Tibet | Will you regret not visiting the Holy Elephant Gate on your trip to Namtso?

I won't, I haven't. For me, the most indispensable experience in traveling is comfort: including what the body endures and what the eyes see. Before setting off, I compared the difficulty of departing from Lhasa to visit the Holy Elephant Gate and just going to the Tashi Peninsula: 💠 Holy Elephant Gate: Altitude 4700 meters; An 8-hour drive, even if you set off early in the morning, you won't arrive until evening; If you stay overnight on the way, you can only choose between simple lakeside guesthouses or tents; The road conditions are poor, with the last 50 kilometers being washboard roads; Tickets must be booked three days in advance; You can check in at the popular Elephant Stone photo spot (you need to climb up yourself), and gaze at the distant Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains; 💠 Tashi Peninsula: Altitude 4700 meters; A 3-hour drive, allowing for a round trip to Lhasa within the same day; You can stay in the best hotel in Damxung County and enter the scenic area early the next morning to avoid the peak of the crowds; The road conditions are good; Tickets can be bought upon arrival; You can't see the popular Elephant Stone, but you can get a close view of the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains; In Tibet, comfort is relative. After considering my physical condition, tolerance for hardship, and travel desires, I chose to give up on the Holy Elephant Gate. Therefore, when I didn't spend too much time and energy on exhausting travel; when I could rest in the best hotel in Damxung County instead of sleeping in a lakeside tent dormitory; when I was lucky enough to catch good weather, and even if it was cloudy, I had ample time to wait for it to clear up; when I saw the Namtso Lake waters that looked like gems from afar and like jade up close, as well as the sacred Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains, I felt very fulfilled and had no regrets.