). This is a good point for lunch, as there is a small provision shop and noodle stall just next to the river. he distance covered in 1st part is about 55km (~5hr)

2nd part is the more demanding and longer ascend over 20km (~4hr). Once at the 2nd highpass (1430m), it is just a short 3km downhill to accommodation at Kiew Ka Cham (1380m)
The distance covered in 2nd part is about 23km (~4hr)

Day02: Kiew Ka Cham (1380m) to Kasi (400m)
Distance: 94km
Est. time: 10hr (with about 1hr lunch break)
1st part, from Kiew Ka Cham, it is a long 480m descent down to the valley (~2hr). from the valley, it is a climb back up to the high point (~1.5hr). At this altitude, you will be cycling along the undulating slopes for about 2hrs to come to the main junction at Phoukoun (~2hr). This is also the T-intersection of Highway 13 with Highway 7 (which lead to the eastern part of Laos to Phonsavanh, famous for the Plain of Jars in Xieng Kouang)
The distance covered in 1st part is about 50km (~5.5hr)

2nd part after lunch at Phoukoun town, it is uphill for about 45min before reaching the highest point at about 1410m and a nice scenic vista point further down the road. From here, The road does downhill to the small river before a short (a few km) but steep uphill climb before flattening out to Kasi. There are several padi fields around Kasi and sunsets here are splendid.
The distance covered in 2nd part is about 44km (~3.5hr)

Day03: Kasi (400m) to Vang Vieng (240m)
Distance: 61km
Est. time: 5hr (late lunch at Vang Vieng)
This is the easiest of the 3-day, you cycle almost on relatively flat road in the morning, and just need to ascend to a small pass of about 670m before descending. The rest of the road is relatively flat with slopes not exceeding 30m changes. Do spend some time with the Laos children running out from their houses and lined up alongside the road to do a high-five with you as you cycle past. Do make an effort to slow down for them!

Total trekking distance (est.): 140km
Average trekking per day: 18km
Maximum altitude attained: 4940m (Chanadorje high-pass)
Maximum ascend: 2080m (day 7)
Maximum descend: 1710m (day 5)

Day 1: WaLaPian / LiJiaZui (campsite1)
Right after moving off from WaLaPian village, you will start climbing uphill gradually for about 2hr. After this upslope, you descend slightly down for your lunch point, which is located on an open grass slope.
After lunch, the trail continues up to 3140m which is the highest point today, cutting through the pine forest, before you descend down to LiJiaZui Village.
LiJiaZui is a small village set in a valley surrounded with greenery.
The campsite is a further 45mins after LiJiaZui. This is a good spot for camping as it is located beside a stream, just before a gentle slope which you will trek up the next day.

Day 2: LiJiaZui / WuJiao village / YangPeng (campsite2)
You trek along the vehicular road after WuJiao village for 3hr before reaching the trailhead. Turn off from the road & follow the trail up the steep slope for about 2hr.
You will join the road again & follow the road gradually upslope for another 2hr before arriving at campsite 2.

Day 3: YangPeng / DaKeGuDuo high-pass / QueEr Mountain (campsite3)
Today is a tough trek. After leaving the campsite near YangPeng, you climb steadily for 2hr up to the 1st high-pass at 4200m. From here, the terrain is relatively flat & open. You have to climb up another 100m to cross the 2nd pass at 4300m before descending back down to 4200m for your lunch point.
After lunch, it is another 2.5hr to the campsite near the base of QueEr mountain.

The trail is undulating & you will climb up from 4200m to a maximum of 4330m before reaching your campsite. You can see QueEr Mountain on your left.

Day 4: No Name Mountain / QiongYin village (campsite4)
The morning part of the trail is undulating. You descend from 4200m down to 4000m, & trek along the contour of the mountain back to 4240m in about 4hr.
Lunch point is at a nice open patio next to a wooden shed.
After lunch, it is a steep descend for about 3hrs, all the way down to 3100m. You will cross a wooden bridge as you enter the boundary of the village.
The campsite is located on a large open grass patch next to a stream.

Day 5 : QiongYin Village / LuDu village / TongTian River (campsite5)
Another tough day! First, you will have to ascend 800m up the BengGa Mountain high-pass at 3910m.
After this pass, it is a long descend to LuDu Tibetan village, & continuing downhill to TongTian River. Cross the big bridge where there is a split-junction & a mud road leading to MuLi. Total descend is 1710m. The campsite is at 2200m.

