Travel » Shigatse Tourism

IN SHIGATSE
Three days of gruelling, yet fascinating travel gets you to Shigatse. This is the capital of the Tsang region, and the seat of the Panchen Lama. It also has the largest functioning monastic institution in contemporary Tibet—the Tashilumpo Monastery. The Chinese occupation of Tibet is starkly seen in these bigger cities, though it does begin to manifest itself even in the smaller towns. Shigatse is overtly divided into the more modern Chinese half and the definitely more ethnic Tibetan half.

The Tashilumpo Monastery is an impressive place,and I could have spent days simply exploring the various temples with their intriguing golden roofs and imposing chortens that are really tombstones for past high lamas. The kora around the 26m high statue of the Maitreya (future) Buddha is a soul stirring experience. Unfortunately, it is housed inside a very sacred temple and no photography is permitted.

The Shigatse Dzong (fort) is located at the other end of the Tibetanquarter and is now in ruins having been one of the victims of the Cultural Revolution. At one time it must have been an imposing sight. At the base of this ruined fort is the Free Market where you can pick up curios and trinkets that have probably been humped there all the way from Kathmandu.

A relatively sedate 90 km drive from Shigatse brings you to Gyantse, a smaller town. In the early part of this century, Gyantse was laid siege to by a British expeditionary force. The center of all the excitement of that time, the Gyantse fort, is what catches the eye as you enter the town from the Chinese quarter. It soars into the azure skies from its craggy vantage point and if time had permitted, l would have definitely liked to climb up there and explored its precincts. I sound the Tibetan part, that nestles between the fort and the Pelkor Chode Monastery, full of character. A cobbled road runs between a row of old style Tibetan houses with their fluttering prayer flags for a distance before it comes to an end at the entrance to the monastery. Once on the valley floor, all vestiges of backwardness disappear in a trice. A broad bridge spanning the Tsang Po, as the Brahmaputra river is known in Tibet, heralds the start ‘of a new expressway for the remaining 90 km to Lhasa.