Tsedang is at 10,170 feet, a nice step up in altitude. We had a late start today as our
guide, Yishi, and driver Dian Ba had to first go to the police station with our
passports and Tibet visa to get two additional permits, one for outside of
Lhasa and the other to go to Everest base camp.
Since it was Sunday the police station didn’t open until late.
Once the paperwork was in place we took an hour long drive to the Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, build in the 8th century by a Tibetan king.
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| Samye Monastery |
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Butter Candles
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Stupa at Samye Monastery |
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Yalong River
Yalong River
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The drive to the monastery and our next stop was along the Yalong River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.
There were many golden trees planted right alongside (or in) the
river. Autumn has come to Tibet. The trees are being planted extensively along the river as part of a project to provide more wood for fuel.
On the return we
stopped at Yumbu Lakhang Castle, built by the first king of Tibet in
the 2nd century BC. It
became a monastery in the 17th century. It sits on an outcropping high above the
valley and is surrounded by prayer flags.
The views of and from the castle are stunning. Mary took a horse ride up, Paul is allergic to horse dander, so he opted to climb the stairs – perhaps foolishly because this was our first day at 10,000 feet altitude, and he needed to rest often.
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| Beautiful view of the valley from the Castle |
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Prayer Flags above Yumbu Lakhang Castle
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