In Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Nathan Drake seeks the lost city of Shambhala.
Drake’s search begins with the doomed voyage of Marco Polo, whose expedition returned from China with only one of its fourteen ships. Clues hidden in a Mongolian oil lamp lead Drake and his associates to the Cintamani Stone, a legendary artifact supposedly connected to Shambhala. The trail takes them through Borneo, Nepal, and finally into the Himalayas.
Shambhala is based on a mythical kingdom described in Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu traditions. In Western popular culture it is often linked with Shangri-La, although the two names come from different traditions and are not perfectly identical. The game uses Shambhala as a hidden Himalayan city protected by ancient guardians and centered on a powerful Tree of Life.
Another common mix-up concerns the treasure itself. Drake is not simply hunting a city made of gold: he is pursuing the Cintamani Stone and the supernatural power associated with the tree’s sap. The villain Zoran Lazarević wants that power for himself, turning Drake’s archaeological quest into a race against a ruthless war criminal.