Day 196: Pelkhor Chode Monastery (Gyantse) & Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (Shigatse)
After a FANTASTIC breakfast spread at the Yeti Hotel (LOVELOVELOVE this place!), we grabbed our bags and drove over to the beautiful Pelkhor Chode Monastery for a tour with Samdup. While most monasteries in Tibet have had a strict “No Photography” rule inside the chapels, we were excited to see the Pelkhor Chode allowed pictures…provided we paid an additional RMB 10-20 per room. Whatever – Lindsay has been dying to take pictures inside these monasteries for over a week now and she makes Igor fork over the cash in exchange for some gorgeous and spiritual memories.
BEST. BREAKFAST. IN TIBET. For the past five weeks, we’ve been suffering through Chinese buffets, surviving on fried eggs and toast (the only Western options most hotels offer), but this morning we were treated to a huge *Indian* breakfast spread – it was AWESOME! Yogurt, corn flakes, fruit & hard boiled eggs for our Western tastebuds, plus delicious servings of spinach & potatoes, vegetable curry and deep-fried bread. We are gonna get so *fat* in India…
The Pelkhor Chode Monastery. High atop the hill in the distance, we can just make out the silhouette of the Gyantse Fortress, where the British attacked Tibet in 1904 (geeze, won’t anyone just leave the Tibetans alone?)
Inside the main chapel of the Pelkhor Chode Monastery: Past Buddha, Present Buddha, and Future Buddha
Huge, boddhisatvas surround the inner chapel
Cabinets full of cloth-wrapped scriptures line the now-empty assembly hall
Yak-butter candels burn throughout the monastery temples – monks fill the small candels with excess butter they siphen off from over-filled bowls
Offerings left for the temple Buddha inside the main chapel – in the main assembly hall, more offerings are left for the statue of the Wisdom Buddha
Scary masks! We enter the protector’s room and find a huge collection of frightening masks – apparently the monks will wear them and perform a “protector’s play” during special religious ceremonies – too bad we have to miss that!
A monk fills water bowls – offerings for the protector statues. Each of the statues in the room have their faces covered – Samdup tells us that these faces are *so* scary, they are only revealed on special religious days
Inside the protector’s room – a truly terrifying mask and what looks like a dead wolf hanging from the ceiling. Bet this place is popular on Halloween…
The Pelkhor Chode Monastery has a lovely flower garden just inside the main entrance – lovely touch, guys!
After we exit the monastery, we have a few moments to wait for our driver – Igor starts to get puppy-eyes for some adorable street dogs and run into the nearest store to buy some sausages to feed them
We had a short, 3hr drive from Gyantse to Shigatse – the second largest city in Tibet, and the previous capitol until the 5th Dalai Lama moved into the Potala Palace in 1645. Like Lhasa, the influx of Chinese residents have built a sprawling mass of hideous buildings surrounding the “old Shigatse” part of town. The Gesar Hotel, where we were staying, is unfortauntely in the Chinese section of the city (although, surprisingly, the interior of the hotel is decorated with the most elaborate and *beautiful* Tibetan paintings we have seen! As much as we loved the Yeti Hotel last night, this room is running a tight race for our favorite!). After a brief break, we drive across town to visit the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, which is in the heart of the “Tibetan” side of the city.
As we drive through the countryide, we pass many farms prepping for the long winter ahead: drying yak dung on their walls, and cutting hay
Lindsay’s OCD is *loving* these beautifully symetrical walls of poop
The Tashi Lhunpo Monastery – home to the 1st – 4th Dalai Lamas before the Tibetan government moved to Lhasa & the Potala Palace
Prayer stones carved with Tibetan words and images of the Buddha lean against the stupas within Tashi Lhunpo
A stray cat roams an alley, and a cute puppy gnaws on a dismembered sheep leg within the monastery
After the Chinese ransaked the monastery during the Cultural Revolution, the 10th Panchen Lama (the highest ranking religious figure in Tibetan Buddhism, after the Dalai Lama) worked to rebuild the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, and replaced the stupa tombs of the 5th-9th Panchen Lama. Days after the stupas were finished, he passed away.
PRETTIEST. HOTEL ROOM. IN TIBET.
SOFTEST. BEDS. IN CHINA.
After walking across town to a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet (which we leave as it has a “C” rating – eww!), we wandered around the “pedastrian only” street (full of cars, BTW), looking for an alternative place for dinner. We finally ran into a big restaurant that proudly proclaimed that it serves, “Tibetan Food. Nepali Food. Indian Food. Western Food,” in the window. The place was packed, with over half of the patrons being Westerners, so we figured it couldn’t be *that* bad.
Service was *incredibly* slow – we watched over the course of an hour as each table slowly got their dishes (did everyone in the restaurant order at the exact same time?!) – as we were the last ones in, we were the last ones served. Poor Igor got an unidentifiable slop of overcooked chicken as his “Chicken Tikka Masala”. Lindsay’s Vegetable Korma wasn’t terrible, but not great either. On second thought, maybe a “C” restaurant wouldn’t have been so bad…
Meh. We’ve had better.