Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TIBET'S HIDDEN LANDS
The Pemako region south of Pomi is a beyul(or pelyul), one of 16 'hidden lands' scattered
throughout the Himalaya that were rendered invisible by Guru Rinpoche. Guidebooks on
how to get to the hidden lands were written by the guru as terma(concealed teachings)
to be rediscovered at a suitable time by tertons. Tertonsare reincarnations of the guru's
disciples specifically tasked with recovering hidden treasures such as the guru's foot-
prints found in many temples or, in this case, the concealed teachings.
Spiritual realisation is said to be easily attained in such places, but the beyulalso act as
sanctuaries providing protection in times of war or famine. Many Khampas fled to Pe-
mako when the Chinese invaded eastern Tibet in the 1950s.
The Tsangpo Gorges, south of Tangmi, are a hidden land of another sort - entry is cur-
rently banned to foreign travellers. It's still worth knowing as you travel between Lunang
and Tangmi that just over the mountains in the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon National
Park (inaugurated in 2010) is what may be the world's deepest gorge. In this region the
swollen Yarlung Tsangpo makes some dramatic U-turns and crashes over a series of
spectacular falls. With 7756m Namche Barwa and 7151m Gyala Pelri towering on either
side, the gorge records a depth of 5382m (almost three times the depth of the Grand
Canyon), with a length of 496km. At one point the river narrows to a mere 20m, before
bursting into the Assamese plain as the vast Brahmaputra River.
The region remains one of the world's least explored, and is home to king cobras, leo-
pards, red pandas, monkeys, musk deer, tigers, waterfalls and virgin forests. For a con-
temporary account of Tsangpo exploration, read Tom Balf's The Last River: The Tragic
Race for Shangri-la,which details an ill-fated 1998 National Geographic-sponsored ex-
pedition in which kayaker Doug Gordon was killed.
Rawok
0895 / Elev 3880m
Rawok (Ránwū) is a small ramshackle outpost off Hwy 318 on the northeast corner of
Ngan-tso Lake. It's about three hours' drive from Pomi with the snow-capped forested
mountains and the Rong-chu as your companion (the river drains from Ngan-tso). The
town is a decent base for enjoying the lake and the nearby glaciers.
