We left Lhasa and went to pick up the trekkers. The landscape changed with different type of houses and swaths of deserty sand.
The road ran alongside a river with willow groves growing in the sand.
We stopped to get lunch at a town that had kettles warming up water on solar devices. We would eventually return to this town with the trekkers to visit Samye Monastery.
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Our meeting point - peaceful and deserted.
yaks hanging out
Not more than 15 minutes had passed before we saw the trekkers emerging in the distance. After greeting them, some went off to visit the nunnery which required a good steep hike. I, on the other hand, wanted to see the trekking yaks which were on their way. Then in the distance, I heard the clinking bells and there they were....
The trek included a guide, a cook, an assistant, several yaksmen, and 8 yaks... all for the 4 trekkers. They ate well, visited a nomad's yurt, drank freshly made yak butter tea, suffered the cold nights, saw amazing views and all returned a little lighter and fragrant.
yaks enjoying the cool river
The nunnery was located up this steep hill. The trekkers hadn't see the many monasteries that we, the non-trekkers had the pleasure of visiting, so they went up enthusiastically. They were in altitude shape, having trekked to over 17,000 feet.
I remained by the river, sitting on the grass with the Tibetan mastiff that was hanging around and enjoyed the fresh air and breeze.
enjoying a soak in a Tibetan river
a Tibetan mastiff
Finally, we went to our last tourist destination, Samye Monastery, reported to be the first temple built in Tibet. This was to be my last whiff of the burning incense and yak butter candles on this trip.
Samye Monastery
We spent the night in Tsedung before our flight back to Chengdu. And then from there, a direct flight to SFO. Many wonderful memories....
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