Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
camp but only if you're prepared for the cold and especially the altitude (around 5150m).
If you've come from a night or two at Everest Base Camp you should be OK; from Lhatse
this is too big a jump in altitude to be considered safe.
After Tagyel-tso the road climbs past herding camps to the 5570m Sangmo-la. About
45km after the pass the road crests a smaller pass and leads down to two conjoined lakes,
past a small salt mine. Eventually you pop out into the wide sandy valley of the Yutra
Tsangpo.
Not far from Tsochen a small monastery and large collection of prayer flags and mani
(prayer) stones sit on a ledge above the road; 3km later is a major checkpoint where your
passport and permit will be checked. The town of Tsochen is just ahead, 5km across the
plains.
Tsochen
0897 / Elev 4680m
Tsochen (Cuòqín), 235km from the northern turn-off and 173km south of the northern road
proper, is probably the most interesting town on the northern route, full of wild-haired
nomads in town on a shopping trip.
The PSB (Gōng'ānjú) maintains a strong presence and at the time of writing all foreign
travellers had to go to the station to register. The station is about halfway up the road on
the left from the start of town (coming from Lhasa). They'll be waiting for you.
Sights
Mendong Monastery BUDDHIST, MONASTERY
At the east end of the 2km-long town, walk through the Tibetan quarter to reach a mass of
mani stones, prayer poles and yak skulls that local pilgrims gravitate to daily at dusk.
From here you'll see a second, larger collection of prayer flags and mani stones about 1km
away on the plateau to the north; just below here is the Mendong Monastery, a small but
friendly place with 36 monks.
The atmospheric inner chapel of the main prayer hall holds the funeral chörten of local
lama Sherab Rinpoche, plus his stone hand and footprints. The monastery belongs to the
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