We hadn't gone far before our road was blocked and we swung off right onto a dirt road. The road was blocked because they were completing a new concrete road bridge. A mobile crane with a telescopic jib was working on the main span of the new bridge. At first, I couldn't see why the road was so high-up. Then I spotted the bridge piers for the new railway. It looked as if the road was going to cross a seasonal watercourse plus cross over the new railway which, itself, would be on a low viaduct. My guide said we were passing the site of the new Shigatse Station and there was certainly a work camp there. Looking back towards Lhasa, I could see the route of the railway approaching on the typical earth embankment.
We stopped at the Check Point for the Gyangtse Road and my guide obtained the permit, with the arrival-time target for the next Check Point. We continued through a broad, fertile valley on a single tarmac strip in fair condition but, before long, we swung right onto yet another temporary road. The proper road passed over a large culvert and what we'd probably call a 'tracked JCB' (it was actually a Sany, model SY65c-0, I think) was busy ripping up the road over the culvert.
A number of villages lay on our route and I was fascinated in the different ways the Yak dung 'patties' were stored. The Yak dung, of course, is used as fuel.
At various places along our road, there were men working on the road and we saw small work camps. The main work seemed to be replacing the original edging to the carriageway by a strip of concrete about 18 inches wide, as a sort of 'hard shoulder'. Some of our route had already received this treatment.
Our road to Gyangtse took us through a broad, fertile valley.
On our left, all the plain was being cultivated. In the distance, mountains reared up and I could see the new railway paralleling us at the foot of the mountains. In places, there were rectangular Tibetan-style stupa, usually with rows of prayer wheels nearby and sometimes with the tall poles to which prayer flags can be attached. One village sported a number of the Tibetan-style 'polytunnels' I've described in an earlier post. To adjust our timing, we stopped near one village. It was very peaceful and, as I enjoyed the quiet and the sun, a small 2-wheel cart drawn by a single horse came by, with a younger horse tied to the back. Soon after, a small tractor passed, towing a 2-wheel truck.
Horse power is still in use.
Our next Check Point was in a large village. Beyond the village, the road menders were at work with small pneumatic drills attached to an elderly-looking compressor. We stopped in another quiet spot with fields stretching out to the distant hills. A stream flowed under a bridge and a man was working in the stream with the water up to his knees. I never did work out what he was doing. Parked next to the bridge was a wheeled van and a woman was pottering about inside, listening to the radio. A small solar panel was rigged up outside and inside appeared to be a home – I presumed the lady was the wife of the man. There was also a black labrador who may, or may not, have been part of this household. After acknowledging the driver and I briefly, the dog lay in the middle of the road and allowed cars to drive round him, which they did without apparent resentment.
"... the dog lay in the middle of the road and allowed cars to drive round him... "
The next check point was our last, for we were approaching Gyangtse. Whilst stopped for petrol, I walked across the road to photograph what looked rather like a medieval castle. I think these were "the ruins of ancient Mount Tzong". We drove through the town under the shadow of a massive rock topped by another 'castle' which I think is called here a Dzong (the term also used in Bhutan). Our destination was the revered Pelkor Chode Monastery. According to my admission ticket, it was built in 1418 by the Dharma King of Gyangtse Rabtang Kunsang Phag and the first Panchen Lama Kedrup Geleg Pesang. Non-sectarian, Gelugpa, Sakyapa and Butonpa and Buddhists co-exist. In 1427, the Great Stupa Kubum was built in the tradition of a multi-door Stupa (Tashi Gomang) and it is regarded as one of the eight prototype stupas.
The Assembly Hall, Pelkor Chode Monastery, Gyangtse.
We started by going round the Assembly Hall and chapels of the main building. If going round the nooks and crannies of the monastery impressed me, visiting the adjacent Great Stupa Kubum blew my mind. It's 32.4 metres high and is built on seven levels, six of which you can visit. At each level, there's an open walkway around the outside with 12 doors accessing chapels in the core of the building. A few rooms are closed, a few have half-doors closed, allowing you to lean in to study the inside. Most chapels are open and, of those, I visited well over half (some of the doorways are quite low and I took a few bumps). The walls of each chapel are exquisitely decorated with wall paintings in remarkable but not perfect condition. Each chapel contains a number of painted, carved wooden Buddhist images. The workmanship on both the murals and the carved figures is astonishing. It is claimed that there are 100,000 Buddhist images counting both murals and figures. I didn't attempt to count them but I was stunned by the effect. The monastery claims an elevation of 4,050 metres so I was pleased that I managed a fairly thorough exploration without serious altitude sickness.
The Great Stupa Kubum, Pelkor Chode Monastery.
Then it was time for lunch, at the Tashi Restaurant in the centre of the town. I had a cool coke (they didn't have ice), a delicious vegetable soup and a vegetable sandwich with chips. The vegetable sandwich was a triple decker which I couldn't quite finish. They supplied a small saucer of tomato ketchup unasked. My guide had intentionally picked restaurants used to dealing with westerners, and this was clear from the range of souvenirs on offer with English labelling. I finished off the meal with a sweet tea.
My Driver and Guide in the Tashi Restaurant, Gyangtse.
A drive of a couple of minutes took is to the courtyard of the Gyangtse Hotel, a modern building with the public rooms decorated in Tibetan style. The 146 rooms offered both Tibetan and Western style – I presume mine was western style. As we checked in, an American lady guest was bewailing her inability to connect to the internet. There was a sign above the entrance door advertising Wi-Fi, so I pulled out my notebook computer to see what result I got. I was immediately connected to 'Chinese Telecom' (one of the Chinese telecommunications companies which offered various internet packages). I tried to negotiate the 'pay for internet use' but the site just kept looping back on itself. This was the result that the lady guest had obtained and she was somewhat exasperated that the reception staff were unable to resolve the problem. Being of a rather more phlegmatic disposition in my old age, I resigned myself to no internet and, during the evening, prepared this report 'off-line' ready to send when possible.
The bedroom of my suite at the Gyangtse Hotel.
My Pictures
Shigatse - Gyangtse by road
Gyangtse, Tibet
Pelkor Chode Monastery, Gyangtse, Tibet
Gyangtse Hotel, Gyangtse, Tibet
[Pictures inserted and links to pictures added 23-Aug-2013].
