Shigatses

An excellent excursion from Lhasa is a circuit that takes in the towns of Shigatse, Gyantse and Tsetang. It offers a comprehensive experience of Tibet in a neat itinerary.

Shigatse lies some 274km to the west of Lhasa and is Tibet’s second largest city. The highway runs alongside the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) river passing through narrow gorges and broad river valleys. Farmers plowing their fields with yaks, sheep grazing on the vast plains, awesome sand dunes and rocky hills in the distance are the scenic rewards of this journey.

The Tashilhunpo Monastery, built in 1447 by the first Dalai Lama, is Shigatse’s most important cultural and religious site. The main chapel here contains a huge 26meter high statue of Maitreya, the future Buddha. Other buildings contain images of Shakyamuni (the present Buddha), white and green Taras and embalmed bodies of past Panchen Lamas.