Simi-la Pass (4330m)

The Friendship highway heading west to cross Simi-la, the last mountain pass before reaching Gyantse	The water of this river will be captured behind a hydroelectric power station before joining the Yarlung Tsangpo at Shigatse	Ruins of a monastery or village on the south side of the Friendship Highway	Yaks in front of ruins east of Simi-la
Arriving at the village of Lungmar at the east end of Simi-la Pass	Lungmar, Tibet	Friendship Highway heading for Simi-la Pass and Gyantse	I wonder if the lake will rise filling the valley to the east
The east end of the man-made lake at Simi-la	Lakeside village abandoned to the rising waters	Simi-la Lake, Tibet	Simi-la Lake
The turquoise color is similar to Yamdrok-tso Lake	Walking along the lake shore	Ruins of an abandoned village on the north shore of Simi-la Lake	I do not know if the village was already a ruin, or if it was abandoned to the new lake
Village ruins, Simi Lake	Abandoned village along the north shore of Simi Lake	Abandoned village along the north shore of Simi Lake	Village ruins, Simi Lake
Abandoned village along the north shore of Simi Lake	Glacial blue water of Simi Lake	Abandoned village along the north shore of Simi Lake	Abandoned village along the north shore of Simi Lake
Continuing along the paved Friendship Highway along the north shore of Simi Lake	The road passes around a large curve in the lake	Simi Lake from the road climbing to Simi-La Pass	Beautiful Simi Lake ca 13,950 ft MSL
Simi Lake	The blue color is caused by finely ground rock known as "glacial flour"	Intense blue water of Simi Lake	Simi Lake from Simi-la Pass
The summit of Simi Pass, noted here as 4352m	Looking east across Simi Lake from the summit of Simi Pass	Looking southwest to another branch of Simi Lake from the summit of Simi Pass	Stone cairns piled up by visitors to Simi Pass
Prayer flags at the high point near Simi Pass	The island in the lake, formerly a small peak, has the ruins of an ancient castle	Transmission tower supporting prayer flags, Simi-la	Transmission tower supporting prayer flags, Simi-la
Transmission tower supporting prayer flags, Simi-la	Prayer flags, Simi-la Pass	The hilltop next to Simi-la Pass with prayer flags	The castle ruins in Simi Lake (N28.829/E089.850)
View east from Simi-la Pass across the lake	Castle island, Simi Lake	View southwest to "Castle Island" Simi Lake	Simi Lake
I proposed a tourism project to have locals paddle tourists out to the castle	Simi Lake	The northern arm of Simi Lake headed towards the dam	The ruins of Simi Castle from lake level
Looking south from the northwestern shore of Simi Lake	The dam of the hydroelectric power station that formed Simi Lake from a mountain river	Horse-dran cart overloaded with hay along the Friendship Highway	The Friendship Highway descending past the Simi Lake power station towards Gyantse
Large hill rising next to the Friendship Highway with ancient ruins at the top	A natural arch a short distance west of Simi Lake along the Friendship Highway	Arid mountain, west of Simi Lake	The ruins of a sturdy house, almost a castle
Ruins standing on a cliff overlooking the river with the village of Yartong on the south bank	Ruins of a sturdy house on a cliff above the river west of Simi-la	From the south side, the house looks a little less like a castle	The river below Simi Lake has the same characteristic turquoise blue color of finely ground rock powder formed by glaciers
Conic peak rusing from the broadening valley as we near Gyantse	The harvest ready to be collected	Gyantse comes into view at the end of a long day's drive from Tsetang