China Day 16 - Riding in the Snow from Xianza County – Nagqu

Early misty morning we departed Xianza and had a steady and slow climb to even higher elevation if that was even possible. Barren landscape with pristine road but visibility was really bad with the cloudy weather then out of nowhere, it was snowing.

Riding on the Snowline - Xianza County Tibet 

The number of times I could count on my one hand of witnessing falling snow. The stupidity of Malaysian in me of course had to make a stop to admire and enjoy the falling snow before freezing like hell and then mounting back the bike to go on. 

Not much further ahead and the scenery changed to pure white mountain range that had snow all the way to the ground next to the road.

Whiteout Snow Ride - Xianza County Tibet

Needless to say, I stopped every time there was falling snow and moved on again once it was too cold to bear. After the short ride through the mountain pass, we reach a very vast Tibetan plains. 

I never knew you could see land all the way to the horizon and always thought this was only possible along the beach looking out to sea. It was beautifully desolate.

Open Plains in Tibetan Plateau 

Sheep Crossing in the open plains of Tibetan Plateau 

Soon we came upon our first stop for todays journey. Seling Co Lake. When spelled out in the tour guide description for the four recommended stop today it was impressive and appetizing to the mind but to be frank, today’s journey was just simple and beautiful scenery.

The selling script by tour operator was as below.

1st Stop – Seling Co Lake

It is known and the Devil’s Lake with Radiant Reflection in Tibetan and is the largest lake in the Tibet Autonomous Region and the second largest saltwater lake in China. 

It sits at the northern foot of the Gangdise Mountains boasting an altitude of 4530m above sea level. 

Its irregular shape extend primarily in an east-west direction with a length of 77.7 km and maximum width of 45.5km. The lake area covers approximately 2391 sqkm making it a significant natural feature in the region.

Surrounding Seling Co Lake are 23 satelite lakes creating a stunning necklace like scenery. The lake is also a habitat for numerous rare and endangewred species including the largest black0necked crane nature reserve in the world. 

Pengtso Lake 

The lake serene beauty coupled with the surrounding mountains and pasture offers a breathtaking view of mountains within the lake.

2nd Stop Baggetso Lake
3rd Stop Bamutso Lake
4th stop Pengtso Lake

Yep we had a lot of beautiful lakes along the way which we skirted the fringe going though barren plains with many wildlife and a few shallow mountain passes with snow whiteout covering the landscape. 

We were already very high in altitude traveling constantly above 4000m so that few shallow mountain pass was all it takes to change the climate and scenery drastically.

By the time I reached Nagqu after a 450km journey, I was wiped out tired from fighting the weather. Mostly also due to my stupidity of always stopping to enjoy the falling snow. It was a good dinner and straight to bed. 

Traveled on: May 2024