Tuesday October 14, 2025
We got packed up and drove from Shigatse
to Dingri which was 5 hours or more away. We stopped at Tashilunpo Monastery in
Shigatse, which is the residence of Panchen Lamas. The Panchen Lama is one of
the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority
second only to the Dalai Lama.
Tashilhunpo Monastery was founded in
1447 by Gyalwa Gendun Drup (1st Dalai Lama) and is a historically and
culturally important monastery. Its name means "heap of glory" or
"all fortune and happiness gathered here". Painted in red and white,
the buildings in the Kloster stand closely together in terraced rows, offering
a grand and majestic view. The 5-story temple contains an 86 ft high sitting
statue of the Maitreya Buddha which is cast from 6,700 ounces of gold and
over 115,000 kg of copper, making it the biggest copper Buddhist statue in the
world.
I may have mentioned that our guide
was hard to understand, and he also didn’t seem to understand us when we asked
questions. We really didn’t learn anything about the places we visited with
him. Just lots of words that he never explained. Past, Present and Future Buddhas,
Pachen Lama, this and that kind of Lama and this number Dalai Lama or that. So,
we were frustrated with his guiding style. Nice guy, but he just never really
talked to us. The driver got high marks for his driving skills on the curvy,
heavily trafficked roads. However, he never waited until we were all seated
before he started driving. On a totally generic note the van was hard to see
out of due to small windows and lots of wide trim right where you’d want to see
out with lots of curtains in the way. It was really the only vehicle we saw
transporting tourists, so it’s just what they use there.
We did observe throughout our whole
trip that the devout leave money at each deity, directly to the monks to pray
for them and really on just about everything in the monastery. There were stacks
of money, snacks, drinks, fruits etc. The yak butter they burn is symbolic of
gold and melted for liquid gold.
We stopped at the 5,000 km (approx. 3,100 mile) marker in Lhatse, Tibet. It is a notable roadside landmark on China National Highway signifying the distance from the road's starting point in Shanghai.
After driving for a while we stopped at Qomolangma National Nature Preserve for fabulous views of the Himilayas and of course the highest and most prominent mountain in the park is Mount Everest at 29,029 ft and the world’s highest summit. "Qomolangma" is the Tibetan name for Mount Everest.
We finished the drive and checked into the Everest International Hotel in Tingri. (known as Dingri or Tingri) Dinner at the hotel was shredded pork with garlic shoots which was kind of a cross with a green bean texture or green onion tops with rice. Quite tasty!
It was an early to bed night as we
needed to be up at 4:30 for a 6:00 start to see the sunrise at Mt. Everest.
(this wasn’t part of our program, but I’m glad the guide added it)
Photo Album: Tashilunpo Monastery, Qomolangma National Nature Preserve - Shigatse to Dingri,Tibet https://photos.app.goo.gl/oc16UaLKCcfEzsqe7
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