Namtso

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View on the Namtso lake and the holy rock near the Tashi Dor monastery (2005)

Pastoral nomads camping near Namtso (2005)

Namtso (Tibetan: གནམ་མཚོ་; Wylie: Gnam-mtsho; ZWPY: Namco; 30°42′N 90°33′E) is a mountain lake in central Tibet. It is the second-largest salt lake in Tibet (second only to Qinghai Lake) at 2,470 square kilometers, at an elevation of 4,718 m. It is approximately 420km [260 miles] north-west of the capital of Tibet, Lhasa.

Namtso is renowned as one of the most beautiful places in the Nyenchen Tanglha mountain range. Its cave hermitages have for centuries been the destination of Tibetan pilgrims. A surfaced road was completed down to the lake during 2005, enabling easy access from Lhasa and the development of tourist infrastructure.

The Tashi Dor monastery is at the southeastern corner of the lake.

The weather in Lake Namtso is subject to abrupt sudden change and snowstorms are very common across the Nyanchen Tanglha range.

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