Menshi to Tholing (3700m)

We continued west approaching the Indian border. The altitude remained about 4500 m, and when we went over a high pass at about 5000m the spectacular Zhada Earth Forest revealed itself

We descended into the valley through an amazingly weathered landscape..

..to Tholing (aka Zhada) and the still under construction Tholing Castle Hotel.

The town itself was quite large, with an amazing backdrop...

...and some interesting buildings.

In the afternoon we visited the 10 th century Tholing monastery..

..and the main Chorten in town, with several people doing the rounds thereof.

In the early evening we walked along the riverbank to see the extensive displays of chortens and prayer flags

We then had an excellent dinner cooked by Khem. The cooking tent was set up in the hotel courtyard and we ate in the ground floor hallway of the hotel. Try pulling that off in Australia.