Lake Manasarovar

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

In September, I seized an opportunity to travel in Tibet after learning one of my friends organized a trip from Lhasa to Kashgar. The timing was perfect, as I had planned to stop working as a consultant in real estate and travel for the rest of the year after August anyway. We visited so many interesting places in Tibet and I took so many pictures, it was difficult to choose only 5 pictures for the series. However, I chose images from Lake Manasarovar as that leg of the trip inspired me the most.

At 4,556 meters, Lake Manasarovar is the highest body of fresh water in the world. Many religious people from India, Nepal and Tibet come to walk around the 88km circumference as a place of pilgrimage. Although I am not religious, I took part of the kora, or pilgrimage, and walked around the lake over a three-day period.

Everything is different than Tokyo, where I have lived for the past 5 years. Yet, I enjoyed the change of pace, lifestyle and scenery and found the lake amazingly fulfilling. One of the most notable differences were the clouds that soared so closely above us. The unique architecture of the monastaries were also interesting and a welcome change after only being surrounded by skyscrapers in the city. However, one of the most memorable moments of the lake was when a monk showed us his pride and treasure, his vegetable garden growing in a green house. I still remember the monk’s smile fondly as I stood watching him water his joy out of a tin cup. It was difficult to come to a full circle as we parted with a friendly stray dog that followed the guide and I during the entire kora.