Nature is considered sacred to Tibetans. Yamdrok Tso is considered one of the four most sacred lakes and is thought to encompass the spirit of Tibet. Tibetan belief is that if the lake dries up, Tibetan culture will die. In addition, circumambulating the lake in seven days is believed to wash away one’s sins. Further, Yamdrok Tso is where senior monks go to meditate, chant mantras, and pray after important living Buddhas (like the Dalai Lama) die. It is here at the lake that they wait for a vision or some sign as to where the reincarnation has been reborn.
Once I finally saw the lake I couldn’t wait to actually get to it so I could put my feet in it! Alas, the locals did not appreciate my running to the waters edge to immerse my feet in its crystal-clear depths. Apparently, one could put their hands in it but not one's feet. (Though a yak was taking a bath in it two hundred feet away. Yaks are cleaner than human feet?). The water did indeed change colors from shades of blue to turquois to green depending on the suns reflection. We were actually able to see Yamdrok Tso twice – once on the way to Gyantse as scheduled and then again the long way back to Lhasa since landslides prevented us from taking the most direct route. This was a treat for me as both days were sunny and views of the lake and surrounding mountains were beautiful. A negative aspect of seeing the lake, however, was that you could actually see that the lake was shrinking as reported on various websites. Environmental damage is no doubt occurring due to interference with its fragile ecosystem.
I will be including aspects of my original prepared PowerPoint into my World Geography class. Now that I’ve been there I will update the PowerPoint to incorporate some actual photos of time spent at and around the lake.
Study Tour
