China

EPILOGUE: FACES OF LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏)

Other than the spiritual monasteries, wonderful mountainous scenery and marvelous night sky, one thing we miss from our Tibetan trip is undoubtedly the faces of the Tibetan people. Their devotion to Buddhism, friendliness to foreigners, connection to their Himalayan homeland, and colourful clothing contribute to a unique and beautiful culture that we would always remember.

One face we would certain miss is the cute dog that always lingers at the entrance of Trichang Labrang Hotel (赤江拉讓藏式賓館).

Despite the presence of tourism, there is still a community atmosphere in Barkhor Old Town near our hotel, especially in the morning when locals comes out to get breakfast and grocery.

Near our hotel, delightful kids often run around the narrow alleyways.

And so as Buddhist monks who found their way towards Jokhang Monastery.

Vivid colours is everywhere to represent the unique Tibetan culture.

Large flag poles are pilgrim magnets along the kora route around the Jokhang Monastery.

The forecourt of Jokhang Monastery is always a great place for people watching.

Pilgrims on the kora route of Jokhang Monastery in traditional clothing and accessories.

Prostrating pilgrims express their devotion to Buddhism through their physical actions.

Pilgrim and prayer wheels along the kora of Jokhang Monastery.

Pilgrim and prayer wheels at Sera Monastery.

Pilgrim at the kora route of the Potala Palace.

And that concludes the posts on our Tibetan trip 2017.

* * *

More blog posts on Tibet 2017:
JOURNEY ABOVE THE CLOUDS, Tibet 2017 (西藏之旅2017)
DAY 1: TOUCHDOWN ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD, Lhasa
DAY 1: TRICHANG LABRANG HOTEL (赤江拉讓藏式賓館), Lhasa
DAY 1: KORA AT BARKHOR STREET (八廓街), Lhasa
DAY 2: FIRST GLIMPSE OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 2: KORA OF DREPUNG MONASTERY (哲蚌寺), Lhasa
DAY 2: DREPUNG MONASTERY (哲蚌寺), Lhasa
DAY 2: JOKHANG MONASTERY (大昭寺), Lhasa
DAY 2 : SPINN CAFE (風轉咖啡館), Lhasa
DAY 2: NIGHT VIEW OF POTALA (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 3: POTALA PALACE (布達拉宮), Lhasa
DAY 3: SERA MONASTERY (色拉寺), Lhasa
Day 4: KORA OF GANDEN MONASTERY (甘丹寺), Lhasa
Day 4: GANDEN MONASTERY (甘丹寺), Lhasa
DAY 4: TEA HOUSE AND FAMILY RESTAURANT, Lhasa
DAY 5: ON THE ROAD IN TIBET
DAY 5: MORNING IN SHANNAN (山南)
DAY 5: SAMYE MONASTERY (桑耶寺), Shannan
DAY 5: SAMYE TOWN (桑耶鎮), Shannan
DAY 6: YAMDROK LAKE (羊卓雍錯)
DAY 6: PALCHO MONASTERY (白居寺), Gyantse
DAY 6: WORDO COURTYARD (吾爾朵大宅院), Shigatse
DAY 7: ROAD TO EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營)
DAY 7: EVEREST BASE CAMP (珠峰大本營)
DAY 7: STARRY NIGHT, Everest Base Camp
DAY 8: PANG LA PASS (加烏拉山口), Mount Everest Road
DAY 8: SAKYA MONASTERY (薩迦寺)
DAY 9: TASHI LHUNPO MONASTERY, (扎什倫布寺) Shigatse
DAY 9: ROAD TO NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 9: EVENING AT NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 10: SUNRISE AT NAMTSO LAKE (納木錯)
DAY 10: LAST DAY IN LHASA, Tibet
EPILOGUE: FACES OF LHASA, Tibet

February 4, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: བོད་, ལྷ་ས་, Barkhor, Buddhism, Buddhist, 西藏, Lhasa, people, pilgrim, pilgrimage, prayer, Tibet, Tibetan, wheel, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 10 (2/2): LAST DAY IN LHASA (ལྷ་ས་ 拉薩), Tibet (བོད་ 西藏), 2017.09.25