Day 6 : TongTian River / DongLa village / Gold Mine / BaiShui River (campsite6)
A relatively easy trek today after yesterday’s tough walk. You will move gradually uphill on the vehicular road alongside TongTian River all the way to DongLa village, where there is a school & ruins of a few towers.
You should reach Gold Mine in about 6hrs after passing through the last village of DuLu. You can purchase some provisions from the settlement at Gold Mine, which essentially consists of some abandon buildings & ruins.

The campsite is beside the BaiShui River, near the small wooden bridge.
Alternatively, you may stay at the Tibetan house another 400m further down on the left bank of the river.

Day 7 : BaiShui River / GaLuo village / GaLuo ranch (campsite7)
Be prepared for probably the most difficult day of the entire trek!
From BaiShui River, it is an uphill climb all the way to the high-pass at 4400m. It takes about 6hr to reach this pass & you will get the first sight of the East face of the sacred Chanadorje Mountain of YaDing.
From here, you will trek another 3hr along the undulating trail before reaching the campsite at GaLuo ranch. You will be sleeping at 4500m. Rest well; you will be crossing the final high-pass of Chanadorjie at 4940m the next day.
The maximum altitude attained today is at 4580m.

You will climb about 450m up to the Chanadorje high-pass. It takes about 2hr.
After the high-pass, it is all the way downhill along the right side of the mountain, following the contour.
Look out for the split junction after you trek for about 2-3hr. Take the left path which goes downhill further towards ChongDu Monastery.

The nearest major city is LiJiang, though some may go from Shangri-la

From LiJiang:
Take a bus from the main bus station in LiJiang heading towards QiaoTou. LiJiang to QiaoTou is about 2-hr.
Alight at QiaoTou, and there are many private cars to bring you into the gorge along the Upper Yangtze river (JinSha river). They do command a high price but remember to bargain with them. Some drivers may pick you up on their way to the village, and charge you RMB30-40. Entrance to Tiger Leaping Gorge cost RMB50.

There are also buses that go all the way White-water Terraces
BaiShuiTai. You can alight at HaBa village. LiJiang to HaBa village is about
4hour

Tina's Guesthouse is highly recommended. It is located at the middle gorge, about
45min drive from QiaoTou.
The staff are friendly and helpful and the environment is clean and confortable.
A standard double-room is about RMB100-120, while a bed on a normal-room
is RMB20-30. I would recommend you to stay 1 night at Tina's, then get to HaBa
village for your climb up HaBa Base Camp.

If you start your trek from QiaoTou, Tina's is also an ideal spot for the night.
The distance on the trail from QiaoTou to Tina's is about 30km, and typically takes
about 8-10hr to complete the trek.

Starting from HaBa Snow Mountain Inn at HaBa village, the starting point of the trail up the mountain, you will trek pass fields of wheat cultivation. It is a rocky path filled with granite, still in the process of construction perhaps. The gradient is relatively gentle and you will reach the HaBa river in about 30minutes. Cross the river and climb up the small boulder to reach an open area, like a grass patch. The terrain for this first half is generally steep. The trail is clearly and it does not require any special gear or equipment up to this stage.

A good place to rest for lunch will be somewhere around 3700-3800m altitude. From here, it is another 2hr to the base camp. The base camp has several huts to provide resting place as well as cooking place for the climbers.

Day 2: Additional day of acclimatization at the base camp is strongly recommended. If schedule allows, one should stay for 2-day at the base camp.What i normally do is to bring my climbers up for an acclimatization climb. We usually do it after lunch, taking a slow pace trek up to about 4600m, somewhere after the bare granite rock face. We then returned back to base camp to rest. Another purpose is also to familiarize our climbers with their ice-axe and crampons, and also taught them some basic skills to trek on snow & self-arrest in the event of slippage.

If you are attempting the summit directly from base camp, you have to start early in the morning. We left the base camp at around 3.30am in the morning, and reaching the 4800m camp 1 site at around 9.30am. After having a quick breakfast, we were ready to continue with the final summit push. From this point, you have to put on your crampons as it will be snow with ice all the way to the summit.

