Shigatze and Gyantze

Shigatze is famous for Tashilunpu, (12,000-13,000 feet) once a monastic-city and home to the Panchen Lama, the second most important religious figure in Tibet. It houses the gigantic (926 meters high) figure of a Maitreya Buddha, the Future Buddha, whose body consists of 300 kilos of gold plus 150 metric tons of copper and brass studded with precious stones. Another chapel also houses the silver and gold chorten-tomb of the 4th Dalai Lama.

In Gyatze the Palkor Chode and the Kumbum are two of the most exquisite religious buildings in Tibet. The former has 14th century murals which survived the Cultural Revolution, a chapel for wrathful deities with murals of cemeteries and masks used in ceremonial dances. Upstairs there is a huge three-dimensional bronze mandala. Immediately next door, the Kumbum, a white, wedding cake like building has eight stories and 71 chapels whose walls glow with the rich crimsons and deep greens of 15th century murals.

We will stay in small, simple hotels with private baths while visiting these towns. Our next stop is the sacred mountain, Kailash.