Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
there from Lhatse (which assumes a start in Lhasa), and then also Zhangmu (which as-
sumes a start in Nepal).
Note that even if coming from Lhatse consider taking the Friendship Hwy and joining
with the road from Zhangmu as this allows for a visit to Everest Base Camp and the stun-
ning Peiku-tso.
Lhatse to Saga (306km)
Lhatse is a usual overnight stop on the way from Lhasa to Ngari though a stay in Sakya is
actually preferable as there is little to see or do in Lhatse. From Lhatse, or Sakya, to Saga,
the next main town, is a full day's journey of about eight hours' driving. Just past the
Lhatse checkpoint (6km after Lhatse itself), the road leaves the paved Friendship Hwy and
bears northwest. After crossing the Yarlung Tsangpo the road runs for an hour through bar-
ren canyons (that swell in the summer rains) and green meadow land with scattered
Tibetan villages.
Past the photogenic
Lang-tso
(Ox Lake) the road climbs up to the Ngamring-la
(4500m), and at kilometre marker 2085, 60km from Lhatse, through the very small town
of
Kaga
(Kajia), next to
Ngamring-tso
, which often appears brown because of the nearby
mountains reflecting off its surface. On the other side of the lake is the army base of
Ngamring
(Angren), which has food and accommodation if you need it.
About 10km past Kaga you'll leave behind the last trees for many days, and soon after
the last agricultural fields. Just beyond kilometre marker 2060, prayer flags mark the start
of a path to the
Dratsang Monastery
, which overlooks the road from a steep fairy-tale-
like crag. The road then makes a zigzag ascent past photogenic nomads' camps and their
flocks to the Bang-la (4720m), then down to a valley that time forgot, and up again to the
4800m Gor-la, before dropping down over one hour to Sangsang.
Sangsang
(4590m), 113km and three hours west of Lhatse, is a small grubby town with
food and accommodation if you really need it.
The route then passes through a succession of wide alleys before following a gorge into
the ravine of the Raka Tsangpo with its dark, craggy peaks. Emerging from this ravine the
road skirts a lake, crosses a plain, and then climbs to the 4925m Jye-la, before dropping
down again and passing through tiny Raka (travellers on the northern route to Mt Kailash
often stay overnight here). Saga is another 60km away.