There are several crevasses along the way, so please be very careful and stick close your guide. The summit ridgeline turns slightly to the right after climbing the very long slope at about 35-40-degree. At this point, you should be at 5150m, The summit is hidden from here and it is about another hour before you reach the summit at 5396m. The summit is a pretty small area, with mixtures of snow & ice. Be very careful on both sides as there is a cliff-face on one and a steep slope on the other.

After spending 15minutes on the summit, I descended back down to the base camp. The total time spent from base camp to summit and back to base camp is about 12hours.

We break camp at 8.30am and by 9.30am, we were already on our way trekking down to HaBa village. It takes about 4hours to reach HaBa village, just in time for a good lunch, before the 4-hr drive back to LiJiang old town for a well-deserved shower!

Mount SiGuNiang is located approximately 280km west of ChengDu, in the county of XiaoJin. You can take a bus from ChaDianZi bus station in ChengDu to XiaoJin. It cost RMB65 and the ride takes about 8hours. The route passes through the nature reserve of WoLong, home to the Giant Pandas. This region is also known as Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. The route passes through the highpass BaLang Mountain, before arriving at the village of RiLong

Of the 4 peaks of SiGuNiang, the 4th sister is the highest and also the technically-demanding. Next is the 3rd sister, then 2nd and 1st. 3rd sister is my objective this time round. I hired a horse and a local guide . Equipment needed are: climbing harness, ice-axe, crampons, figure of eight, karibiner, ascender, and a safety catch for yourself.

Day 1: RiLong to DaFeng base camp
Trek to base camp along the same trail that goes into HaiZiGou (HaiZi gully). It is a gentle ascent from 3250m to reach the first plateau, ZhaiJiePing at 3440m.
Take the left path at the split-junction after ChaoShanPing to continue the steep ascent up to base camp.

The base camp is situated at 4300m on a flat ground next to a small stream. From here, you can see the rocky face of DaFeng.

Day 2: Base camp 1 to summit of DaFeng
Trek up the steppes toward the high-pass directly north of the base camp.
Some parts of the summit route are rocky with slabs of granite. At the high-pass, the trail goes to the reverse slopes, curls right & up to the summit of DaFeng.

Est. round trip trek time: 5-6hr (3-4hrs for the summit climb)
Vetical ascend: about 700m

If you are attempting ErFeng, after descending back to DaFeng base camp, you will trek another 5km (about 2hr) to ErFeng base camp.
This part of the trek is relatively flat as you trek along the contour of the 2 mountains.
ErFeng base camp is situated on an open flat ground with several streams running through it. From here, you can see the summit of ErFeng directly north from the base camp.

* You may want to have an additional rest day before proceeding to attempt ErFeng.

Day 3: Base camp 2 to summit of ErFeng
The summit route is mostly made-up of rocky slabs & goes from gentle slope to a steep ascend of about 40-45deg. Some sections may require you to climb up on all fours. You will arrive at an open flat area after about 2hr. At this flat area, trek along the base of the rock wall on your left, which curls leftward & continue the climb up to the high-pass. You can see the summit of ErFeng on your slight left. Ropes may be required from this point, depending on the ground conditions & time of the year.
From the high-pass, it is a steep ascent up the rocks all the way to the summit.

Est. round trip trek time: 6-7hr (4-5hr for the summit climb)
Vertical ascend: about 900m

Travelogue of Trekking in BingZhongLuo & Nu River/3-Parallel Rivers Region (Old Tea-horse Route)

Total trekking distance (est.): 43km
Average trekking per day: 13km
Maximum altitude attained: 3050m
Maximum ascend: 1180m (day 1)
Maximum descend: 990m (day 3)

Day 1: DiMaLuo village / PuLa village / TongDang village / yak shed (campsite1)
This trek traverse across part of the BiLuo Snow Mountain range that runs almost parallel with the Nu River, following the border with Myanmar. From DiMaLuo village, the trail rises gently for about 4-5hr, passing through several rustic villages & farms. Today is probably the toughest day of the entire trek as you will need to ascend about 1200m to your campsite.

Day 2: yak shed / Peacock pass / YongZhi upper ranch (campsite2)
You trek through some pine & bamboo forest to arrive at the Peacock high-pass. The main peak is on your left & is usually covered in snow. This pass is a big flat area, & can be covered with snow from Dec-Apr. There are several ranches after the high-pass as you descend your way down to YongZhi upper ranch for your campsite.

