Nam Tso Lake

After a few nights in Lhasa, we headed out of the capital back into the highlands. Our first stop after a five-hour drive was Nam Tso Lake, at about 4,700 meters the highest saltwater lake in the world – a destination wild and majestic. Along the way, following the newly built Tibet railway and passing some 7,000-meter peaks, we made frequent photo stops, a contrast between travel and nature.

Sunset and Portraits

In the afternoon, we arrived at the guesthouse and went to the lake for sunset, where we watched pilgrims walking to rocks draped with prayer flags late into the night, raw and spiritual. Finally, it was possible to take a few portraits. In hindsight, I was a bit disappointed not to have come home with more portraits. Many nice conversations developed over the three weeks, but as soon as I asked after a few minutes if I could take a photo as a keepsake, most people ran away — given the situation with China and the frequent controls, where probably even the video and audio cameras in the car unsuccessfully recorded our broad Swabian dialect, the behavior of the locals was understandable.

An Unforgettable Portrait

Shortly after sunset, my favorite portrait of the trip was taken of a radiant young woman. After photographing a nice couple, she suddenly ran over, washed her face in the cold saltwater, and stood laughing with a wet face in front of me — an image I will never forget. I asked her to dry her face, and the resulting photo made me overjoyed when I first saw it on the camera. At night, we ventured out at probably -20 degrees to capture images of the clear starry sky, before gratefully retreating to the unheated room, thankful for a working electric blanket — a spectacle of cold and comfort.