Our driver Sangzhu dropped us near our hotel Trichang Labrang (赤江拉讓藏式賓館) in Barkhor Old Town. After dropping off our bags, we stopped by the eatery beside the hotel for a quick bite. The friendly eatery owners, a talkative young couple, were excited to welcome us and chatted with us. We ordered a Nepali platter, fried momo and two cans of local beer to celebrate the completion of our road trip. The momos were quite delicious, and went well with the beer made with Highland Barley. It was the last full day of the trip. After filling our stomach, we didn’t want to visit any attractions, but spent time wandering in Barkhor Old Town, checking out souvenirs, watching people, and photographing anything that interested us, until the dinner time. For dinner, we decided to try the Tibetan hotpot at “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱们的藏餐馆).

After returning to Lhasa, we stopped by the small local eatery next door from Trichang Labrang Hotel. The young owners were friendly and talkative.

To celebrate the completion of our 6-day road trip, we ordered some local beer and highland barley wine.

The most delicious snack we ordered was the fried momo (Tibetan dumplings).

For dinner, we revisited the “Our Tibetan Restaurant” (咱们的藏餐馆), the atmospheric courtyard restaurant nearby.

Again we ordered the highland barley wine (青稞酒). The wine came in an interesting bird-like pottery jar.

The main dish of the meal was the Tibetan hotpot. It came with vegetables, melons, beef, ham and yak meat.

We wanted to linger around Barkhor Old Town for a little longer after dinner.

In front of Jokhang Monastery (གཙུག་ལག་ཁང༌། 大昭寺), pilgrims, worshiped on the stone pavers as usual.

Other than pilgrims, tourists also gathered at the Jokhang forecourt.

In front of Jokhang main entrance, more pilgrims gathered to worship, including some Buddhist monks.

The sky was getting dark but the Jokhang forecourt was getting even more crowded.

Some pilgrims preferred to stay near the large flag pole in front of the Jokhang.

Around Jokhang, groups after groups of pilgrims and tourists walked the kora in clockwise direction around Lhasa’s most sacred site.

The kora route was flanked one side by souvenir shops and the other by the majestic facade of the Jokhang.

Along the kora route, many pilgrims were performing prostration the entire way.

Some tourists treated the pilgrimage forecourt as a public plaza and sat on the pavers to chill out among the pilgrims.

Among pilgrims and tourists, chilling out in the Jokhang forecourt included this large and gorgeous husky.

We would certainly miss the spiritual atmosphere of the Jokhang forecourt.

On our way back to Trichang Labrang Hotel, we passed by one last time the store where we bought our bottled water everyday of our Lhasa stay. The next morning, we would take the airport shuttle bus near the Potala and fly back to Hong Kong via Chengdu. Although short, it was a delightful experience for the three of us on the unique Tibetan culture and magnificent Himalayan landscape. Hopefully next time we could have more time and travel further to the western corner of Tibet.

* * *

February 3, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: གཙུག་ལག་ཁང༌།, བོད་, ལྷ་ས་, Barkhor, barley, beer, Buddhism, 西藏, food, highland, Jokhang, kora, Lhasa, momo, monastery, pilgrim, pilgrimage, restaurant, Tibet, Tibetan, 咱们的藏餐馆, 大昭寺, 拉薩 | Leave a comment

DAY 10 (1/2): SUNRISE AT NAMTSO LAKE (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.25

At 4718m, staying the night at Namtso was cold, but metal cabin at Sacred Sheep Guesthouse (當雄神羊賓館) allowed us some decent rest. We woke up at 6:30am, quickly get ourselves ready and headed up the hill at the tip of Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島). Like many visitors to Namtso, we get up early just for the sunrise over the placid water. At 7:15, we found ourselves standing among several dozens of tourists standing at the north side of Tashi Dor Peninsula, awaiting for the first beam of sunlight from the east.

Facing northeast, we stood on the slope overlooking the placid water of Namtso Lake. At 7:20am, the horizon began to brighten up.

