Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 241 (Color Image)

0241	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

CHAMDO TO LHASA 179

was crossed on October 11. Returning from

Numari to recross the Kam Chu by the bridge,

Pereira continued to ascend the Kam Chu valley,

here 200 or 300 yards wide between bare hills.

The path was mostly stony. At 4 miles the

Kam Chu was again crossed by a log bridge,

and then there was a winding, easy ascent till

at 112 miles, the summit of the Güng-bu-Ba La

was reached. It was by far the easiest pass

on the whole road. It is Huc's Loumma Ri.

Though the day was sunny, there was a bitter head-

wind and some ice on the streams in the pass,

though only a little snow on the hills. There was

an easy descent from the pass to Chou-me-ra,

214 miles, a hamlet of four hovels.

Pereira was able to walk 8/ miles, and had only

one slight touch of sciatica. With his last pass

behind him his anxieties were over, and he was in

the highest spirits at feeling there was now no

more climbing, and all the rest of the way to Lhasa

was downhill.

On October 12 there was an easy march of

164 miles to Ö-ser-chang. It was bitterly cold at

starting and chilly in the wind even after the sun

was up. The descent was easy and the hills were

at last lower, only 500 to 1000 feet above the valley,

and they were mostly covered with grass. Lower

down there was some scrub on the lower slopes

and some bush again in the valley, but the leaves

were off, so it was apparently colder. The stream

changes its name three times. A good many side

streams had to be forded, and bigger ones were

crossed by bridges of logs, brushwood and stones.

Ö-ser-chang, 13,900 feet, has eighteen families.

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