Day trips from Lhasa cluster east and north. Ganden Monastery (45 km east, included as a POI under Things to Do) makes the easiest half-day excursion, often combined with the cave hermitage at Drak Yerpa. Namtso Lake — the great turquoise saltwater lake at 4,720 metres, 250 kilometres north over the Lhachen La pass — is at the limit of what is doable in a day, but feasible with an early start; many visitors prefer to overnight in a basic guesthouse on the shore.
South of Lhasa, the road over the Kambala Pass drops to Yamdrok Tso, one of the four sacred lakes of Tibet — turquoise water cradled by snow peaks. The full circuit on to Gyantse and back is a long day's drive but worthwhile for the views.
