Top Choice Buddhist Monastery in Samye
Samye Monastery
About 170km southeast of Lhasa, on the north bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra River) is Samye Monastery, the first monastery in Tibet. Founded in 775 by King Trisong Detsen, Samye is famed not just for its p…
Top Choice Buddhist Temple in Samye
Ütse
The central building of Samye, the Ütse comprises a unique synthesis of architectural styles. The ground and 1st floors were originally Tibetan in style, the 2nd floor was Chinese and the 3rd floor Khotanese. The co…
Top Choice Buddhist Site in Samye
Chim-puk Hermitage
Chim-puk Hermitage is a collection of cave shrines northeast of Samye that grew up over the centuries around the meditation retreat of Guru Rinpoche. Chim-puk's Tantric practitioners were once famed for their abilit…
Top Choice Monastery in Yarlung Valley
Tradruk Monastery
Dating back to the 7th-century reign of Songtsen Gampo, Tradruk is one of the earliest Buddhist temples in Tibet. It was founded at the same time as Lhasa's Jokhang and Ramoche to act as one of Tibet’s demoness-subd…
Top Choice Buddhist Monastery in Gongkar
Gongkar Chöde Monastery
Surprisingly large, the Sakyapa-school Gongkar Chöde Monastery, founded in 1464, is famous for its 16th-century Kyenri-style murals. It lies 400m south of the highway, around 10km from the airport, along the road to…
Top Choice Cave in Drak Valley
Drak Yangdzong Caves
From Chusi Nunnery it’s a tough 1½-hour climb up to the Drak Yangdzong caves. Access to the upper caves is via a 10m ladder secured with strips of yak hide. Note that the caves are very narrow and slippery in places…
Viewpoint in Samye
Hepo Ri
Hepo Ri is the hill some 400m east of Samye where Guru Rinpoche vanquished the demons of Tibet. A 30-minute climb up the side ridge brings you to an incense burner festooned with prayer flags and superlative views o…
Historic Building in Yarlung Valley
Yumbulagang
A fine, tapering finger of a structure that sprouts from a craggy ridge overlooking the patchwork fields of the Yarlung Valley, Yumbulagang is considered the oldest building in Tibet. At least that is the claim for …
Buddhist Monastery in Lhoka Prefecture
Dorje Drak Monastery
Along with Mindroling Monastery, Dorje Drak (3520m) is one of the two most important Nyingmapa monasteries in Ü, both considered among the six great Nyingmapa monasteries in Tibet. With a remote and romantic locatio…
Buddhist Monastery in Mindroling
Mindroling Monastery
Although a small monastery was founded at the present site of Mindroling as early as the 10th century, the date usually given for the founding of Mindroling is the mid-1670s. The founding lama, Terdak Lingpa (1646–1…