Gyantse/Shigatse

Our day started with a rooftop breakfast with a view of the abandoned town fortress from a 1904 battle when a British troop attacked and fought the Tibetan group. We then had a nice walk through the town to witness how the locals live. We were so impressed with the lovely homes and colourful doors. Most people are farmers so the streets were rather bare but we stumbled across a small temple where the locals were burning barley flour as a way of sending blessings to the mountains and we wandered through the small chapel and were given the rare opportunity to take some photos of the inside. Afterwards we had another opportunity to visit a sacred Tibetan Buddhist site in Gyantse- Pelkor Chobe Monastery. The highlight here was the Gyantse Kumbum (meaning 100,000 images), a stunning 8 story structure containing a seemingly endless series of tiny chapels full of Buddhist images - Buddhas, demons, protectors, and saints. We also visited the protector deity chapel which was very dark and ominous. Our lunch that followed was a wonderful story which will be revealed in a separate post and then we were off for a 2 hour bus ride to Shigstse.Leia mais