Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
With the fort under their command, the British now controlled the road to Lhasa.
Younghusband led 2000 troops to the capital with few incidents. In fact, the greatest
challenge he faced was getting all the troops across the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra
River): it took five days of continual ferrying.
Once in Lhasa, Younghusband discovered that the Dalai Lama had fled to Mongolia.
After a month, Younghusband managed to get the Tibetan regent to sign an agreement
allowing British trade missions at Gyantse and Gartok, near Mt Kailash. (Ironically, the
troops discovered that British goods were already trickling into the bazaars - one British
soldier wrote that he found a sausage machine made in Birmingham and two bottles of
Bulldog stout in the Barkhor.) But the treaty and others that followed in 1906 were largely
meaningless because Tibet simply had to no capacity to fulfil them.
As for Younghusband himself, the most significant event of the campaign was yet to
come. On the evening before his departure, as he looked out over Lhasa, he felt a great
wave of emotion, insight and spiritual peace. Younghusband had always been a religious
man, but this moment changed him forever. He later wrote, 'That single hour on leaving
Lhasa was worth all the rest of a lifetime.'
Around Gyantse
The several excellent off-the-beaten-track sights around Gyantse could easily warrant an
extra day in town.
Tsechen Monastery
BUDDHIST, MONASTERY
( , Cíqīng Sì )
The traditional village of Tsechen is located about 5km northwest of Gyantse and is a nice
detour en route to Shigatse. A small Sakyapa-school monastery sits above the village, but
the main reason to visit is to climb the ruined fortress, wander along its defensive walls
and enjoy great views of the river valley below. It's a good idea to bring a picnic.
The fortress is believed to have been built as early as the 14th century and the early
kings of Gyantse lived here until the 18th century. The British used the site during their
1904 invasion, although it was already partly ruined by then. Hike up to the right side of
the fortress towards the rebuilt thangka wall and then cross over below the highest ram-
