Tibet Trip Part 4 - Shigatse

Shigatse from the top

Shigatse is Tibet's 2nd largest city, and it is just about 2 hours' drive from Gyantse. We headed for Shigatse on the 22nd of April in the afternoon and reached the city in the evening, just in time for dinner. You can see the huge difference in the two cities, from the size and how bustling it is. We stayed at the Gesar hotel and it is such a wonderful hotel with great Tibetan designs in its interior. Kinda regretted not taking photos of the room's and hallways' design. It's pretty cool.

 Tashilhunpo monastery from the front entrance. 

Nope this is not everything!

The next morning we went to the Tashilhunpo monastery, which is the biggest monastery (by size) in Tibet. It is a beautiful monastery on a foot of a hill. And you can see how huge it is from the entrance of the monastery. We'll probably need around 2 days to explore the whole of the monastery ground haha. The monastery is built in 1447 and it is an important monastery for the Panchen Lama lineage. Tombs of the previous Panchen Lamas can also be found here. I didn't take photos of the interior though.

 A Tibetan lady doing prostration in front of the stupa

We first went to the three stupas near the entrance of the monastery. Locals can be seen doing a Kora around the three stupas, and some of them were doing prostrations too. I walked around the stupas three times as told by my guide, chanting some mantras as I walked around them. After doing so, while waiting for the others to finish taking photos, I sat on this chair together with the locals. They are so so friendly. So I had a funny conversation with this old man (with a translation help from our guide).

 The three stupas I walked around

So I was checking the photos I took on my camera when this man beside me looked on my screen. I showed some of the photos I took and he gave me his thumbs. We then had this conversation:

Old man: Where is he from? (In Tibetan)

My guide: In-do-ni-si-ya (This is how I know he's asking where I'm from)

Old man: Oh so we're neighbours! (Thinking I'm from India)

The two of us broke into laughter and we told him where Indonesia actually is. 

And he's like "Ohh so far!"

I asked if I can take a photo of him and he gladly said okay. I showed him his photo and he was just smiling. It was a funny conversation and I just love how friendly the locals are. I truly wish I can speak Tibetan and chat together with the locals. That will be so cool.

Tashilhunpo monastery is also home to the biggest Maitreya Buddha statue in Tibet. It is (if I don't remember wrongly) 26m tall and it is sooooo tall. The Buddha was posed in the sitting position and it is really huge and beautiful. The golden face of Maitreya was lit by the sun rays penetrating through the top of the hall. I couldn't stop staring at the statue when I was there. It's so majestic.

 One of the tombs of the Panchen Lama (centre)

And that's the courtyard

We then visited to the different tombs of the previous Panchen Lamas. Like the tombs of the Dalai Lamas in the Potala, the tombs of the Panchen Lama are also beautifully decorated with gold and jewels. There are different halls that houses the tombs of the different Panchen Lamas. Many locals prayed in front of the tombs to pay respect to the different Panchen Lamas. I prayed and paid my respect to them too, after all they are an important lineage in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.

 A section of the wall of the courtyard, with many paintings of the Buddha

After that we went to explore other parts of the monastery. There was a courtyard with a lot of paintings of the Buddha surrounding its walls. The Buddhas are painted in their different positions - teaching, meditating and resting. Many locals hang out at the courtyard. Most of them are probably resting after their prayers. We also managed to talk with a few young monks of the monastery! Some of them as young as me, and some even younger. Managed to take a few photos of the monks :)

 3 handsome monks from Tashilhunpo

It was indeed a beautiful morning at Tashilhunpo. The sky was blue and the weather was very pleasant. We then headed off for lunch nearby the monastery and after lunch, we were given a choice of either going shopping or going for a climb on the hill behind the monastery. This hill is part of a Kora route that the locals would take, going around the monastery. Well my luggage was already so full so I decided to go for the hike with Karli, Will and Richard! Although I ended up buying some stuff haha.

 The trail we walked on the Kora route

The route of the Kora is really beautiful. It is lined with prayer wheels on the right where locals would spin as they go along. On the left is the hill, which is decorated with prayer flags and also paintings of different Buddhas, Bodhisatvas and Deities on the rock. Also not forgetting, the number of mantras carved on rocks! It was a pretty sunny afternoon. Halfway along our hike I went to take off my jacket. It was probably the first time that I was sweating in Tibet haha. But it was a pretty lovely hike!

 Taking a break with this view. Priceless

At the top of our journey we were gifted with a beautiful view of Shigatse from the top. Seeing the houses so small from the top is a pretty amazing experience. We took a break at this spot that displays a wonderful  view of the city. Was feeling so thankful that I decided to join the hike.

 Tibetan men playing a Tibetan traditional game of sho

We then made our way down but instead of going the original Kora route, we took another route that passes the old town of Shigatse. And then we ended the trip on the old market where lots of locals were selling gifts and other Tibetan goodies. That's when I went shopping haha. Bought more gifts to bring back home and I also got myself a prayer flag with Richard. Yay for the offer the seller gave us.

It was close to 5 PM-ish when we finished our day. So we headed back to our hotel, took a break and we went for dinner. That was all for our adventure in Shigatse! I had a really lovely dinner with the group. And that evening made me realise how much I'm going to miss this bunch of people.

This was my 6th day in Tibet and I just fell in love more and more with her. The friendliness of the people, their devotion and compassion really humbled my heart. Discovering and exploring more and more beautiful places as the day went by felt pretty overwhelming (in a good way) for me. It is always in the middle of the journey that you realised how fast time is flying. I couldn't believe myself either, that we were halfway through the trip. But well, time always moves on.

Shigatse is a lovely city. On my 2nd last day in Tibet, when we were back in Shigatse for one night, I went to walk around the hotel area just to soak in the sights of the city. I wanted to walk from the hotel to Tashilhunpo again but I thought it was a bit too far and I was afraid I didn't have enough time.

Thanks for everything Shigatse! See you again, hopefully, one fine day.