Previously...We gritted our teeth and endured the long journey to Zhada. Winding mountainous road through some passes towards Zhada. We reached Zhada at 10pm, just before the sun completely set. All the rooms with attached bathrooms in the best motel were booked. We were left with rooms with no attached baths. To make things worse, there was no electricity in the whole town cos the high tension transformer/ transmission pole had been knocked down few days ago and it would prolly takes them another few days to get the power back. The shops were all running on generators. We had dinner at Chongqing restaurant, the shop owner was friendly and offered us some information...
Zhada was on a relatively low altitude of 3500m, so it did not feel as cold. Easier to sleep. Minus the fact that there were no bathrooms to wash up and no electricity, the beds were very comfortable. I slept like a log that night.
The next morning we went to see the ruins of Guge kingdom. From the site of the ruins one was treated to a good view of the grand canyon and also the palace which was perched on various parts of the cliff wall.
Please click on the image above to see the paranoma stitched together hosted in Flickr :)
We had a chill in our spine upon seeing how high we had to walk up before reaching the palace at the top of the hill. Mount Kinabalu hike we had two weeks ago should be able to see us through, I hope.
We engaged Zhuoma, a Tibetan lady as our guide.
She opened doors (literally) to five of the chambers and explained us the shrines, murals, buddhist statues ruins left. The temples had been through two wars and one man-made destruction. The wars were the invasion of Ladakh army, and the war of army from the fifth Dalailama. The destruction was due to the cultural revolution. Otherwise we will be able to see more today. Sigh...
There were quite a number of palaces, the white palace and the red palace left me the biggest impression. The wooden pillars were transported from Kashmir using cows and yaks and pieced up on sections to make a tall pillars. These structures built in the 10th centuries still stand till today. That included the doors of the red palace that she just opened. No pictures can be taken inside those palaces. The red palace was under renovation so we couldn't see the murals that showed the transportation of columns from Kashmir region to Zhada using cows and yaks, which Zhuoma said it was shown.
We thanked Zhuoma for her guidance. We continue to trek up to the top and took some good pictures from the top. Some sections were quite narrow and steep. Only one person can pass through. That explained why the Ladakh army had such a hard time trying to invade the kingdom and reach the palace at the top. There are many caves along the way. Those caves at the lower level were occupied by the commoners, middle level by the monks, while those on the upper level by the elites and nobles. On the way down, I lost my way. Thanks to a couple that was walking up, I found the steps again.
Both shooting at the same time. Who are they shooting??
Who else? R.
K finally reached the top :)
All reached the top and posing.
The palace at the top.
Back to the base again.
Lunch took a long time to come as the restaurant needed to serve another tour group. The tour leader of that tour group who was still waiting for her group to arrive, helped the owner to serve us so ad to expedite the delivery.
On the way back we took some pix that we didnt manage to take while we were rushing to reach Zhada.
Mantou, anyone?
Snow mountain at the background.
Looked a bit like the Sphinx in Egypt?
The driver was feeling sleepy. I suggested that we stop at a stream and freshen up. After I took my usual pee at the stream, I noticed the guide and the driver both washing their feet in the clear stream. They invited me to join them which I gladly did. The water was not icy cold so dipping the feet in under the sun was a comfortable experience. What I really didnt expect was, the driver asked us to wait awhile, took his shampoo out from the car and started washing his hair in the stream!!!!! That was hilarous to the max honestly. The guide pupu asked me sent him the pix of him washing his feet in the stream by wechat. Told him will do it once reached Shigatse when we will have wifi.
There was no way we could reach Saga that day so we had to stay in Huoer for the night. Basic accommodation with no bathrooms or toilets. Do it the tibetan styles- either go to the public toilet, or ealk to the stream 100m away or do it anywhere you like. There was electricity though. I went to a nearby grocery stall to buy water cos the owner only provide hot water for drinking. The grocer was from Xinjiang. I bought some plums from her, not that sweet though. Dinner was at a restaurant operated by someone from the northeast, more than 10000km away. His dumplings were delicious.
From the stream, we could see the sacred lake and Gurla Mandhata. I took some pics of the snow mountain under the sunset. Many birds can be found near the stream.
Slept early. This is the first nighti slept with my long pants on for fear of cold. I resisted the urge to want to pee till early morning. I finally did it at the compound outside the room.
Please click here to the next destination, wildlife photo shooting on the way back to Shigatse
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