Lhasa Yamdrok Lake Road Trip (Tips, Photos & Maps)

Plan your Lhasa tour? A side road trip to Yamdrok Lake is highly recommended. So to speak, Yamdrok Lake is a must for your first time visit in Tibet. Yamdrok Lake ( or Yamdrok-Tso Lake and Yamdrok Yumtso Lake ) is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet.

Yamdrok-Tso Lake is 130km long from east to west and 70km wide from north to south with a total perimeter of 250km and the surface area of 638 square km, average depth of 20-40 meters. It is the largest lake at the north foot of the Himalayas.

Yamdrok Yumtso Lake is a kind of low salt lake formed by the snow melted water from the snow capped mountains nearby. The lake looks like a holy sapphire. Under the clear azure sky, the clean water of the lake is as smooth as the surface of fine blue jade. Yamdrok Lake is said to be be the female Guardian of Buddhism in Tibet. Every year, many local Tibetans and visitors from Lhasa and from other places would come here for pilgrimage or sightseeing.

Yamdrok Lake is situated within Langkazi County (Nangartse) of the Shannan Region of Tibet on the way between Lhasa and Gyantse – 110km southwest of Lhasa and 140 east of Gyantse.

If you start from Lhasa to visit Yamdrok Lake, you have to climb over Kampala Pass (5000m) where you have a bird’s eye view of the amazing lake. The lake lies several hundred meters below the road or the pass. Under clear weather the lake is a fabulous shade of deep turquoise. Far in the distance is the huge snow mountain – Mt.Nojin Kangsang (7194).

If you set off from Gyantse to view Yamdrok Lake, you have to climb over Karola Pass (5042m). Karola Pass is the divided line between Gyantse County and Langkazi County. (Nangartse).

Approaching the Kampala Pass (5000m)

All the tourists get off at the car parking lot ( Yanghu Scenic Area Parking Lot). People walk to the edge overlooking Yamdrok Lake to view the lake and for photogenic opportunities.

Basiacally people walk around the Yanghu Scenic Area Parking Lot for a good angle to see and take photos of the lake.

Hassle-free Lhasa Guided Tours

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for guided tours to Lhasa:

Further Readings