Shigatse to Shergar

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Day 10

We had breakfast at the same restaurant from the previous day, but we didn't get any choice - it was plain omlelette and chips all round. Our day started with a visit to the Tashilhunpo Monastery which was just next door to our hotel. This monastery was one of the best ones we had seen, and is the main monastery of the Panchen Lama. He is the next most important Lama after the Dalai Lama, and is at present under house arrest in Bejing. The day was beautiful and sunny, which made the golden roof of the temple stand out even more. The winding streets made for more of a village feeling, and there seemed to be quite a lot of younger monks at this site.

The only downside to the site, was that they wanted to charge anything from 70-200 yuan to take photos and this was a seperate charge for each of the chapels. The 10th Panchen Lama had restored the tomb of the 5th to 9th Panchen Lamas to replace those destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. The tomb is magnificent, with the copper Stupa plated in gold. Within the Chapel of Jampa was the most spectacular Buddha we had seen. At over 26m high, it took 900 craftsmen over 4 years to complete. The most recent of the Panchen Lamas to die, the 10th and most well respected, has a tomb and Stupa that is also incredibly well decorated. There are images of Buddhas on the walls all the way round, but it does rather look like they are waiting to be finished as only the outlines have been painted in.

Outside, we saw a good example of the Wheel of Life, which shows the challenges faces by man, animals and god in their bid for enlitenment, and that hell awaits those who do not strive to reach enlightlenment by allowed jealously, ignorance and greed get in our way.

In the middle of the courtyard, the monks regularly have debating sessions, where one monk will face the questions of three others. Up on the hills surrounding the monastery there are prayer wheels for as far as the eye can see.

After visiting the monastery, our guide went to apply for our permits for Everest, leaving us an hour to have a browse at the shops. To be honest, there wasn't really anything different here, so we left empty handed. We did however see a shop selling prayer wheels, but i don't think the baggage allowance would have coped.

We then set out on the journey to Shergar, which involved stopping at a number of checkpoints along the way for the army to check our passports, group visa and permit for Everest. The ascent began to the first of the passes at 5220m. The road snakes up the side of the mountains with multiple hair pin bends until you reach the summit and head back down the other side.

Our hotel in Shergar looked newly built, and we went for a walk into the village to see if there were any bargains to be had. Instead we attrached a gathering of school children staring at us, but we did locate the supermarket which had beers and crisps, and we also found the local butcher!

We sat in our room and watched the locals working in the fields until the light faded outside. The light also faded inside, which meant that eating at dinner was an unusual experience. We weren't offered any extra candles at dinner, so by the time the food arrived we could bearly see to eat it.

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