China 2009 Day 4 - Tibet, Nyingchi - Tian Fo Waterfall (天佛瀑布) & The King of Cypress

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01 Jun 2009

After lunch, we came to Tian Fo Waterfall (卡定神山天佛瀑布, Ka Ding Holy Mountain Heavenly Buddha Waterfall) that is located in Ka Ding Valley. The waterfall itself is ordinary. However, sections of the cliff, with a little imagination, resemble various pictograms.

First look at the waterfall in a distance after getting off the bus. We will be walking along a trail to the base of the waterfall


The trail is wide and well trodden.


Some wild Hawthorn flowers. The fauna in this area contains many herbs as well


This is supposed to resemble a yak butter lamp -- the substitude for incense sticks in Tibetan Buddhist temples


A monk pointing to the yak butter lamp


The head of a heavenly eagle. Looks a little like a camel to me


Took a sip of the water here. It was cool and refreshing.


These are Hawthorn buds, of which the eventual haw fruit is used to make haw flakes


The sign reads, "Dangerous crossing, do not attempt if unfit". On the other side is a rock that gives a better view, I decided to give it a pass. Walking around in high altitude was tiring enough.


Bridge across the narrow stream coming from the waterfall


A closer look at the waterfall, on the right is a large depression that resembles a goddess. Further right from the head of the goddess, on a blackish rock jutting out is an imprint of the Goddess of Mercy.


The outline of Buddhas eyes, nose and mouth, slightly to the left of the waterfall.


View of the waterfall from the base, it is approximately 200 metres high


We took a slow walk back to our bus, next we are headed to the King of Cypress, a 2600 year old cyprees tree


Entrance to the park where the tree is, other cyprees trees of more than a thousand years old also reside here


Now this is funny


A shrine


A first look at the King of Cypress and two younger trees behind it. It is believed that walking clockwise around the tree in odd number of rounds will extend one's lifespan.


The tree is huge. It is 5.8 metres in diameter and 50 metres tall! We walked around it three times

Then, it was back to Bayi Town for dinner. Those yellow tomatoes are the most awesome tasting tomatoes I have ever eaten. Looks like they grow really excellent vegetables in Nyingchi. They were bought by our coach captain by the roadside. He knows who sells the best watermelons and tomatoes.

With that, we were coming to the end of our time in Nyingchi. Tomorrow, we will be heading by bus to Lhasa via the Mi La Mountain Pass (米拉山口, mi la shan kou) at an altitude of 5013.25 metres! It would be an entire day on the road with various sights to visit as we leave behind the greenery in Nyingchi for the barren rocks at Lhasa.

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