High plains drifting - across western Tibet

The pass overlooking the holy lake 

Leaving Lhasa we head west in our 7 seater van down to Xigatse, Gyantse and Sakya. The roads are good, and the public toilets plentiful even if they are only a concrete slab with 4 to 5 slits to squat over and a low wall between each. Communal, but the smell and lack of facilities doesn't encourage lingering to chat.

We enter tourist country. The famously fierce flock protecting dogs that keep the sheep safe from wolves and snow leopards now pose for photos with dyed yak hair extensions and sloppy tongues. 

I have my photo taken sitting on a yak. 

You say it is a tourist trap; I say I am supporting the
local economy.

Heading up onto the plains we cross over higher and higher passes, starting with Khambala, which also commands views of Yamtok Yungzu holy lake. 

We cross Carola, the pass where Colonel Younghusband and his detachment of British troops clashed with the medievally equipped Tibetan army in 1902. Hundreds of Tibetan were killed. Younghusband was haunted for the rest of his life by the waste and became a lifelong advocate for the Tibetan people. We hang prayer flag strings and khatas on every pass summit, adding to the swags of flags hung by previous travellers.

Where the Tibetan army, armed with swords, faced the
modern British army and won its respect.

Keep heading west along river flats, where green barley and bright mustard fields run down to the river gravel. 

‘Traditional-style’ settlements are being built on new sites at river turns, tucked high in valleys. They look Tibetan with whitewash walls and black window surrounds, fluttering pleated window covers. Reportedly the Chinese Government wants the yak herding nomads to settle in these houses “just for the winter”. They will get health care, education for their kids, better support - but what else will they do with their lives?