Lhokha Travel Tips

 

1. Lhokha is of moderate dry climate.The four seasons are distinctive. The temperature reaches its highest, a little more than 20oC, from June to August. But the temperature difference between day and night is 10 oC or so, sometimes more than 20 oC. December and January are the coldest months and the temperature may drop to -10 oC. The best time for tourists is from June to August. You can wear the same amount of clothes as you do in Lhasa as the temperature is almost the same as that in Lhasa.

2. A road network with Tsetang Town as the center has been built up, connecting 12 counties and extending to most villages. Traveling to this area, tourist can take flights to Lhasa. Buses shuttle between Lhasa and Tsetang everyday. The distance between is about 200 km. The price for one trip is about 27 Yuan.

3. Different from the rest of Tibet, food in Lhokha is dominated by Sichuan cuisine. The Sichuan cuisine restaurants can be seen everywhere, with inexpensive dishes up to you taste. All the restaurants represent local features in decoration, both the high grade and low grade. The Tibetan food includes all kinds of sausages, Qingke (highland barley) wine, buttered tea, Yamdrok air-dried meat, cold yak tongue, steamed stuffed bun, roast sausage, air-dried meat, Xiapuqing ( a kind of minced meat), all sorts of cakes and sweet tea, milk tea, sour milk.

4. There are no shopping malls in Lhokha, travelers can purchase what they need in the shopping centers in most of the local hotels. However, for the tourist souvenirs, you are advised to buy at Bajiao street in Lhasa city.

5. Many hotels have affiliated recreations facilities such as KTV, tea house, bowling house, cyber room, parlor room, which are comparatively high charged. Such hotels are Jinsui hotel, Lhokha Hotel, Tsetang Telecommunication Hotel, Tsetang hotel and Lhokha Postal Hotel.

A road network with Tsetang Town as the center has been built up, connecting 12 counties and extending to most villages. The network is more than 3700 km long.

Tsetang Town is only 191 km from Lhasa. The only international airport in Tibet, Gonggar Airport is situated in Gonggar County of Lhokha Prefecture. The airport has flights to Chengdu, Beijing, Chongqing and Kathmandu. The new terminal building was built and has been put into use.
The first bridge across the Yarlung Tsangpo River links Lhokha to Lhasa closely. In 1995, Tsetang Bridge over the Yarlung Tsanpo River was built, connecting the northern part and southern part of the river. The road from Tsetang to Gonggar was built and put into use in Nov. 1994.

1. Travel to Lhokha

Take flights to Lhasa. Buses shuttle between Lhasa and Tsetang everyday. The distance between is about 200 km. The price for one trip is about 27 Yuan.

2. routes for touring

(1) To Yumbulagang and to Tibetan Kings¡¯ Tombs: From Tsetang, one way leads to Yumbulagang and Changzhu Monastery, another way leads to Tibetan Kings¡¯ Tombs.

(2) To Samye Monastery: driving westward from Tsetang or taking a 20 minutes¡¯ trip by ship in Yarlung Tsangpo River, you can get to Samye Monastery and Qingpu. The two famous sacred mountains Gongburi Mountain and Quguori Mountain are just in the way.
Tips: you are not allowed to take photos for the Qushui Bridge in the daytime and not allowed to turn on the headlights at night.

(3) To Lamulacuo Holy Lake: There are many places of interests on the way, including Woka Spring, Qulong Monastery, Lamulacuo Lake, Qiongguojie and Lajiali King¡¯s Palace. This route may take about 10 days. You can take bus, ride horse, go on hike or take a boat.

(4) To Yamdrok-tso Lake, most visitors follow this route: Lhasa, Qushui Bridge, Shigates, Jianzi, and Yamdrok-tso Lake.

3. places to stop over

Qushui, Tsetang, Qiongjie, Gonggar and Nangartse are towns worthy of a visit. Qushui Bridge, one of the three permanent bridges over the Yarlung Tsangpo River, is a vital passage. If you start your journey from Lhasa, after you cross the bridge, the road is diverged into three, one leading to Shigates and Nepal through the Friendship Road, one leading to Tsetang and Linzhi, the third one leading to Lhatse and Yatung.

4. Adventurous routes:

The ?㯮e river, two steams??travel route is an adventurous one. It is a round trip. Starting from Gonggar Airport, you can take the southern way to Bayi Town, passing Tsetang Town, Qusong Town, Sangri Town, Jiacha Town and Lingzi Town. From Bayi Town, you take the northern road to Lhasa. This travel route is not fully developed and the accommodation and food are simple and cheap. However, it is good trip for car traveler.