At 7:35am, a tint of orange signifying the arrival of the sunrise.

It felt like all visitors at Namtso were standing on the northern slope of Tashi Dor Peninsula to watch the sunrise.

Over at the southern side of Tashi Dor Peninsula, sunlight cast a orange glow on the highest peaks of Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山).

Sunlight slowly swallowed the darkness on the hills of Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島).

Looking north to where we saw the Milky Way the night before, the focus of the morning scenery was shifted to the placid water of Namtso Lake and Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains.

The campsites and tourist facilities at the waterfront were blanketed in the shadow of the Tashi Dor Peninsula.

Finally the sun rose above the Tashi Dor Peninsula.

While most tourists watched the rising sun, I preferred the scenery of the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains and the lakefront lagoons.

At 8:50am, the sun was already high up. Namtso Lake returned to its famous deep blue colour under the pristine mountain air.

At 9am, we walked down the hill and returned to Sacred Sheep Guesthouse.

We took one last look at the Namtso Lake on our way down.

We passed by the trailhead one last time before entering the area of Sacred Sheep Guesthouse.

For a brief moment, I walked off to the lakefront near Tashi Dor Temple (扎西島寺).

Looking back up the cliff I could see the lookout where we photographed the Milky Way the night before.

On the otherwise bare landscape near the shore, simple structures and metal cabins were erected catered for tourism. It is actually a good idea to restrict all tourist activities of Namtso Lake only at Tashi Dor Peninsula and minimize tourist access to the rest of the lake for natural conservation purpose.

Before leaving Namtso Lake for Lhasa, I quietly bid farewell to the beautiful lake, and soon the Tibetan Plateau all together. In less than 24 hours we would be on the plane on our way back to Hong Kong via Chengdu.

* * *

January 31, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ, གནམ་མཚོ་, 納木錯, 西藏, highland, lake, landscape, mountains, Namtso, Nyenchen Tanglha, Peninsula, scenery, sunrise, Tashi Dor, Tibet, Tibetan, 念青唐古拉山, 扎西半島 | Leave a comment

DAY 9 (3/3): EVENING AT NAMTSO LAKE (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.24

Often considered as one of the most beautiful lakes in China, Namtso Lake ((གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯) failed to disappoint us. Sangzhu dropped us at Sacred Sheep Guesthouse (當雄神羊賓館) where we stayed the night. Probably the most established guesthouse in Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島) of Namtso, Sacred Sheep Guesthouse is in fact a simple building lined with metal cabins as guestrooms. We dropped off our bags in our room and stepped out right away hopefully to catch a glimpse of the scenery before sunset. Behind our guesthouse, there was a trail leading up the hill at the northwestern tip of Tashi Dor Peninsula. Several motorcyclists gathered at the trail-head. They offered to take us up the hill for a small fee. We preferred to walk despite the sky was getting dark. Before twilight, we reached a lookout overlooking the southern shore of Namtso Lake and the beautiful Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山) beyond. The last twilight was soon replaced by myriad of stars in the indigo sky, then came the moon and the Milky Way rising above the tranquil Namtso. It was a different starry night than two nights ago at the Everest Base Camp, but the wind was equally chilly and the scenery revealed the same magic of the Himalayan night sky.

The tip of the Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島) is the only spot around Namtso where tourist facilities are allowed to establish.

As we reached the lookout on the hill, the sun was setting fast behind the mountains.

The southern shore of Namtso Lake and the snow-capped Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山) defined the horizon ahead of us.

Slightly after 8pm, the sunlight began the fade away beyond the horizon.

At around 8:45, the Milky Way emerged from the indigo sky over Namtso Lake.

At around 9pm, the sky was dark enough for us to count the shooting stars.

Once again we were fortunate to admire the beautiful Milky Way in the clear sky.

Tourist cars kept on arriving at the Tashi Dor Peninsula.

Despite the chilly wind and our hungry stomachs, the magnificent night sky made us to stay for longer and longer. There were three other visitors, two from China and one from Hong Kong, taking photos of the starry night with their tripods alongside us.

