Lhasa
Hikers and anyone who likes to get well off the beaten track will enjoy this excursion to Tibet’s largest nunnery, set in a large natural bowl about 55km…
Must-see attractions in Tibet
Lhasa
The Lukhang is a little-visited temple on a charming island in a lake, behind the Potala in the pleasant Dzongyab Lukhang Park. The Lukhang is celebrated…
Lhasa
The New Summer Palace in the centre of the Norbulingka's park was built by the present Dalai Lama between 1954 and 1956 and is the most interesting of the…
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Though this small branch of Lhasa's Sera Monastery may not look like much, home to only three or four monks at a time who are sent for a year to maintain…
Eastern Tibet
This small Gelugpa monastery dates from the 7th century, when it was built at the command of King Songtsen Gampo as one of the demoness-subduing temples;…
Tsang
Just visible across the river from the road between Lhasa and Shigatse is the Bönpo Yungdrungling Monastery. The monastery, founded in 1834, was once the…
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Just 2km southeast of Nyima Jiangre, Sha is dedicated to the Dzogchen suborder. A highlight of the monastery is the pair of 9th-century doring (inscribed…
Eastern Tibet
This Gelugpa monastery, dating to 1595, is home to 40 monks and nuns and is worth a visit if you have a couple of spare hours in Pasho. There's a daily…
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There are two separate monastery buildings near the Tashi Dor camp. The further of the two from the main Tashi Dor tourist compound is the main monastery…
Lhasa
About 3km west of the Potala Palace is the Norbulingka, the former summer residence of the Dalai Lama. The lifeless temple-like buildings rank well behind…
Eastern Tibet
Two kilometres southeast of Bayi a stand of ancient cypress trees dot a steep but inviting hillside. The most venerable cypress is a reported 2500 years…
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Strip down and hop into this medicinal natural hot spring said to cure everything from rheumatism to paralysis, separated by sexes into two partially…
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It is possible to head up the valley directly behind Samye to the Yamalung (also called Emalung) Hermitage, visible on the cliff face high above the…
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The 13-storey chörten, built in 1472, was one of the largest in Tibet, with an attendant monastery of 200 monks, before it was dynamited by the Chinese in…
Shigatse
Just a few kilometres outside of Shigatse, this 12th-century Kadampa monastery is famed for wood-block printing the Nartang canon in the 18th century…
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Gangpo Ri (4130m) is of special significance for Tibetans as the legendary birthplace of the Tibetan people, where Chenresig in the form of a monkey mated…
Lhasa
Palha Lu-puk (next to Drubthub Nunnery) is an atmospheric cave temple said to have been the 7th-century meditational retreat of King Songtsen Gampo. The…
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A minor site thought to date back to 1017, Tangboche Monastery is about 15km southwest of Tsetang on the way to Chongye. Atisha, the renowned Bengali…
Lhasa
Below the main assembly hall, the rather innocuous-looking Nyare Kangtsang houses a controversial statue of the deity Dorje Shugden, worship of which has…
Summer Palace of the 13th Dalai Lama
Lhasa
The summer palace of the 13th Dalai Lama (Chensek Podrang) is in the western section of the Norbulingka. The ground-floor assembly hall is stuffed full of…
Tsang
On a tse (peak) said to resemble a wild yak, this Yellow Hat monastery was founded in 1442, and later adopted as a branch of Tashilhunpo. In the gönkhang …
Tsang
Little is left of the original monastery complex that once sprawled across the hills north of the Trum-chu. The northern monastery predates the main…
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Legend has it that this combined Nyingmapa- and Kagyupa-order monastery was founded by the 7th-century King Songtsen Gampo, who was led here by the Buddha…
Eastern Tibet
Today the Nyingmapa school Dola Gompa Monastery is home to 32 monks and nuns. The older lower chapel dates to the 9th century, but was undergoing a…
Lhasa
Entry to the Potala is up two steep access ramps that will soon leave you wheezing in the oxygen-depleted air. The stairs lead past the ticket office to…
Lhasa
This obscure and little-visited Nyingmapa-sect temple is dedicated to the central red-faced deity Tseumar, as well as Pehar (a protector linked to Samye)…
Retreat of the 13th Dalai Lama
Lhasa
South of the New Summer Palace is an artificial lake commissioned by the eighth Dalai Lama. The only pavilion open here at the time of research was the…
Tsang
This tiny one-room temple near the turn-off to Phuntsoling and Lhatse Chöde Monastery is very special. A larger monastery previously sat on this site, and…
Tsang
About 41km from Gyantse is the county capital of Panam and the 15th-century Changme Monastery. Levelled in the Cultural Revolution, the monastery was…
Lhasa
Southwest of the Potala, a road leads around the eastern side of Chagpo Ri, the hill that faces Marpo Ri, site of the Potala. Take this road past stone…
Tsang
Shegar is dominated by its 'crystal fort' (the word 'Shegar' means 'crystal' in Tibetan), one of Tibet's most fantastical, whose crumbling defensive walls…
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One of the only buildings of its type still standing in Tibet, Namseling Manor is a seven-storey family mansion that dates from the 17th century and was…
Tsang
This hugely atmospheric Red Hat sect temple is located east of Gyantse Dzong. The temple is dedicated to the 8th century Indian master Padmasambhava (aka…
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This 14th-century monastery was originally a Kagyu institution, but by the 18th century the Gelugpas had overtaken it with the blessing of the seventh…
Lhasa
A 30-minute hike from Tashi Chöling Hermitage climbs northeast up the ravine to the cliffside drubpuk (meditation caves) of Dadren Ritrö. You can see the…
Eastern Tibet
As the two resident monks explain, this Nyingmapa (Red Hat) sect monastery was founded in the 14th century when local monk Chu visited Lhasa's Jokhang…
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This white chörten just outside and below Mindroling Monastery was constructed in 2000 with Taiwanese funds. It replaces an original 13-storey chörten…
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This nunnery compound is home to the huge Kadam-style funeral chörten of Sangye On (1251–96), a master of the Taklung School and founder of the Riwoche…
Shigatse
Once the residence of the kings of Tsang and later the governor of Tsang, very little remained of this dzong (fort) after it was destroyed in the popular…
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The small nunnery of 70 nuns has strong connections to Yeshe Tsogyal, the wife of King Trisong Detsen and consort of Guru Rinpoche (who himself is said to…
