Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The main chapel has statues of Sangye Lingpa, Guru Rinpoche, Sakyamuni, Chenresig
(Avalokiteshvara) and Kongtsun Demo, a local protector, on horseback. The monastery
statues were actually shot and then burned by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution,
before being restored by the famous local lama Dudjom Rinpoche and his son Chuni Rin-
poche (now resident at Lamaling Monastery). In the corner is a stone hoofprint of Gesar of
Ling's horse. You may see Tibetans rubbing this on their backs to take advantage of its
healing powers.
The short kora around the island is filled with relics and natural objects associated with
Gesar, Guru Rinpoche and Sangye Lingpa (you'll need the old monk caretaker to help
point these all out). On the north side look for an oriental white oak on whose leaves ap-
pear the outline of snakes and other animals of the zodiac. As with the hoofprint in the
monastery, the likeness to real animals may not strike you as particularly close, but to de-
vout pilgrims in the right visionary frame of mind, it is clear that the outer world is reveal-
ing the mythic.
After you have completed the kora head across the small pier to feed
tsampa
(roasted-
barley flour) to the fish. Tibetans will do this when someone they love is ill or suffering.
Sleeping & Eating
If the PSB allows it, you can stay in Tibetan guesthouses in Jepa Village further up the
road from the visitor centre across from Tsodzong Monastery.
Getting There & Away
Draksum-tso is about a six- or seven-hour drive from Lhasa, or two hours from Bāyī. The
road to the lake branches off the Sìchuān-Tibet Hwy 318 at Bahel (also known as Namse),
where there's a cluster of teahouses, restaurants and lodgings. From there it's around 40km
to the lake up a gorgeous farming valley dotted with Tibetan villages and intersected with
deep-sided canyons.
Around Draksum-tso
About 12km from the highway junction, the road up to the lake passes tall 12-sided
stone
towers
on your left. No one quite knows for what purpose they were built - they stand
