Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WORTH A TRIP
EXPLORING THE GARUDA VALLEY
Adventurers with a day up their sleeve could explore the Khyunglung (Garuda) region of
the upper Sutlej Valley, southwest from Moincer. Around 16km from Moincer (8km from
Tirthapuri), the Bönpo-school
Gurugyam Monastery
(, Gùrújiǎmù Sì ) is worth a visit,
primarily for the dramatic cliffside retreat of 10th-century Bön master Drenpa Namka.
A further 14km down the Sutlej Valley, 2km past Khyunglung (Qūlóng) village, is the ex-
tensive ruined cave city that archaeologists believe belonged to the early kingdom of
Shangshung
. The 20-minute trail to the site leads from a roadside chörten and drops
past hot-spring terraces to cross the Sutlej over a bridge hung with severed animal heads.
Nearby is a riverside hot-springs pool. You could easily spend a fantastic couple of hours
exploring the troglodyte caves and buildings but it's dangerous to continue to the upper
citadel. On the way back stop off at
Khyunglung Monastery
just above the village, which
also has a couple of simple teahouses.
There are no checkpoints en route to Khyunglung though it would be prudent to have
the valley added to your travel permit, either in Ali or Darchen. From Khyunglung the dirt
road continues southwest to seriously remote monasteries at Dongpo, Dawa (Danba) and
Manam (Malang) en route to Zanda, but also passes near several military bases so you
need to bring watertight permissions and be prepared for some serious exploration.
History
By the 10th century the Guge kingdom was already a wealthy trade centre supporting sev-
eral thousand people when the great Guge king Yeshe Ö began to nurture an exchange of
ideas between India and Tibet. The young monk Rinchen Zangpo (958-1055) was sent to
study in India and returned 17 years later to become one of Tibet's greatest translators of
Sanskrit texts and a key figure in the revival of Buddhism across the Tibetan plateau.
Rinchen Zangpo built 108 monasteries throughout western Tibet, Ladakh and Spiti, in-
cluding the great monasteries of Tabo (Spiti) and Alchi (Ladakh). Two of the most import-
ant were those at Tsaparang and Thöling. He also invited Kashmiri artists to paint the mur-
als still visible today. Their influence spread the Kashmiri tradition across Tibet.
It was partly at Rinchen Zangpo's behest that Atisha, a renowned Bengali scholar and
another pivotal character in the revival of Tibetan Buddhism, was invited to Tibet. Atisha
spent three years in Thöling before travelling on to central Tibet.
