Travel Tips

The best time to visit Lake Namtso is between June and September. It is the rainy season. Due to the high altitude and seasonal changes, the snowy season comes in October or November. By then, the mountainous roads as far as the lake will be blocked by heavy snowfall and ice. 

Lhasa-Dangxiong-Namtso Highway has been opened in 2006. The road is wide, therefore, different from the past, tourists do not need to on board a 4WD jeep that travels on the hilly and dangerous paths. You just have to get on a passenger van of a certain local travel agency in Lhasa as far as the Lake Namtso directly. It departs around 7AM local time, at the eastern gate of the Potala Palace. 

At 10AM, the passenger van stops by the side of the highway, you may rest at a sightseeing pavilion in Nyingqen Tanglha Mountain at an altitude of 4,630 meters above sea level.

The van climbs higher to 5,190 meters at half-past eleven, which the highest point of this tour route. You are advised to take pictures as quickly as possible because the local nomads will charge you a lot if they discover your cameras and digital camcorders! 

Entering the Namtso scenic area, a ticket is required for 80 Yuan. The van driver will buy it for you. After a relatively brief tour of the magnificent and heavenly lake, return to the van at half-past three in the afternoon. If you want to stay longer, you can tell the driver. Staying on Zhaxi Peninsular (charge 5 Yuan administration fee) by the side of the lake overnight is excellent too. You can get on the van for return at 3:30PM the following day.

It is advised that Namtso is at elevation of a thousand meters higher than that of Lhasa, therefore, for your health and safety, adequate drugs for altitude sickness are must. Roaming round the great lake is overwhelming but be careful your steps with slow walking paces. Wear enough clothes, because the temperature is quite low even in midsummer, and hailstorm often occurs too. Tents for rent are available in Zhaxi Peninsular, also some expensive hostel rooms with facilities of so-so quality.

Geography

The lake is the biggest one on China’s Tibet Autonomous Region also the salt lake of highest elevation on our planet. Namtso (Chinese: 纳木措) in Tibetan language means the Heavenly Lake, located 240 kilometers to the north of Lhasa, at an altitude of 4,718 meters above sea level with an area of about 1,940 square kilometers.

In terms of geology, the Lake Namtso’s history traces back to late Tertiary and early Quaternary Periods (about 1.8 million years before present). The concave basin made by upward movements of the Himalayas with abundant rainfall that formed the lake, but in later ages local climate had become dry gradually, so that the Lake Namtso’s area had been reduced much. Today the deepest part of the lake is about 33 meters below surface. The water is like seawater but clean and crystal-clear. The fresh water sources are from neighboring glaciers melted from high mountains during warmer seasons. Towering peaks are located at the southeastern side of Namtso, the icy summit of the Nyainqen Tanglha Mountain Range (Chinese: Nianqing Tanggula Shan) is up above the white clouds. Mountainous terrains, though not so high, are seen in the north. The green pasture that has wild animals roaming is ringed the lake. The blue color is the lake surface, which is very in harmony with the azure sky in clear and sunny days, and it reflects the sky like a mirror. It seems to be in real paradise when you are having a boat ride.