Day 3: YongZhi upper ranch / YongZhi village
This part of the trek is relatively flat. You trek passed several huts & ranches to arrive at YongZhi village. The view here is beautiful, snow-capped mountains with conifers & broadleaved mixed forests.

Day 4: YongZhi village / LanCang River
Today is a short trek to the new suspension bridge across LanCang River. There is a dam to divert stream water along the man-made canals. There are several wheat farms & vineyards near the end of the trail, before you take right to the suspension bridge. Cross the bridge & you will come to the highway between DeQin & WeiXi county. This is the end-point of the trek & you may continue onward to DeQin/FeiLaiSi by vehicle.

Total trekking distance (est.): 70km
Average trekking per day: 17km
Maximum altitude attained: 2480m
Maximum ascend: 1280m (day 4)
Maximum descend: 870m (day 5)

There is a small mountain pass, about 1570m, right after starting from the Kazakh yurts at JiaDengYu. It is quite a steep uphill climb here. After this pass, it is down-slope all the way to the ticketing office (entrance to area of HeMu) beside the river. After you crossed the wooden bridge, turn right & follow the trail alongside the river on its left bank.

Take note that this part of the trek is rather bare. Thus, it is recommended to have your shades/caps on. There is a long & gentle stretch of upslope before you descend again. There is also a half-way guesthouse along the trek. After passing through it, the trail is generally flat & you should reach the Y-junction of HeMu river & Kanas river. There is an open grass patch & this would be an ideal camping site.

An easy trek today. The gradient is almost flat & mainly downhill. After leaving Camp1, you will follow the HeMu river northwards, along the left bank of the river. There is a split-junction, take the right path & follow close to the river. This part of the trail is still mostly bare & un-shaded. A good lunch spot would be somewhere close to the stream near the pine tree forest, after you descend a steep slope. From this point, it is just another 2hr to HeMu village. You will see HeMu on your right as you approach the big wooden HeMu bridge. Welcome to HeMu!

After crossing the HeMu bridge, follow the horse trail/steps up to the plateau directly opposite the village. Following a northeasterly direction, trek across the flat open grass patch & arrive at the small ticketing office for Kanas Lake.
The trail continues uphill all the way towards the high-pass. It takes about 2hr to reach this high-pass. Continue along the trail, up the valley with the river on your left. There is long stretch of rocks along the bank. This is a good place for lunch as water is easily accessible. The trail ascends further and the view here is beautiful: carpet-like grass, birch trees, yurts & small wooden huts. You should see a rocky mountain face on your right.
Follow the stream up the valley until you come to a lone tree right in the middle of the valley. Trek on towards the right of this tree. Soon you will arrive at the 2450m high-pass. After this pass, you will descend down to Black Lake. There is a place to stay for the night beside the Black Lake. However, avoid the area immediately after the high-pass as the grounds are damp due to the many streams flowing through.

This part of the trek is relatively easy; mostly gentle down slopes.
You will come to a depression about 1hr from the Black Lake. Cross the stream that runs through it. Continue trekking in the west direction & you will arrive at a high-point where you can overlook the flat plains far ahead. There are several yurts below, & this is a nice place to have lunch.
Follow the trail down the steppes and climb up the side of the mountain on your right. Here, you can see Thousand Lakes from the top. This stretch is scenic & you will also pass several Tuvan villages along the way. Continue your trek through a nice stretch of pine trees to arrive at a high-point. Pass this point & you will see a turquoise lake to your right. Welcome to Kanas Lake!

I did this route from Kasghar XinJiang to Tibet instead. It was a long story, but because previously, i had been travelling in northern XinJiang near the Altay mountains region (borders with Mongolia and Siberia) and then onward to Central Asia Kazakhstan, so i entered back to XinJiang China. My travelogue for that trip can be found at travelogue for Kazakhstan

Kashgar

Anyway, i ended in Kashgar (KaShi). One of the major road in Kashgar is ReMinLu (which is divided into East and West road). The big cross-junction of ReMinLu is with JieFangLu (which is divided into North and South road). There is a statue of Chairman's Mao along RenMin East Road, opposite the RenMin Square. I visited the famous Idkah Mosque, built in 1442. It is a yellowish with green building. There is a carpet which is said to be priceless and it has attracted 3 kings of Iran to specially come to see it. Most of the local stalls sell guava, raisins, melons, walnuts and handicrafts. BBQ sticks can be found at almost every corner of the city as well. The Sunday Grand Bazaar is worth a visit as you can see how the locals bargain for the goods and the many fruits and vegetables. Bus no.20 goes to the famous XiangFeiMu (Concubine's tomb) after passing the bazaar. Another interesting street is AReYa road, where you actually walk into part of the old town, where i can still see ethnic architecture. Do check out the popular local eatery RohLan Authentic Uyghur Restaurant, which serves traditional Uyghur cuisine.

