Day 8 In Gyangtse, Drive to Shigatse

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Woke to another clear blue sky day but a chilly7c. Gyantse is a remarkable place in that it has escaped much of the Chinese influence evident in other major Tibetan towns. High on a hill the town is dominated by the recently rebuilt replica of an ancient fort (Shigatse Dzong). The fort was besieged by British forces in 1904 during the famous Younghusband Expedition which was essentially an invasion.

We also visited the octagonal shaped Kumbum Stupa built in 1444 inside the Gyantse Monastery & founded by the 1st Punchen Lama. The Monastery was vast but has been significantly destroyed. It is now only sparsely occupied & somewhat rundown but it original grandure is evident with the extent of the frescos on all the walls.

Shigatse is only 95 km from Gyantse but still a 2.5 hr trip. The drive was fairly uninteresting through a flat valley of farming & some sheep grazing. Amazing to see some of the plowing carried out by horse or yak power.

Shigatse seems to be a very modern Chinese town that could be anywhere & with no hint of Tibet. It seems a little sad but a reflection on how quickly this province (no longer a country) is changing.

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