Day 10 - Gyantse or Bust, Part Deux

Today we went to Tashilhunpo Monestary. It is the traditional monastery of the Panchen Lama. He is the second highest lama in Tibet. The "Dollie" Lama is the highest. Our first chapel was the burial stupa of the tenth Panchen Lama. In Tibet, the lamas are cremated and their ashes buried in a stupa Very young children, two and younger, are placed in boxes and buried on top of the mountains. The funerary practice for the remaining Tibetans is the sky burial. Corpses of the dead are chopped up in designated high places and fed to the birds. Believing in reincarnation, the body is no longer of any value and leaving your body to serve as food for birds and animals is viewed as a final gift from the deceased.

Tashihunpo Monastery 

The stupa we saw today held the ashes of the tenth Panchen Lama. He died 18 years ago. It was more elaborate than any chapel that we have seen so far. We met up with a group of American teachers who were touring Tibet on their way home. We had a lady from Ohio join our group for a while. Her guide was Chinese and didn't know too much about the Tibetan Buddhist religion. She liked our tour guide better. Even though this temple belongs to the Yellow Hat sect (just like Sera, Ganden, Deprung, and the Potala), you could see some differences in the buildings and interior decoration. Both Kim and I were not feeling that good this morning. I was surprised how much climbing and walking we did.

On our way out of town, we stopped at a local supermarket. Now this remotely looked a little more like Wegmans or Giant Eagle. I don't think the store employees see many Westerners in their store. We had fun trying to figure out what was in each package. I saw something that looked like gummy worms, but I was not convinced that they weren't actually worms. Then I came upon a familiar product. M&M's in any language is sweet! I got several bags.

We had a hour and a half drive to Gyantse. Just outside of town we again encountered road construction. We were rerouted quite a few miles over a very bumpy dirt road. It rained the night before and the giant ruts were filled with water. We had to keep our windows rolled up to avoid getting muddy showers. We both needed to use a bathroom at this point and our bladders got a good workout as our Land Cruiser raced towards Gyantse. We finally made it.

We stoped at the Pelkor Chode Monastery. Inside was the Gyanste Kumbum. It was like a pagoda with 77 chapels.

Gyantse Kumbum 

Dinners are always on our own. This is our time to do a bit of exploring and check out the surroundings. We often consult our copy of the Lonely Planet book for their suggestions as to were to eat. Walking into restaurants in this county is a crap shoot at best, so we want to make sure we go to the "best" eating establishments the towns have to offer. We found our way to are commended restaurant that specializes in sweet and sour chicken. When it was time for our dinner to be prepared, we were motioned into the kitchen to watch the fireworks. The cook had huge flames shooting out of his wok as he turned towards us posing for the photos that he knew would follow.

Chinese Restaurant 

We are back in our room now. Jon just opened up a box of pseudo-animal crackers. They have an awful aftertaste. We both agreed that it is gasoline. I ate one and must now open up another bottle of expired water to wash away the taste. Jon, on the other hand, doesn't mind eating gas soaked crackers and continues to eat them. Stay tuned to find out who's sick tomorrow.