I set up the tripod and camera on a rock to capture the night sky, and we just sat on the rocks behind to enjoy the scene.

Appeared as bright as the white cliffs of Dover, the majority of the Tashi Dor Peninsula was actually made of limestone.

At about 9:45pm, we decided to call it a day and return to Sacred Sheep Guesthouse for a late dinner. If not the cold temperature we could have perhaps stay a little longer at the lookout. No matter what, it was another magical night for the three of us.

* * *

January 30, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ, གནམ་མཚོ་, 納木錯, 西藏, highland, lake, landscape, mountain, Namtso, night, Nyenchen Tanglha, sky, star, starry, Tashi Dor, Tibet, Tibetan, 念青唐古拉山 | Leave a comment

DAY 9 (2/3): ROAD TO NAMTSO LAKE (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.24

Before noontime, we left Shigatse behind and headed northeast towards the sacred Namtso Lake (གནམ་མཚོ་ 納木錯). It would be another long day on the road. We would not reach our destination until 8pm in the evening. It was a journey of mixed feelings: being excited about seeing the famous sacred lake and troubled by the fact that Namtso would be our road journey’s final stop before returning to Lhasa for the last day of our trip. Unlike the past, the road conditions had significantly improved throughout Tibet, but the distances between sights are enormous. In 2005, a paved road had been constructed to the Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島) at Namtso Lake, where most tourists including us would stay the night right by the lake. This would offer us the opportunity to enjoy the night sky and sunrise by the sacred lake.

“Namtso” in Tibetan literally means “Heavenly Lake”, so as the Mongolian name “Tenger nuur”. Given its high altitude, sublime scenery, and pristine deep blue water, there was little surprise why the ancient Tibetans and Mongolians would consider Namtso “heavenly.” With an area of 1920 sq.km, Namtso Lake is the largest lake in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The famous salt lake is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, notably the magnificent range of Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山). At an altitude of 4712m, the lake surface is frozen for over six months in the year. During summer, the lakeside lush green plains offer great pastures for cattle and sheep.

The first part of the road journey passed along the valley of Yarlung Tsangpo River (ཡར་ཀླུངས་གཙང་པོ་ 雅魯藏布江).

The railroad along Yarlung Tsangpo River (ཡར་ཀླུངས་གཙང་པོ་ 雅魯藏布江) stood out from the landscape. It was probably Tibet’s only rail service between Shigatse-to-Lhasa.

We also passed by many narrow strips of Highland Barley fields on the steep slope above the river.

At 4pm, we were approaching the lush green valley plains of Yangbajain (羊八井).

At the green valley plains of Yangbajain (羊八井), yaks and sheep grazing in front of the 700km Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山).

Yangbajain (羊八井) is also famous for the geothermal fields and hot spring resort. We stopped by the hot spring resort but decided not to take a dip.

15 minutes before 7pm, we reached Lakenla (那根拉山口) at 5190m.

At 5190m, the Lakenla Mountain Pass (那根拉山口) offered us a glimpse of the Namtso Lake from a distance.

Time was getting late. Under the late afternoon sun, the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains welcomed us at the gateway into the Namtso Lake area.

After over eight hours on the road, we finally reached the Namtso Lake.

With Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ 念青唐古拉山) to the southwest, our car headed over to the tourist accommodation and restaurant area on the Tashi Dor Peninsula (扎西半島) in full speed.

* * *

January 28, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: གཉན་ཆེན་ཐང་ལྷ, གནམ་མཚོ་, 納木錯, 羊八井, 那根拉山口, 雅魯藏布江, 西藏, geothermal, highland, lake, Lakenla, landscape, mountain, mountains, Namtso, Nyenchen Tanglha, pass, Peninsula, road, scenery, Tashi Dor, Tenger nuur, Tibet, Tibetan, Yangbajain, Yarlung Tsangpo, 念青唐古拉山, 扎西半島 | Leave a comment

DAY 9 (1/3): TASHI LHUNPO MONASTERY (བཀྲ་ཤིས་ལྷུན་པོ་ 扎什倫布寺), Shigatse (日喀則), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.24

