Taking an icy path to pastures new

In the mountains of Tibet, shepherds drive vast herds of sheep across a frozen lake each winter

Migrating to pastures new in the depths of winter is tough enough, but doing so across a frozen lake with thousands of sheep in tow poses an extra set of challenges.

Yet that is exactly what happens every year on Puma Yumco Lake in the Tibet autonomous region.

At the coldest point of the year, shepherds bring their sheep across the icy lake to their winter pastures, a practice that has been observed for thousands of years by the inhabitants of Dowa village in Nakartse county. At 5,070 meters above sea level, the winters are long and the summers mercilessly short.

Herders spend a month on islands in the lake, where the grass grows to waist height and the sheep, being well fed, give birth to their lambs.

Before the break of dawn on Feb 9, 47-year-old Kunsang Cering led the first trip across the lake this winter.

"I could not sleep well. There is too much work to do," he said.