Travel to Qinghai

This post shall publish a selection of pictures from a 23day round trip from Chengdu to Qinghai and Gansu in June 2011. 

Our trip started on the famous Sichuan Tibet Highway - the G318. After a dangerous 8h ride (the Ya'an - Kangding always is dangerous) we were rewarded with a stunning view towards the Lamoshe Massif from the first high pass behind Kangding.

The G318 splits in Xinduqiao. The northern route - from now on called G317 - passes the sacred Lake Yilhun Lhamtso.

BEST OF 2010

Thought I should compile some of my most favourite pictures of last year - of those which anytime make myself dreaming of the freedom underneath the endless Tibetan Sky.

This is the Lhamo She Group (chin. She Haizi Shan, 6070m), a northern split of the Minya Konka Range.

My favourite view towards the high rugged mountain range near Ganze.

On the left of the picture you can see a very remote lamasery: Zhankar Gompa lies at 4050m on the Tagong Grassland.

Also on the Tagong Grassland I took this picture of a Gentian. These flowers can be found in any colour between white and dark blue here at 4100m above sea level.

Mid Autumn Moon

This skull is burried in a high-altitude marsh. Tibetans do not mind dead animals lying around: death belongs to life, and symbols of death (like this skull) shall remind you to never forget this truth.

Tagong Marshland with the peak of Mt. Zhara Lhaste in the back

Close to the western glacier of Minya Konka. A glacier that reaches from 7556m down to 3800m...

Two yak bulls fighting out a disagreement.

This is a Choerten which was build long before the convenience of concrete conquered the Tibetan High Plateau.

Chipmunks belong to the most common wildlife here in the high alpine forests.

Our pack horses - endless miles underneath an endless sky....

This picture is a nice reward for a long climb up to a 5000m ridge from where these Snow Partridges were observing us.

Introduction of Ganze

This image resembles the typical scenery of Ganze County: juicy grassland foiled against steep and rocky mountains up to 5992m.

With 5992m Mt. Kawaluori is the highest peak around Ganze. It also is the most eastern peak of the Mt. Chola Mountain Range, a thin mountain range that stretches for more than 200km from the Sichuan/TAR border to Luhuo County.

Mt. Chola - Trekking in Dege 2009

Mt. Chola is the heart of this marvelous trekking tour. By the way: There is a funny story about this name: Chola (speak juola, letter "j" as in jungle) is just another name for snow mountain, given by local Tibetans. The Chinese phonetic transliteration for CHOLA uses two characters: Que Er, and written so on offical maps. Hence, many foreign guide books use the literal translation of the Chinese Characters: Sparrow. So, mistakenly CHOLA became "Bird Mountain"...
Much better than the story about the name is the panorama view of the Chola Massif photographed from the south:

(click the image to enlarge)

typical view of pastures and rolling hills of the Dege area.

Tagong March 2010

This trip was just a quick survey for trekking tours in this area, and end of March is a pretty cold month especially at night. However, it was a brilliant and successful 3day hike to a series of lakes and remote monasteries.

Here is a panorama from the area. This photograph was taken from a pass of the G318 National Road towards Litang.

The first moments of the hike part began with a stunning view on Mt. Zhara Lhatse (5820m) - a mountain I was talking about in an earlier post.

Winter in Lhasa

This winter (January 2010) I did my first trip to Tibet proper. Though intensive traveling through Amdo and Kham, this was a completely new experience, not only because of the required Tibet entry permit and the related hassle.

Temple building at Dengsatil Gompa

Birds in Lhasa, Winter 2010

The Lhasa River and the Yarlung Tsangpo host thousands of ducks in winter. Most common were

Bar-headed Geese and...