Tibet Diary by Zhou Yun

May 26th, Thursday

Finally, after a six day stay in Lhasa, we left for Gongbogyamda in Nyingchi prefecture, east of the city.

Gongbogyamda is about five hours drive from Lhasa. Luckily, the road to our destination was quite smooth and well constructed. This national highway extends as far as Sichuan Province in the east.

Our first excitement came when we arrived at the entrance to Milha Mountain, which is over 5000 meters above sea level. It is located at the boundary of Lhasa and Nyingchi prefecture. It was freezing cold, but the snow-capped mountains cast a spell on me at pushed me outside the car to take a picture.

I was again thrilled when we saw the first gorge of Niyang River, which flows from west to east through Nyingchi prefecture. The river generates surging torrents while passing through. To the west of the mainstay, there are seven peaks in the shape that resemble human forms. The biggest stone image at center is said to be the Sakyamuni Buddha, which is surrounded by his six followers. They are listening to his sermon.

The grand finale came when we arrived at Basumco, the biggest freshwater lake in eastern Tibet. It is located to the northeast of Gongbo-gyamda County and is about 40 kilometers away from the main road of the No. 318 National highway. The lake is shaped like a crescent. It's also located at an elevation of over 3400 meters, with an average depth of more than 60 meters.  

In the middle of the lake, there is an island with a monastery built in the last years of Tang Dynasty. The monastery belongs to the Ningmapa sect, which has a history of more than 600 years. The construction of the monastery was lead by the famous Ningmapa monk Sangye Lingpa. Indian Guru Padmasambhava is worshiped at the monastery.

Strolling along the small island clockwise, I also saw "the combined peach and Cypress tree" and its reproduction, which is used as an altar.

(CRIENGLISH.com)

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