Yesterday, after we came down from the Everest base camp, we came to the Everest Observatory of Guandi Temple in Gangga Town to watch Mount Everest, and then found an inn to stay in Gangga Town. When I woke up this morning, I found that the window on the second floor of the inn where we stayed was a good viewing platform, from which we could also see Mount Everest, and the viewing platform we went to yesterday - Guandi Temple has also become a special scenery. This is another unexpected surprise, once again fulfilling the saying - the most beautiful scenery is always on the way.
After breakfast, we continue west along National Highway 318, where we will be accompanied by the towering Himalayas on our left, the nearest peak being the peak of Shisha Bangma. Our itinerary today starts from Gangga Town, leaves Dingri County, passes through Nyalam County, Jilong County, Saga County, and finally arrives at Zhongba County.
Sure enough, not long after leaving Gangga Town, there were white dazzling and continuous snow peaks on our left, which looked particularly holy and eye-catching against the background of the blue sky and white clouds and desert barren mountains. Once again, we're feasting our eyes.
At noon, a tall and spectacular snow-capped peak appeared in front of us on the left, and it was the famous Shisha Bangma Peak.
Shisha Bangma Peak, Tibetan means "severe climate, harsh and changeable weather". With an altitude of 8,027 meters, it is located in the middle of the Himalayas, in Nyalam County, Shigatse City, ** Autonomous Region, China, 120 kilometers southeast of Mount Everest, and is an 8000-meter-level peak completely in China. It consists of three sister peaks of similar elevation, with two peaks of 8,008 meters and 7,966 meters respectively 200 meters and 400 meters northwest of the main peak. It is one of the centers of modern glaciation in the Himalayas, and the ice tower area between 5,000 and 5,800 meters above sea level, which is several kilometers long, is a bizarre sight like an "ice crystal garden", covered with criss-crossing ice and snow cracks, and sometimes huge ice and snow avalanches. In 1964, the first ascent was completed by our mountaineering team, and by the end of 2003, only 201 people had successfully reached the summit of Shisha Bangma Peak, and 19 people paid the price with their lives. Just four months after our arrival, on October 7, 2023, an avalanche struck Shisha Bangma, killing two climbers, missing two and seriously injuring one.
We didn't go far before we continued west, and suddenly a large jasper-like lake appeared in front of us, which was Pekutso.
Pekutso is the largest inland lake in the Everest Reserve, with an area of about 300 square kilometers and an altitude of 4,590 meters. The lake is surrounded by mountains on three sides, the terrain is open, the fish resources are abundant, and there are wild horses, Tibetan wild asses, Tibetan antelopes, cranes, yellow ducks, gray ducks and other activities on the shore of the lake.
It is not well-known compared to several other large lakes such as Namtso, but with the reflection of the Shisha Bangma Peak (60 kilometers on the south side of the lake) and the sound of the waves of the Brahmaputra River (40 kilometers on the north side of the lake), this gourd-shaped mountain Haizi has a reason to stop.
In this way, we take pictures all the way to the scenery, arrive at Saga County at more than one o'clock in the afternoon, continue to the west after having lunch here, arrive at Zhongba County at about six o'clock in the afternoon, a tall and spectacular archway at the entrance of the city is unique, after the archway, on the lampposts on both sides of a straight and long road into the city, the five-star red flag is bright and dazzling.
Entering the county, we planned to find a campsite, but it was not easy until almost eight o'clock in the evening that we found a more ideal campsite under the guidance of a local. It turned out that this was the place where the local ethnic festival was held, and a rostrum was built on a large grassland outside the city, and there was a toilet about 300 meters away. We cleaned up the rubbish and dust from the ground and set up the tent against the wall to keep the wind out a bit. By the time we had dinner, it was getting dark.
At this time, one of our friends felt unwell, obviously it was a high reaction, and after a brief discussion, we decided that another friend would take him to the county people's hospital for treatment, and I would stay to guard the camp and equipment. After they left, I cleaned up the tableware and other items, and I couldn't see my fingers around. Suddenly, there was a loud hula noise in the silent night, which startled me, and I quickly looked at it, but I saw nothing, and I determined that it should be the sound of birds nesting in the nest in a nearby building.
I guessed that they should go to the hospital, I asked about the situation, and learned that it was Gao Ying, who was taking oxygen, and it was not a big problem, so I finally put my mind at ease. Just after 12 o'clock in the night, they finally returned, and it seemed that the little friend was in better shape, and hoped that tomorrow would be further better.