Nam-Tso Lake

High in Tibet, on the roof of the world, the mirror of the beautiful Nam-Tso salt lake sparkles. It is not easy to get to the shores of this lake — not every pilgrim or tourist can withstand an ascent to a height of 4718 meters. Tengri-Nur, "heavenly lake," is how the Mongols named it.

Despite the lofty name and the fame of a wonderful place for meditation, Nam-Tso has a difficult character. The weather here can change in a matter of hours, disturbing the lake waters with a snow hurricane that came from the Nyenchen Tangla mountain range. Summer snow or hail is a common occurrence in these places.

The area is about 1,981 km2 (may vary slightly depending on the season).
The length is about 70 km.
The width reaches up to 30 km.
The average depth is about 33 m.
The maximum depth is more than 125 m.
The height above sea level is 4718 m.

Nam-Tso is located in a huge basin of tectonic origin. Sometime (presumably in the period from 250 to 350 AD), another underground shift occurred in the young Himalayas, and a salt lake began to accumulate in place of the formed depression. In the past, the reservoir was huge. Pilgrims who come to the sacred lake in order to receive divine blessings spend from two weeks to a month circumambulating it clockwise. According to legend, untold treasures are stored in its waters.

There are five large islands and several small ones in the lake, which can rather be considered narrow rocky ledges rising directly out of the water. Apart from representatives of the local fauna, no one lives on the islands. On the largest of the five peninsulas, which is called Zhasi, there is a monastery of the same name, as well as karst caves, a stone grove, and a karst bridge of natural origin.

It is said that Nam-Tso accepts only the chosen ones, it is no coincidence that it is one of the four sacred lakes of Tibet along with lakes Manasarovar, Yamdrok-tso and Rakshas-tal. Perhaps that is why the ecosystem of the salt reservoir has remained virtually untouched until recently.

The deep waters of the Lamaist shrine are filled with fish, and wild birds live on some islands, including very rare ones: a swan, a white heron, a sand bird. Many bird species come here in the summer to raise their young. They are not even hindered by the crowds of pilgrims who create excitement on the shores of the lake. Most of the local feathered fauna lives on remote islands located a few kilometers from the coastline. Among the animals that can be found in the vicinity of the lake, there are also rare and interesting species. These are the wild Asian donkey, the onager, which is endangered, and the hornless water deer. There are yaks and bears, wild buffaloes and foxes.

The nature here is pristine and pure. It seems that this will always be the case near Nam Tso, but even now the harsh and ascetic beauty has been disturbed by the highway from China, which was paved by the caring authorities of the Celestial Empire in order to open this pearl of Tibet to the whole world. And although the Chinese are generally very protective of the environment, for the Communist government of the People's Republic of China, Nam-Tso is just a lake that tourists seek, which means that civilization must penetrate it. By the way, the number of people who want to see this alpine wonder is growing year by year. In 2014, 710,000 people visited the tourist area of the salt Lake, and a year later — 776,000.