From the archive record
Driving on uneven roads of Nyalam town towards cornfield in Tibet. Nyalam is a small Tibetan town near the Nepal border. It is the county seat of Nyalam County in Shigatse Prefecture It is 35 km from Zhangmu town in the same county, which is the point of entry to Nepal. Nyalam is situated at 3,750 metres (12,300 ft) above sea level. Once a town of stone buildings and tin roofs, Nyalam was known as Tsongdu and was part of the historical Tsang Province of Tibet before the annexation by China. Nepalese trans-himalayan traders called it Kuti and also 'The Gate of Hell' because the old trail down to the Nepalese border was so treacherous. Today Nyalam is a fast-growing little town made of concrete buildings located on the Friendship Highway between Lhasa and the Nepal border. South of Nyalam th