Gyantse

Gyantse is a small town south west of Lhasa. It is one of the few places where the Chinese have not changed much. Gyantse is known because of its Fortress, the Dzong, a very special building, the Kimbum, and a monastery, the Pelkor Chode. The reason why people build a town there is because of the trade in wool. The location was good because Gyantse was on the road to India. Nowadays it is close to the Friendship Highway. This is a road that literally makes its name true. It is a road that runs at a height of approximate 3500 m above sea level. But for the rest it does not look like a highway as we know it. It is a sandy road that now and than turns out to be jammed because of erosion. The Dzong Fort is build on a hill. You can visit it but than you must walk.

A little further down the road is a wall build around a monastery and a strange building called the Kumbum.

The monastery is called Pelkor Chode. It was founded in 1418. Formally there were a number of monasteries inside the walls but today there is just one left. It is visited by Gelugpa monks. The Kumbum is a building with a strange form. Inside it is even more strage because on the first 4 floors there are rooms that are only on 1 floor but also rooms that extend over 2 floors. Inside you can find a large number of statues. In the gallery of pictures attached to this page you can see a number of the thousand statues.