Part 189 - Approach to the Dzong of Talung and observations at Yamdrok Tso

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SUMMARY:
Travel across a broad valley over a pass to the plain leads to the Dzong of Talung, with a river crossing, dirty water, and little fuel amid persistent rain and low cloud. Yamdrok Tso is a disappointment in the weather, though many ducks, greylag geese, and black-necked cranes are noted, and animal loads are assigned by a local elder drawing garters.

CONTENT:
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a broad open valley to a pass at m 3 over a shoulder, about 750'
above the plain. Thence a gradual descent on the west side
past a village on a spur, to the plain again at m 4.
A small river is crossed here by a bridge, and the path then
B. 29. lies over an open damp plain, the Dzong of Talung being
Types of seen in the distance built on an isolated rock. It is
Tibetans loading reached at m 8. Water apt to be very dirty after rain. A
up at LING: little wood fuel available. // Most of the night it rained off and on,
yaks: children and was still raining in the morning. The clouds were right
down on the hills. We waited till 9:45 and then the sun
suddenly came out, but it was clouded over all day, with
only patches of sunshine. The Yamdrok Tso was therefore
B. 29. finished. a disappointment, though even in the bad weather, it
The west end of looked fine. The edges had many duck round
the Yamdrok Tso: them, and close to the lake were hundreds of greylag
A general view geese. On the flat plain we saw some black-necked
of the Yamdrok crane (Grus nigricollis), two of which I took a cinema
Tso, from near of. The start this morning was quite amusing. When
the west end. all the loads were laid out, it was a question as
to who should take which load, that was decided by
a venerable old man taking a garter each from the
B. 30. men and women who were to load up the animals. These
A pair of he held behind his back, and went round all the
black-necked pairs of loads, putting one garter on each pair.