Kashgar airport only has flight to Urumqi. Full price is RMB1380.

YeCheng

YeCheng is at an altitude of 1270m, about 256km or 3hr cab-journey from Kashgar. Usually you can find many private cabs at the bus-station. They will depart once they have 4 persons (RMB50 each). There used to have a unit to handle permits for entry into Tibet. However, it is no longer functioning when i was there in 2006. The locals said you have to get to the Police Station (in the downtown area), Borders Security Department, to have your Tibet permit approved. Anyway, i managed to "sneak" into Tibet without making that permit. I shall not explain how here.

YeCheng is just a small town without must interesting sights. Basically it is more of a connecting town for Aotan (HeTian), Kashgar (KaShi) and Tibet. There is a sleeper-bus service to Tibet Gar that takes 2days 1 night. But the service is irregular and may depart only once every few days. The price is RMB450 for the locals, and i was told they may charge more for foreigner.

There is a small internet-cafe, a Post Office and some shops near the fork-junction of the road leading to Aotan (HeTian). There is also a major hotel www.Qogir-hotel.com (probably 2-3star) just beside that fork-junction.

DaHongLiuTan

The XinJiang-Tibet Highway 209 starts at YeCheng! The distance marker shows 0. It is 486km to DaHongLiuTan (about 9.5hr drive), which is nothing but a small Tibetan settlement in the middle of nowhere. You will pass several mountain passes of 4300-4720m along the way. The most significant spot is probably the part of the road near MaZha Army Station, near the 300km marker. from the MaZha Army Station, it is less than 150km to the border with Pakistan. It is also near this part of the route that you could catch a glimpse of K2, the 2nd highest mountain in the world.

The accommodation at DaHongLiuTan is very basic and do not expect to have a proper shower or amenities.

Gar

From DaHongLiuTan, still on the XinJiang side technically, it is about another 600km to Gar, NgaRi (A-Li ! This part of the journey is much more intertesting. There is a very surreal and reflective lake before reaching the border with Tibet. It is known as Dead Man Gully (SiRenGou). The story goes that many soldiers/people had died in that area mysteriously, hence the name. I found out later from a TV programme, that it is due to the bad airflow in that area. Because it is a gully, and since the airflow is bad, many people acquired AMS, which developed into HAPE/HACE. They died as a result, due to the remoteness of the place and without immediate proper treatment. However, i find the gully extremely serene and beautiful.

i crossed the border of XinJiang and Tibet at JieShanDaBan, a highpass of 5200m, though there is a marker on the roadside that says 6700m (probably referring to other peaks). Oxygen at this point drops to 50% of the that at sea-level. Most people will experience breathing problem and some discomfort, hence adding on to the difficulty in traversing this route. The border is part of the KunLun Mountain Ranges and Karakorum Ranges. I am very excited at this point, because i have been reading so much about this XinJiang-Tibet highway and i finally crossed it in a 4x4 now!

Along the way, i also encountered Tibetan antelopes (or known as chiru), black-necked cranes, wild deers and mules. It is simply amazing! The route also skirts alongside part of the sacred lake, BanGong-tso, the longest lake in China at 159km. It stretches all the way into Kashmir, with about 50km in the territory of Kashmir.

Gar is a developed town, with Post Office, banks, a couple of music lounges and 2-3star hotels. Charging your electrical equipment such as digital cameras and mobiles is defintely not an issue here.

Zanda

I travelled on about 70km of paved road, before entering into those dirt tracks for 180km! From Gar to Zanda, i have to crossed 2 highpasses at 5070m and 5120m. Zanda is at 3620m, and it is home to the famous 700-year old GuGe Kingdom ruins. enroute to Zanda, i saw many clay-forest (TuLin), a natural landscape feature formed by the harsh weather conditions. The stretch of TuLin is most magnificent and beautiful between Gar and Zanda.

