Before leaving the UK I had organised a tour of Tibet requesting specifically to be taken to places where foreigners do not normally go and giving the travel agent the names of some I had been able to find out about. Today was to be the start of that tour and I was picked up at 9am by the guide, Trinley, and with a driver and landcruiser off we went. I had previously deleted all reference to Tibet from my laptop in-case the border police checked the laptop, which they actually did asking me to put it on then inspecting the files themselves. I knew, and had been warned, that any reference to Tibet at the border would possibly result in the China visa being cancelled.
The first stop that day was the Ganden Monastery, built on a hillside between 1662 and 1722. I’m glad that I did not have to climb up there as the monastery lay at an altitude of 3300 metres (11090 feet) and walking up and down the steps there I was puffing and panting with the best. The guide never let me out of his sight, told me to duck my head for low openings, to take care on the stairs and to watch out for the stingy nettles.This actually continued for the whole tour and he was careful to move at my speed, never pushing me to be faster at any time.
The Ganden Monastery is a major monastery in Tibet, has gilded copper roofs, lots of gold and silver Buddha's, lamps and other precious items. It was damaged during the 1959 Cultural Revolution but repaired in 1983. At the peak of its use 2000 monks lived there but now it is home to about 700 monks in 200 houses.
From the Ganden Monastery we drove for three hours to Mepa village where the Drigung Til Monastery was to be visited. This monastery was founded in 1179 and stands at an elevation of 4150 metres (13,615 feet) and is home to approximately 250 to 300 monks. It is still an important place for sky burials as well with bodies being put on the mountains for the eagles to eat, the thought behind this is that by giving their bodies to the eagles they are feeding them thus being a Buddhist they are fulfilling one mantra to do good in life and death. Children's bodies are put in the rivers to feed the fish, the same thought applying. This was the decision of one lama years ago who decided burial was not suitable for Buddhists, especially in that area. As Buddhists believe in reincarnation there is no need, in their view, to preserve the corpses. The belief in the Buddhist religion is something to be believed.
After visiting the monastery I was taken to the local hotel, the Drikung Nomad Inn, went for a walk into the village, had dinner and then intended doing some blog only ended up showing pictures of various places I had visited during my travels. Oddly enough the people (Tibetan) were more interested in the places in China that I had been to, not too bothered about others. The bedroom looked good but then I found out that there was no hot or cold water because the solar panels had frozen and burst last winter; the toilet was difficult to use as the septic tank was full; toilet water was from a plastic drum with a ladle; washing water was from a different drum with a washing bowl. The bed was warm though with plenty of bedding supplied and the place was clean.
The following morning saw us headed for the Don Drigone (Dedrom) Nunnery. It was originally built in the 7th century but pulled down by one of the Tibetan kings who did not like the Buddhist. Apparently he did a lot of damage to other monasteries as well. This nunnery was rebuilt in 1987 but already has the look of a well used place. There is very little information about the nunnery other than it was built in the 7th century, damaged during the cultural Revolution and repaired in 1987. There are few nunneries in Tibet now, most having moved to India. The one in Dedron is known for it’s hot springs as well and people do visit here for the medical benefits of the springs. The last bit of road to the village had a bend that could not be turned in one go but needed a three point turn to get around. This was a couple of hundred metres above the river and that was when I found out that the landcruiser did not have a handbrake. At one stage I thought we might have gone through the barrier but the guide jumped out and put a rock in-front of the wheel to hold the truck steady while the driver changed gears.
One thing I never thought would happen in a monastery or nunnery was to be able to photograph the prayer meeting of all the nuns (except those in the cook house) while they were singing and reciting from their scripts. I felt quite privileged to be able to take photos. The guide asked for permission to take photos and he was so surprised to be told that it was aright that he actually took some himself as he did not believe that it could be done.
