Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
If you're camping, head for the grassy flats below the monastery or the northern valley
(leading to the source of the Indus River) east of the monastery.
Dira-puk (Lhalung Dira) Monastery
(5080m) sits in a superb location on the hillside
north of the Lha-chu across from the Shishapangma Guesthouse. It directly faces the as-
tonishing north face of Mt Kailash, which from this angle appears as a massive, jet-black
slab of granite ornamented with alabaster-white stripes of snow. Three lesser mountains
are arrayed in front of Mt Kailash: Chana Dorje (Vajrapani) to the west, Jampelyang (Man-
jushri) to the east and Chenresig (Avalokiteshvara) in the centre, but there's no doubting
who is the superstar in this band.
Dira-puk Monastery takes its name from the words
dira
(female yak horn) and
puk
(cave) - this is where the Bön warrior god king Gekho tossed boulders around with his
horns. The great saint Götsangpa, who opened up the kora route around Mt Kailash, was
led this far by a yak that turned out to be the lion-faced goddess Dakini (Khandroma), who
guards the Khando Sanglam-la. Colourful murals mark the entry to Götsangpa's atmo-
spheric meditation cave. The monastery was rebuilt in 1985.
To get to the monastery, cross the bridge just north of the Shishapangma Guesthouse
and then cross the river on stones or head to the bridge further upstream - a trying ordeal
at the end of a long day.
If you have the time, consider walking up to the
Kangkyam Glacier
that descends from
the sheer north face of Mt Kailash. It takes about two hours there and back and you'll feel
you're getting so close to the peak that you could touch it.
