The Road Across Tibet Photos - Shigatse to Sakya

From Gyantse we made our way to Shigatse and we arrived with plenty of time to see the famouse Tashilumpo monastery in the afternoon before departing the next morning for Sakya.

How appropriate - there was a cycling statue in Shigatse. We so wanted to be on our bikes!!! This one looked a little like a model of a Trek 9.8 carbon mountain bike. Check out the aero wheels :)



Across from the park with the bicycle statue we found Tashilumpo...



It's a beautiful, heavily restored for the tourists, monastery (am I being too nasty to the Chinese????). It seemed just a bit too polished and there were hoardes of tourists. The destruction at this monastery was massive - many of the previous Dalai Lama remains were here - and it has all been put back in fresh new buildings with beautiful new stupas to hold the old Dalai Lama remains. The Shigatse fort was also totally destroyed and has now be freshly rebuilt...we gave it a miss. What's the point of an old fort rebuilt? Don't get me wrong - I thought it was wonderful to see the famous monastery, but Gyantse was so much more real...as were so many of the other monasteries that we visited.







A is looking good! even if her ankle is bothering her. We were going to walk the kora but it was a bit of a rough track. We headed down the back way - lovely, as it was quiet and away from the hoardes of tourists - and then had some dinner at a local place.


Just off the kora we spotted these loos...


One of the famous stories from the Jataka Tales is about the four friends. It is a story that teaches that you should respect your elders. There are images of the four friends all over Tibet...here are a few I spotted.
Read the story here: The Four Harmonious Friends




Oooo, more off-road adventures on the road across Tibet!!!! Tashi was really ripping it up when the road turned to dirt, he was usually more sedate on pavement (not unlike the behavior A shows when she's on her bicycle :)



And the top of a pass - easy to spot with all the prayer flags :)


Then we were in Sakya - easily identified by the grey paint with the vertical red and white stripe on all the buildings.


In front of the assembly hall is a statue of a lion (a Chinese lion!) but the thing about this one is the ball that it's paw is resting on - it's all been carved from one block of stone but there is a loose ball inside the outer ball and another ball inside that ball. Cool, eh? They also often have a loose ball in the mouth of the lion - it can't get out from behind the teeth, but you can roll it around in there (I know, I have done it more than once :).




The Lokapalas for this assembly hall are painted on the wall, they do not have statues at Sakya.


The assembly hall is similar to others that we have seen - dark, lots of brightly colored silk hangings, gold decorations and tankas plus the cushioned benches for the monks.





Here are some details that we spotted - this looks like a key...


...and these are maces. The pillars are made from single, huge trees - very rare at the Tibetan altitude, so who knows where they were hauled in from.


Sakya monastery was in 2 sections - we only visited the southern half. The north side is 200 years older (circa 1050 AD) but it has been completely destroyed and has not been restored. All you can see above some of the village houses (in grey paint with the red and white stripes) are ruins and the restored white stupas. We took these photos when we were walking the walls of the southern monastery.




Sakya monastery also has it's own protector chapel - very different from the one at Gyantse, but still a bit creepy :) We couldn't take photos inside of it, though (not allowed).



The massive inscense burner for juniper...


More of the area inside the monastery walls...






The monastery was in the midst of repairs...

The Road Across Tibet Photos - Lhasa to Gyantse

FINALLY!!! Photos form the trip from Lhasa to Kathmandu. There were over one thousand photos and we have selected about one quarter of them for your viewing pleasure....this is the first batch.

The day before we left we went over to the Jhokang to say our goodbyes to Lhasa - check out all that juniper smoke!


and we spotted this funny sign (we had seen the sign plenty of times but I guess we never really read it :)


The night before we left we said goodbye to our friends at the Danbala...ooo, the puppy!!!! :)


In the morning we packed the truck, met the guide...left the guide behind...and hit the road for Yam Drok Tso.


We were on the Friendship Highway!!!


We took the side road up a very long, but gorgeous pass to the view over Yam Drok Tso - lovely! When we were done looking we headed back down the pass and back to the highway. The ride up was making my legs burn, thinking about how it would have been to ride that monster!



The road between Yam Drok and Gyantse was under construction so we had to take an alternate route - beautiful, with it's views of villages and mountains, and also a bit adventurous when you have to take some off road shortcuts! :)




When we got into town we had time to have alook around before it was time for dinner. The following morning we got up early for the sunrise and then we went to see the Kumbum and the Gyantse monastery.

This is the typical monument that we have seen all across China and Tibet - the Chinese are definitely making their mark on Tibet.


This mural also struck me as more Chinese than Tibetan...though it is depicting snow leopards, something very important in Tibetan Buddhism.


Gyantse has 2 sides, like nearly all towns in Tibet. We walked from the Chinese side (where we were staying) to the older, more Tibetan, side of town that sits between the old fort and the monastery.






We saw lots of people around...


This woman was washing freshly shorn wool - beating it with sticks...


Many locals walk the kora...



What a cute puppy!!!! :)


More details from our walk through the village...Tibetan villages are so different!










After sunrise we headed back to the hotel and had some breakfast - A likes savory stuff for breakfast so she was eating thukpa, I like sweet stuff - my pancakes were long gone!!!!


This is the Gyantse fort. It was held by the British when Younghusband was marching to Lhasa in the early 20th century...not much happening there these days, though :)



Looking from the fort side you can see the spread of the monastery...all the dark red buildings, pretty much, plus the Kumbum.


At the entrance to the monastery are two rows of prayer wheels - you can spin them as you enter and as you leave :)


Just as you make your way in through the gates the Kumbum draws your attention!


You can see the scale of the Kumbum by checking out the people walking in front...


The famous eyes!


The building has many floors, each with a walkway around that level...



Not built exactly square, though :)


Those eyes are on all four sides, they are hard to escape :)



Hey, those are just like mine!!!


Inside the Kumbum there are lots of narrow stairways...


And lots of little rooms with statues and paintings covering their walls.


Some of the statues and paintings in the multitude of little rooms on each level....










There were many people paying homage to many of the different staues...leaving offerings, lighting yak buter lamps, etc.


After the Kumbum we headed into the assembly hall - the main building of any Buddhist monastery...




There were two huge sand mandalas in the assembly hall - gorgeous!!!!



Off the main room of the assembly hall was the protector chapel - a chapel dedicated to the protectors (a big part of Tibetan Buddhism)


There was a monk sitting in there reading scripture, chanting and occasionally beating the drum


The walls are covered with paintings depicting sky burials (the typical Tibetan burial - leaving the body for the vultures and other scavengers) and the protectors and there were lots of masks for ceremonies and festivals.