By midday (of the 4 August) we arrived at the Sambala Hotel which had a hot spring pool. I did try it but it was so hot that it was impossible to get completely into the pool. No-one else did either as far as I could see. Again this looked to be a reasonable place to stay, and I was oddity for all that as they rarely see foreigners there, so they were please to show me what looked like to be a good room, hot and cold running water, even toilet paper, soap and toothbrush. I soon found out that the Fred Flintstone style of river rock shower did not work at all, there was no hot water and barely any cold in the basin. The toilet did flush though. Dinner was yak meat momos, something that favourite by the local people and myself.
The first stop that day was the Ganden Monastery, built on a hillside between 1662 and 1722. I’m glad that I did not have to climb up there as the monastery lay at an altitude of 3300 metres (11090 feet) and walking up and down the steps there I was puffing and panting with the best. The guide never let me out of his sight, told me to duck my head for low openings, to take care on the stairs and to watch out for the stingy nettles.This actually continued for the whole tour and he was careful to move at my speed, never pushing me to be faster at any time.
The Ganden Monastery is a major monastery in Tibet, has gilded copper roofs, lots of gold and silver Buddha's, lamps and other precious items. It was damaged during the 1959 Cultural Revolution but repaired in 1983. At the peak of its use 2000 monks lived there but now it is home to about 700 monks in 200 houses.
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| Ganden Monastery |
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| Ganden Monastery |
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| Ganden Monastery |
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| Manual labour-carrying stones on their backs |
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| Ganden Monastery |
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| Ganden Monastery |
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| The meeting hall |
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| Clothes laid out in the meeting hall |
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| A decoration - I like him |
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| Old manuscripts |
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| A decoration |
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| This is a precious item not normally seen in the open |
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| Buddha |
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| The Lama who had the monastery built |
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| The Lama who had the monastery built |
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| A decoration |
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| One of the monastery guardians |
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| The access road to the monastery |
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| A view on the way |
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| How to protect a tree from the yaks |
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| The Drigung Til Monastery |
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| The Drigung Til Monastery |
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| The Drigung Til Monastery |
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| Carved stones ready for use |
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| A decoration |
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| The founder of the monastery |
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| A decoration |
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| Lama Tenzen Nema (the guide said that I look like him) |
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| A monastery building |
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| The monk's living quarters (with satellite TV dishes) |
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| Monastery buildings |
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| Looking across the valley |
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| Cutting granite by hand, and it looked hard work too. |
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| New monastery building |
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| Looking up the valley from the monastery |
After visiting the monastery I was taken to the local hotel, the Drikung Nomad Inn, went for a walk into the village, had dinner and then intended doing some blog only ended up showing pictures of various places I had visited during my travels. Oddly enough the people (Tibetan) were more interested in the places in China that I had been to, not too bothered about others. The bedroom looked good but then I found out that there was no hot or cold water because the solar panels had frozen and burst last winter; the toilet was difficult to use as the septic tank was full; toilet water was from a plastic drum with a ladle; washing water was from a different drum with a washing bowl. The bed was warm though with plenty of bedding supplied and the place was clean.
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| The Drikung Nomad Inn |
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| The Drikung Nomad Inn - Bedroom |
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| The Drikung Nomad Inn - Main house living room |
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| The lady of the house |
One thing I never thought would happen in a monastery or nunnery was to be able to photograph the prayer meeting of all the nuns (except those in the cook house) while they were singing and reciting from their scripts. I felt quite privileged to be able to take photos. The guide asked for permission to take photos and he was so surprised to be told that it was aright that he actually took some himself as he did not believe that it could be done.
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| Dedrom Nunnery |
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| Dedrom Nunnery |
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| The meeting room |
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| The meeting room |
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| The monastery founder and his disciples |
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| Lama Tenzen Nema |
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| Roof decorations as seen on all monastery roofs |
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| Roof decorations |
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| A monastery building |
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| The access bridge over the river and prayer flags across the valley |
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| The Sambala Hotel |
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| My bedroom. The strings around the bed had bells fitted to them. |
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| Fred Flintstone's shower and toilet area |
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| The hot spring pool, one male and one female. |
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