Soggy Moose Travels : On The Road to Shigatse

To Shigatse :

Our evening at the Gyangze Hotel was nice, a very tasty meal and warm bed. We showered in the morning and it did take a bit for the water to get warm. Internet is only available in the lobby.

Gyangze is a town in the southern Tibet Autonomous Region of western China. It is situated on the Nianchu River some 53 miles (86 km) southeast of Xigaze. Gyangzê is an important route centre for traffic from Lhasa to India, Bhutan, the western Tibetan region, and Ladakh, part of the eastern Kashmir region.

Situated above the town is the Dzong or Fortress. This was used by the early Chinese and later the British in the 1900’s.

Below the Dzong is the magnificent tiered Kumbum of the Palcho Monastery. The Kumbum was commissioned by a Gyangtse prince in 1427 and was an important centre of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. This religious structure contains 77 chapels in its six floors, and is illustrated with over 10,000 murals, many showing a strong Nepali influence, which have survived almost entirely intact. They are the last of its kind to be found in Tibet. Many of the restored clay statues are of less artistry than the destroyed originals - but they are still spectacular.

We boarded our vehicles for the drive to Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet. This route took us through a wide agrarian valley. We saw many of the fields being plowed by horse, yak and tractor. The farmers decorate the harnesses of the horses and yaks to make the animal feel good so they will work hard.

We made a few stops along the way. The first was at a water powered grain mill. Here is where the local farmers bring their barley to be ground into flour. I bought a bag of roasted barley and soy bean mix for snack food.

The next stop was at at a Tibetan Mastiff kennel. There were probably 30 dogs and two litters of puppies. They seemed to enjoy our visit.

We then arrived at our hotel in Shigatse where we had lunch and checked into our room. The room was amazingly ornate as is the hotel in general. While these properties are fairly new and overall nice, the mechanical (heat and water system) is lacking. A minor inconvenience to us, and we are loving these stays.

Next we make a very short drive to the Tashihumpo Monastery. This is one of the few monasteries in Tibet to weather the stormy seas of the Cultural Revolution, Tashilhunpo remains relatively unscathed. It is a real pleasure to explore the busy cobbled lanes twisting around the aged buildings. The monastery is now the largest functioning religious institution in Tibet and one of its great monastic sights. The huge golden statue of the Future Buddha is the largest gilded statue in the world.

From the entrance to the monastery, visitors get a grand view. Above the white monastic quarters is a crowd of ochre buildings topped with gold – the tombs of the past Panchen Lamas.

As we started to explore the various buildings, we saw a lot of photos of the ninth, 10th and 11th Panchen Lamas. The ninth Panchen Lama is recognizable by his little mustache. The 11th Panchen Lama is the disputed Chinese-sponsored lama, now in his early 20s.

The tombs of the various Panchen Lamas are simply amazing and the fee to take photos is very high. Thus no photos were taken.

After this visit we walked back to the hotel and stopped in one shop and bought three dohje, which are a protection from evil charm, one for each vehicle and one for our camper.

Back at the hotel we quickly finished our laundry. Our evening briefing was about the history of Buddhism to help us put our visit to these magnificent temples into perspective. I must say I am very moved by visiting these places.

Tomorrow we will be visiting several local villages.