Julianne's Diary Day Nine-Lhasa to Namco Lake and back to Lhasa

One of the hazards of driving in this part of the world is the yaks and cattle that sometimes meander across the roads. These are even more distracting to motorists than having bags of vegetables waved at you from the roadside.

As we climbed higher and higher, snow capped mountains came into  view. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

Another driving hazard in Tibet is falling rocks from the mountains above. The solution? Constructing large sheets of metal netting and casting them across the mountains. I'm not sure how effective this is but at least it provides some peace of mind that falling boulders might be contained.

We arrived at the base of Namco Lake to find a small shop selling yogurt. As this was the last day of the 'Yogurt festival' I had to try some. I was warned that the yogurt would be too sour without sugar, so I added some. I'm still not sure if it was made from yak's milk or cow's milk but it was delicious.

Along the way up the mountain I saw what looked to be camping sites strewn along either side of the road. I enquired with our driver whether these were permanent residents or campers.

I was told these are herdsman who make their 'temporary' homes here during summer, autumn and spring. This is so their livestock, yaks, sheep or cattle, have fresh pastures to graze on. In winter they go back down the mountain to their 'permanent' homes.