Songtsam Lodge Namcha Barwa
Thirty-three rooms and suites facing Namcha Barwa, in a village of the Yarlung Tsangpo canyon in Nyingchi.
- Neighbourhood
- Dalin Village, Nyingchi
- Status
- Open
Why we recommend it
The lodge exists for one view. Namcha Barwa is among the highest mountains in the world, and the rooms and terraces are arranged so that guests are looking in the right direction when the cloud clears. It is a place to stay two or three nights and wait.
Songtsam’s method is a small lodge in a village, with local staff: at the opening, 15 of some 50 employees came from Dalin and the neighbouring village, and the group pledged a contribution to the village from every room night sold. The opening is reported in our article on Songtsam’s Namcha Barwa lodge in Tibet.
The lodge can be booked alone or as a stage on the group’s longer routes between Yunnan and Tibet, described in our account of travelling north-west Yunnan lodge to lodge with Songtsam and in the lodge-to-lodge guide to Songtsam, Dali, Lijiang and Kunming. Sister properties on OKYTO include Songtsam Lodge Nujiang Canyon and Songtsam Lodge Cizhong.
Rooms & Suites
The 33 rooms are divided into deluxe rooms, superior suites, family rooms and Namcha Barwa deluxe suites, ranging from a little over 49 to 195 square metres. All face the mountain. In the suites the living room and balcony are treated as one space: a sliding window folds back so that the room itself becomes an extended balcony, and the peaks can be seen from anywhere inside.
Dining
The restaurant is on the second floor and seats 78. Its menu is built on local chicken, Tibetan pork and yak from the alpine pastures, combined with the medicinal herbs for which Milin County is known; the county’s name means “medicine continent” in Tibetan. Dishes cited by Songtsam include chicken stewed with palm ginseng, a beef soup with fritillary and, at dinner, a hot pot in pine-nut broth. Desserts make use of the area’s dried peaches and apples. There is a bar, and on the third floor a two-storey book bar, lined with shelves beside the stairs, for reading and tea.
Design
The lodge’s three towers pay tribute to the snow peaks. It is built of local stone and wood, with a traditional Tibetan exterior and modern interiors. The main building has four storeys, holding the lobby, restaurant, bar and meeting rooms, and sliding windows the full width of the wall open these rooms to the mountain. Each floor has terraces of different sizes, and outside three reflecting pools catch the peaks, the clouds and the night sky.
Wellness & Spa
The lodge has a spa, and supplemental oxygen is diffused through the building to help guests at altitude. Songtsam’s approach to traditional medicine is the subject of our article on the introduction of Tibetan medicine to its Himalayan lodges.
Location
The lodge is in Dalin Village, in Milin County, within the Yarlung Tsangpo grand canyon in the Nyingchi region of south-east Tibet. A path behind the building climbs through azaleas and oaks to views of the river, and guests can follow the villagers’ annual pilgrimage route towards the village of Chibai. At sunset, Songtsam’s guides recount the legend of Namcha Barwa and Gyala Peri.
Foreign travellers need Tibet travel permits arranged through an authorised operator; check current rules before planning.
- Website
- Official website