Part 15 - Yamdrok Tso and Khamba La: Pede to Kamba Padze and Gorkar Dzong

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SUMMARY:
The party travels along the Yamdrok Tso via Pede toward Kamba Padze and on to Gorkar Dzong, enjoying mostly fine weather, abundant birdlife, and striking lake and mountain scenery. They change transport at Tamalung, collect seeds of several plants, and cross the Khamba La after a brief blizzard; Daud struggles with the rigors of the journey while Puitro secures animals for the pass.

CONTENT:
We put up in a house which was quite clean, and had a brazier in the room. All very comfortable, and really a most excellent day. Daud went off the deep end, and staggered everybody; he told us he couldn't manage on a show like this. I thought he was being badly treated by the others, but it seems he is just not used to this, and it is a bit too much for him.

17th March. Pede. 15 miles. To alt 14400' ap. Another perfect day: in fact I cannot remember a nicer one. The Yamdrok Tso was beautiful—a wonderful blue-green colour. The sky a perfect blue—as one only gets in Tibet. The path follows close to the lake the whole way, and I walked along the edge nearly all the way. We saw thousands of duck, geese, teal & some gulls—the greater black-headed gull, Larus ichthyaetus, & L. brunnicephalus, the brown-headed gull. Also a few black-necked cranes. I took a whole film of Kodachrome for Pan, mostly of birds, and hope they will turn out well. In the evening it clouded over, but that did not matter. A grand day altogether. Stopped in a poor house in Pede. This road, from Nangartse on, is new to us.

18th March. Kamba Padze. 18 miles. To alt 12000' ap. Clouded in the morning. Shortly after starting we had a blizzard, but it only lasted half an hour, then the sun came out again. The path lies along the lake side again till 12. The Yamdrok Tso was frozen right over for several miles, then clear again. As soon as the sun appeared, we could hear the ice cracking, and that went on till the clouds obscured the sun. There is more sign of vegetation on the hills here, & we saw a great deal of Gentiana waltonii, a good deal of Incarvillea lutea (?) & a very little of a primula which from the dead leaves looks like P. jaffreyana. Some seed of all were collected. At 12 the path leaves the lake & climbs a little to a village, Tamalung, where transport is changed. Here they wanted us to stay the night, but we were determined to get over the pass to warmer climes. After a two hour wait Puitro managed to get 20 animals to cross. The rest are to follow tomorrow. The climb to the Khamba La is easy & the Pass is reached at 13 1/2. From the top the Tsangpo can be seen, the descent is very steep & direct into the side valley in which Kampa Padze is situated. We again spent the night in a house, with no ill effects.

19th March. Gorkar Dzong. 11 miles. To Kongka Dzong. A perfect day, no clouds or wind. The Tsangpo is a