After a couple of days exploring the sights of Lhasa, it was time to join the rest of our tour group and spend the day driving to Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet. 

There’s a fast road leading there, but we were taking the scenic route, via Yamdrok Lake. It took a few hours to reach the lake, with a stop en route at the top of a pass draped in prayer flags. 

In the distance were snowy mountains, but overall the landscape was very dry and barren. We expected Tibet to be a snowy wonderland, but it was the opposite due to the Himalayas almost creating a barrier so the snow falls in Nepal but doesn’t continue across the border. 

I was feeling very travel sick on the twisting roads, so I opted to sit upfront which really helped, and then we began descending down the pass towards the blue water of Yamdrok. 

The road ran parallel to the lake which had turquoise edges before it dropped into the royal-blue depths. Our driver parked up at a lone restaurant on a gravelly hill which offered an incredible view of the lake and snow-covered mountains. 

Sadly they used animals as props to encourage tourists to pay for a photo with them. Tibetan mastiff dogs were very popular, as were lambs and of course – yaks, which were adorned with colourful tassels. 

After taking some photos we headed inside for our hot pot lunch where we all had our own pot and an assortment of vegetables and meat to cook ourselves. There was also a table with condiments to make a nice dipping sauce but we had no idea what flavours would work so I opted for sesame and garlic which was extremely overpowering and unenjoyable. On the plus side, the restaurant had huge glass windows offering an insane view of the blue lake. 

Towards the end of lunch, the Tibetan waitresses blasted music from a speaker and excitedly danced around the restaurant. They looked like they were genuinely enjoying themselves which was really nice to see. 

The tour continued along the shores of Yamdrok Lake, past herds of yak until we arrived at a tourist area, set up with more animals reluctantly posing for photos. 

There were quite a few people at the lake so we walked along the crystal-clear shoreline away from everyone and enjoyed a bit of peace. 

Our next stop was Karo La Glacier where we passed wild goats clambering up sheer cliffs on the way. The weather turned quickly from blue skies to moody clouds and snow. 

The glacier covered the side of the mountain, the thick ice almost blending into the grey sky. Eventually the weather began to clear again and we could see the bizarre shapes of ice and bright blue seams compacted over time. 

It was only day one of our tour but our group was already starting to annoy us. While they were lovely people, they were selfie-obsessed and didn’t mind keeping everyone waiting. 

Not too far away was a lovely green lake nestled at the base of a barren orange gorge. Prayer flags were wrapped around the viewing platforms, but the place just required a quick five-minute stop – we of course spent 45 minutes there because that’s just how it seems to be on a tour. 

The final leg of the day was a drive to Shigatse which really dragged. The road was dead-straight and tree-lined for hundreds of kilometres. One hour led to two, which led to three, and it wasn’t until 8:30pm that we arrived at our hotel. We were shattered, and the most annoying part was that I rushed to reception to get checked in as quickly as possible, but our guide insisted that he check in the 15 people from the bigger bus before our group of 7. He gave them preferential treatment the whole time – and I assume it was in the hope of getting more tips if he treated more people better. 

Once we checked in, we had to go out and find a place for dinner because it wasn’t included in the tour. By 11 pm, we finally went to bed to the sound of oxygen being piped into the room.