Before leaving Shigatse for Namtso Lake, we spent the morning at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (བཀྲ་ཤིས་ལྷུན་པོ་ 扎什倫布寺). Probably the most influential monastery in the Shigatse area, Tashi Lhunpo Monastery is very popular with local pilgrims. Founded by the 1st Dalai Lama in 1447, the 70,000 sq.m monastery remains as the largest functioning monastery in Tibet. In the past five centuries, Tashi Lhunpo has been the traditional seat of Panchen Lama (པན་ཆེན་བླ་མ 班禪喇嘛), the second highest tulku (སྤྲུལ་སྐུ 活佛) in the Gelug school, just after the Dalai Lama. During the turbulence years of the Cultural Revolution, buildings and relics of the monastery had been damaged. Fortunately, damages of the Tashi Lhunpo was relatively small compared to most other monasteries in Tibet.

Walking in the labyrinth of cobblestone lanes of the enormous monastery ground, visitors can absorb the spiritual air and wander through prayer halls, chapels, chortens and courtyards, admire beautiful Buddhist artworks including the 26m statue of Jampa (Maitreya) Future Buddha, and pay respect to the tombs of the past Panchen Lamas. Other than the gold gilded statues and architectural features, what interested us during our visit of Tashi Lhunpo were the pilgrims who came from all over Tibet and China. From teenagers to elderly, the pilgrims’ gratifying expression and devoted prayers demonstrated to us how Buddhist traditions still remained strong in today’s Tibet.

All visitors to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery would pass through the lingkhor (sacred path) along the external enclosure wall.

The 70,000 sq.m Tashi Lhunpo Monastery sits on the mountain slope west of Shigatse city.

Inside the monastery ground, a network of flagstone paths led us to a village of chapels, chortens and prayer wheels.

The first objects captured our eyes as we entered to the core area of the monastery were the three large chortens.

At 9:30am the sun of the highland was already scorching hot.

Pilgrims and monks in the vivid setting of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery provided us the best subject for photos.

Many lamas we saw at Tashi Lhunpo were actually visitors from other areas of Tibet.

Jamba Chyenmu or Maitreya Temple (强巴佛殿) is the tallest building in Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. Erected in 1914 by the ninth Panchen Lama, it houses the 26.2m statue of Maitreya Buddha. The enormous statue contains 279kg of gold and 150,000kg of copper and brass.

The chorten of the Tenth Panchen Lama is one of the most popular pilgrimage spot in the monastery. The three-tiered chorten is decorated with large amount of gold, silver and gemstones.

Semi-precious stones were used to decorated the entrance vestibule of chapels (in this case the Buddhist swastika was created on the floor). Many pilgrims would knee down and touch the decoration before entering the building.

Other than statues and chortens, a number of architectural features such as a building column could also become a subject of worship for worshipers.

Outside of the monastery, we could see the beautiful mountains across the city of Shigatse.

After visiting a number of the chorten halls (chapels housing the tombs of Panchen Lamas), we arrived at the upper court of the Gyeni Chanting Hall. The gilded roofs and turrets of the Gyeni Chanting Hall can be seen from far away.

As we walked down the ramp near the Gyeni Chanting Hall, we could see right behind us the Thangka Wall used for unfolding the gigantic thangka during festivals.

Below the Gyeni Chanting Hall, we arrived at the Chuajing Duogang, the great courtyard paved with flagstones.

The Chuajing Duogang was another popular spot for pilgrims.

Surrounding the cloister of Chuajing Duogang, we could admire the fresco depicting over 1000 images of Sakyamuni (Buddha).

The Sakyamuni were drawn with hands gesturing the five symbolic poses (mudras).

Looking up from the colonnade of Chuajing Duogang, the splendid Gyeni Chanting Hall looked grand and magnificent.

Beautiful fresco could be seen all over Tashi Lhunpo, including the wall at the lower exit of Chuajing Duogang.

After a 2.5 hour visit of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, it was time for us to find our way to the exit and departed from Shigatse.

