Shika Snow Mountain @ Shangri-La

Shika Snow Mountain is a 5km high peak about 7 km west of Shangri-La. They sell appropriate cold weather clothing and oxygen tanks at the base, it's also equipped with a gondola, and wooden pathways all around the peak to make it an easy trip for any tourist.The gondola ride up consists of two parts and takes about 30 minutes total, giving you enough time to get to know the other tourists and take pictures of the terrain as you get closer too the top.

What was hard to tell from the bottom, is that today the top was inside of a cloud. The light faded around us as we neared the top, and when we finally were able to unload and look outside, all we could see is the silhouette of the rocky peak and Tibetan cloth decorations blowing violently in the wind around the shrines leading up to it.

 

Songzanlin Monastery @ Shangri-La

Nestled in the hills about 4km north of old town Shangr-la is the Songzanlin Monastery. In order to get here you can take bus 3, which takes off from moonlight square, or simply walk north for about an hour. The fee to get in is about 120 rmb, for which they drive you the final leg of the journey right up to the base of the monastery.

I started my exploration here with a walk around Lamuyangcuo Lake to take some snapshots. This takes a bit of time, however its well worth it to be able to capture the monastery's reflection in the water.