On approaching the small town of Zanda, there is a border-post, just before the elephant-fountain river (XiangQuan river). To reach the ruins of GuGe Kingdom, you have to travel another 20km. There is no entrance fee to the ruins, but if you want to visit the Tholing monastery at the hilltop, you have to pay RMB100 and it comes with a guide. But it is irregular and you might not find anyone there to open the door for you. I trekked down the valley to see one of the many "holes" that is said to have corpses inside. Well, i did not see any though.

The accommodation in Zanda is again very basic and do not expect to have shower facilities.

Darchen

From Zanda to Darchen, it is about 7.5hr drive. Darchen is at 1325km on the marker sign. Here, the most famous landmark is none other than Mount Kailash (Gang Rinpoche in Tibetan). Gang, means snow in Tibetan, and Rinpoche means most sacred and precious. So it means the most sacred and precious snow.

Other sights also include sacred Lake Manasarovar (Mapam Yumco) and Lake Rakshastal (commonly known as Ghost Lake by the locals). The interesting thing about these 2 lakes which are side-by-side, is that one is a freshwater lake while the other is saltwater (Rakshastal)

The accommodation is basic in Darchen. No shower facilities.

The kora of Mount Kailash

The kora (or circumabulation) circuit is 52-km. It would take a person of average fitness 2-3days to complete it, though some of the local Tibetans did it within a day. I did it within a day too, spending a total of 15hrs.

From Darchen, i started trekking at 4.30am in a counter-clockwise direction. The initial part of the trail is relatively flat and a measurement on my pro-trek showed 4620m after 1hr, where i glimpse the southwest face of the mountain. By the way, Darchen is at 4500m. There are 3 prayer-wheels along the trail, which tells me i am on the right track. The trail continues to wind up and slightly towards the right as it enters into an open gravel area. The wind is exceptionally strong here and it is really cold!

At 10am, i arrived at the 22-km monastery (22km in 5.5hr). My pro-trek altitude meter showed 4850m. This is a good place to rest and beef up your energy for the very steep 4km climb up to Drolma-la highpass at 5400m, the highest point in this circuit. In fact, for those who intend to do the kora in 2days, the 22-km monastery would be an ideal point to stop and rest for the night.

The 4km climb up Drolma-la took me 3hr. It is very rocky with many loose gravels. There are also many old clothing, shoes along the climb up the highpass. Because, there is a sky-burial site near the pass, i suspect it could be the belongings of the dead. Sounds eerie maybe, but this is very common in the Tibetan world. There are many prayer flags at the highpass and many Tibetans had lunch up there. I also saw a photo of one of the Living Buddha, decorated with their white ceremonial scarfs (or known as HaDa).

I started to descend from Drolma-la at 1.45pm. The trail down is rather stony and there is a small green lake on your right. I crossed a small icy patch before reaching another small tent. I have descended to 5000m. The trail after this is generall flat and it just follow alongside the stream all the way out to the main road. I trekked across this grassy steppes for hours before reaching the 40-km monastery. Continued along the sandy trail for another 7km or so and you will see that you are out to the open area facing the main road. Darchen is to your right, and it looks very far away. It is actually another 5km trek before you can arrive at Darchen. In fact, some people asked their drivers to pick them up at this 47-km mark.

By the time i got back to Darchen, i was totally exhausted from the 15-hr kora of the 52-km circuit, but with great sense of achievement to accomplish the kora within a day!

Sagar and Lhatse

Basically, they are modern towns in this western part of Tibet. Mostly as a stopover and resting place. Nothing interesting. However the accommodation is nice, and I finally had a good shower at Sagar Hotel.

Lhatse is normally the stop point for those going to Mount Everest Base Camp in Tingri county. Lhatse offers good accommodation and there are many internet cafes and nice local restaurants along the main street.

The paved-road between Lhatse and Shigatse is now fully completed. Hence, it only takes 2hrs from Lhatse to Shigatse for that 157km distance (compared to 4.5hrs in the past).

Shigatse and Lhasa

Please see 4x4 Overland from Shangri-la to Tibet

See more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/shangrila.adventure/4x4OverlandFromTibetToXinJiang