Blogs from Gyantse, Tibet, China, Asia

We set off after breakfast to head to the Drak Yerpa Monastery, we drove out of Lhasa city and the somewhat crazy traffic and set off for the mountain road. As we started to get higher the views just got better and better with snow capped mountains in the distance and the city below. We stopped on the mountain pass about 40 minutes in to the drive for a photo opportunity. There is a section of the road just covered in prayer flags and paintings of what look like ladders on the rocks to symbolise the steps to nirvana. Once a prayer flag has been placed somewhere they cannot be removed, they’re just left to nature and over time, the colours fade and the fabric disintegrates. I got off the mini bus and just looked in ... read more

Two days ago we let Lhasa on a seven hour bus trip through the MountainS . We drobe over three passes each more than 4000 mètres one was actualité 4700 . The roads were good but Travel is slow with Switch backs . It was a beautiful sunny day and quite warm . We stoppée se réal Times for photos and the spectaculaire viens . There was one area that had a séquence of lakes créât ed by Aa dam . The water was that beautiful blue Green col our . Bluer than Lake Louise and very intense..It was a good journey,. We arrivée àt a ´small city caillée Gyantse which had been a capital in the 14th century. The mine start there was impressive . I had an intérêts ing encontre there with a little ... read more

We begin the next day with a short drive to Gyantse, a smaller Tibetan town with another important monastery, Palcho. The monastery was founded in 1418, and is perhaps best known for the Kumbum Chorten, the largest chorten in Tibet which was built in 1477. Kumbum means '100,000 images', and in its 6 or so levels are chapels and alcoves containing the numerous icons. Gyantse is dominated by a fort perched impressively on top of a rocky pinnacle with the monastery tucked inside a fairly forbidding wall near the base. After grabbing some lunch in town, and admiring the solar water heaters (reflective dishes with a kettle in the middle... which I thought were satellite dishes when I first saw them! doh), we walked over to the monastery through an old part of town... past a ... read more

Thursaday 6th contined...... We drove over three passes all nearing 5000m.....incredible views when driving over snow topped mountains. Our tour guide actually walked over these mountains to get into India to study Buddhism in Dharamasala, he had to walk over the mountains as the government would not grant him a visa to leave Tibet....he walked at night and slept hidden in the day. At the top of the first pass we stopped in the most spectacular place, a massive lake formed in a valley between two joining mountains at about 4800m....so unbelievable it was perfect completely untouched, its called The Yamdrok-tso lake. Friday 7th - We visited the Pelkor Chode Monestary this was massive and had had alot of it destroyed during the cultural reveloution. We also visited Gyantse Dzong...this was an old fort situated ontop ... read more

Nov 2004 TIBET "Give yourself to the journey....Do only what you do not regret and fill yourself with joy." I read these words from the Dhammapada, or 'sayings of the Buddha', whilst seated on a plane heading to Lhasa. Very sound advice I thought as I embarked on this trip of a lifetime. Tibet didn’t disappoint one bit. It is a truly unique country. I adore it: the people, the stunning scenery, the culture (which I’m very glad to report is still alive in certain areas, although is being diluted at a frighteningly rapid pace.) It all felt incredibly familiar, and I felt totally at home, odd as that may sound, since I’ve been interested in it for soooo long and had read reams about all the places I went to, and had been there in ... read more