* * *

January 27, 2018 | Categories: China, China: Tibet 2017, Tibet | Tags: བཀྲ་ཤིས་ལྷུན་པོ་, Buddha, Buddhism, chanting, chorten, Chuajing Duogang, 西藏, Gyeni, Jamba Chyenmu, kora, lama, lingkhor, Maitreya, monastery, Panchen, pilgrim, pilgrimage, prayer, Sakyamuni, Shigatse, stupa, Tashi Lhunpo, Tibet, 强巴佛殿, 扎什倫布寺, 日喀則 | Leave a comment

DAY 8 (1/2): SAKYA MONASTERY (ས་སྐྱ་དགོན་པ། 薩迦寺), Tibet (西藏), 2017.09.23

Founded by Konchok Gyelpo in 1073, Sakya Monastery is the seat of Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. During its heyday in the 13th and 14th centuries, Sakya abbots were the actual governors of Tibet under the Mongol’s rule. There are actually two monasteries in Sakya at either side of Trum-Chu River. While the older north monastery (1073) with its 108 structures has been reduced to ruins over the years, the fortress like south monastery (1268) survives and remains as one of the largest in Tibet. The impressive fortress like monastery washed with ash grey and white and red vertical stripes symbolizes the trinity of Bodhisattva, and had became the symbol of Sakya. Everything at Sakya is large in size, from its 16m high main assembly hall to the extensive defensive walls.

Many refers Sakya Monastery as Dunhuang (敦煌) of Tibet because of its remarkable murals, artefacts, and medieval scriptures. Sealed behind a wall and rediscovered in 2003, the 60m long by 10m tall library wall (拉康欽莫大經堂) behind the altar in the main assembly hall is particularly impressive. It contains a huge variety of text, 84000 in total, made of different materials and about different subjects from the Yuan Dynasty when Tibet was under Mongol rule. The equally important murals made in the Mongolian style are also a rarity in China nowadays. In the main assembly hall, the most valuable object is probably the white conch shell (海螺). Legends has it that the conch shell originally belonged to the Buddha. Then it went into the hands of an Indian king, and later became an offering to Kublai Khan (忽必列). Kublai Khan gave the sacred object to Sakya and it remained in the monastery until present day. Still capable to make a soft low sound, the conch is still blown by the monk to give blessing to pilgrims. While we were visiting the main assembly hall, we did see a monk took out the conch to offer blessing to the pilgrims, who were so excited and eager to get as close as possible to the sacred object. Also from Kublai Khan was one of the huge wood columns in the assembly hall. With a diameter ranging from 1m to 1.5m, these wood columns are quite impressive disregard who its donor might be.

As soon as we arrived in Sakya, our driver Sangzhu took us to the large dining hall of Manasarovar Sakya Hotel Restaurant for lunch.

Unlike most other Tibetan monasteries, Sakya’s grey walls with red and white stripes offer a unique visual symbol for Sakya in the past 900+ years.

We headed into the entrance courtyard of Sakya and soon found out that almost all buildings were locked. Apparently the monks were having lunch somewhere else and we had no choice but to wait for their.

In front of the main assembly hall, we stood by the stone lion and wait for the monk’s return.

Soon more local visitors arrived and waited for the monk’s return. We decided to take a walk in the enormous compound.

We followed the long and narrow kora route around the central complex. There were prayer wheels on one side and the defensive high walls on the opposite.

The buildings in Sakya Monastery all seemed really large to us.

The Western style lamppost and the ash grey wall with red and white stripes somehow didn’t seem too coherent visually.

At last the monk with the keys showed up and led us into the inner monastery.

Beyond the gate, a dark hallway with beautiful murals and old prayer wheels led us into the inner courtyard.

Going through the dark hallway with religious murals on both sides felt like going back in time.

Without extensive renovations, many murals in Sakya were gradually fading.

From the inner courtyard, we walked into the main assembly hall. In the main hall, we saw the famous white conch shell, wood columns, historical murals and most impressive of all, the 10m high library wall behind the altar. Just like most other monasteries in Tibet, photography of the interior is prohibited.