Photos of from Tingri to Gyirong, Tibet

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From Tingri to Gyirong

The S214 Provincial Highway branches off from Highway 318 (the “Friendship Highway”) a little after leaving Tingri and leads to the border crossing with Nepal, just south of the town of Gyirong. It is a very scenic route, leading past steep mountains and villages to Old Tingri, at 4,311 metres above sea level, an important trading town for the local people in the past. Along the way, in Nyalam County, the ruins of a monastery, silent witness to the violence Tibet endured during the Chinese “Cultural Revolution”, can be seen.

Mountain view
 
Mountain view
 
Mountain view
 
Building, village
 
Village view
 
Building, village
 
Himalaya view
 
Village view
 
Monastery ruins
 
Monastery ruins
 
Pelkhu Tso
 
Pelkhu Tso, Himalaya
 
Himalaya view
 
Pelkhu Tso
 
Signpost, Ungelale
 
View, Ungelale Pass
 
Entering Zongga town
 
View along the road
 
View along the road
 
Kaire waterfall
 
Street in Gyirong
 
Street in Gyirong
 
Chinese customs building
 
Chinese customs building
 

About 130 kilometres short of Gyirong town is Lake Pelku (Pelkhu Tso), a strikingly clear blue lake on the Tibetan plateau at 4,591 metres above sea level. It is about 20 kilometres long from north to south and covers an area of more than 300 km². From here, you can enjoy great mountain views: Mount Shishapangma is 60 kilometres south of the lake.

The road crosses the Ungelale Pass at 5,234 metres, with a signpost that it is part of the Qomolongma National Nature Reserve. It descends to the town of Zongga and, 17 kilometres before reaching the town of Gyirong, passes by the remarkably high Kaire (or Kerwer) waterfall; there are boardwalks to take a closer look.

The town of Gyirong is the last one before the border with Nepal; there are restaurants and shops here, owned by Nepalese traders, who may open a business here as long as they don’t venture out of Gyirong town. Further south is Gyirong (or Kerung) Port, with the Chinese customs office and the Resuo Bridge, crossing the Trishuli River to Rasuwagadhi on the Nepalese side.