The village of Piyang (4180m) lies at the foot of a large ridge honeycombed with thousands of caves and topped with a ruined monastery and two caves with fine murals. It's an fabulously atmospheric place to explore. The ruins of the original monastery and its huge central chörten lie just across the river.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
16.69 MILES
This large building was constructed around 1470. The beautiful murals were repainted around 1630, shortly before the fall of the Guge kingdom. The…
16.67 MILES
The large Lhakhang Karpo holds the oldest paintings at Tsaparang and is probably the most important chapel in all of Ngari. The murals date back to the…
16.67 MILES
This small building was a private shrine for Tsaparang’s prefect or regent. The caretaker has named it the ‘Drölma Lhakhang’ after his own sculpture of…
13.74 MILES
Once the main building in the Thöling complex, Yeshe Ö’s Mandala Chapel was also known as the Golden Chapel. All the images have been destroyed but the…
13.7 MILES
The entry to this side chapel is marked by a finely carved deodar (cedar) door frame that originated in India. Inside are vibrant 15th- and 16th-century…
13.74 MILES
The dimly lit chamber of the dukhang has especially fine wall murals, showing strong Kashmiri and Nepali influences; bring a powerful torch (flashlight)…
16.7 MILES
The murals in this small chapel are painted red and gold, and are almost solely devoted to wrathful deities in ecstatic yab-yum pose, such as Demchok …
16.94 MILES
Accessed by a steep and easily missed eroded staircase (now with an iron railing in place), the palace is an amazing ant nest of rooms tunnelled into the…
Nearby attractions
1.64 MILES
Fans of inner Asian art should visit Dungkhar (4250m) for its 800-year-old Kashmiri-Central Asian style wall paintings. There are three main caves in a…
12.74 MILES
If you have time to kill in Zanda, drive 4km east of town to this ancient iron link suspension bridge over the Sutlej River. It's thought to be one of the…
13.65 MILES
A few steps east of the Thöling Monastery compound in Zanda is the recently restored Serkhang chörten. A similar chörten stands in total isolation just to…
13.7 MILES
The entry to this side chapel is marked by a finely carved deodar (cedar) door frame that originated in India. Inside are vibrant 15th- and 16th-century…
13.74 MILES
The dimly lit chamber of the dukhang has especially fine wall murals, showing strong Kashmiri and Nepali influences; bring a powerful torch (flashlight)…
13.74 MILES
Founded by Rinchen Zangpo in the 10th century, Thöling Monastery was once Ngari’s most important monastic complex. Atisha stayed here for three years…
13.74 MILES
Once the main building in the Thöling complex, Yeshe Ö’s Mandala Chapel was also known as the Golden Chapel. All the images have been destroyed but the…
16.54 MILES
North of the main entrance to Tsaparang a trail follows a green river valley down about 700m to a cave on the left that holds the mummified remains of…