Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
From Shalu you can drive for 10 minute's up to
Ri-puk Hermitage
, a former meditation
centre and summertime residence for Shalu's monks built around a sacred spring and des-
troyed chörten. There are lovely views of the Shalu Valley. The three-day trek to Nartang
Monastery starts from here.
Shalu Monastery is just 4km off the Shigatse-Gyantse road. En route you can stop off at
the thousand-year-old
Gyengong Lhakhang
, a small chapel that actual predates Shalu.
Don't miss the sacred mushroom growing on the ground-floor pillar and the upstairs stone
basin where Sakya Pandita washed his head before receiving his
gelong
monastic vows.
The poster of what looks like a Chinese pop star is actually of the Panchen Lama's daugh-
ter.
The monastery restaurant at the gates sells excellent dumpling soup.
Nartang Monastery
BUDDHIST, MONASTERY
(, Nàtáng Sì admission ¥15)
En route to Lhatse it's worth stopping at this 12th-century Kadampa monastery, famed for
wood-block printing the Nartang canon in the 18th century. Treasures in the assembly hall
include small statues of Denba Tortumba said to have the power to control lightning; a
mantra written in stone by the first Dalai Lama; and the self-arising stone horns and foot-
prints of the wild yak that helped install the monastery's foundation stones.
The chapel to the left is the old
barkhang
(printing press), though printing these days
takes place in the room next to the entry gate.
Kangchen Monastery
BUDDHIST, MONASTERY
(, Kāngjiān Sì )
This little-visited but interesting monastery actually consists of two separate and rival
complexes. Your Tibetan guides probably won't enter the well-tended building to the left
because of its statues of Dorje Shugden, the powerful Tantric protector outlawed by the
Dalai Lama. Kangchen is just off the Friendship Hwy, 19km past Nartang.
Yungdrungling Monastery
BUDDHIST, MONASTERY
(, Yōngzhúlǐn Sì )
