After a night in Gyantse we continued towards Mount Everest, with an overnight stop in Shigatse. We arrived in the early afternoon and spent the day on the circuit around Tashilhunpo Monastery, lazing in the warm sun. Pilgrims circle the monastery on the lingkhor, a sacred path outside the walls – from the slope above, the whole complex lies spread out below you.
Sunset over Tashilhunpo
We enjoyed the sunset up there, looking out over the valley and the monastery while the clouds and mountains turned orange and red. The only thing that spoiled the view: the watery Lhasa swill they call beer there.
Dogs on the village street near Gyantse, a snow-covered mountain range behind.Brown hills and snowy peaks on the road from Gyantse to Shigatse.In Tashilhunpo Monastery a red door, gold scrolls and a ring with a tassel.Behind a white curtain, the large, brightly painted prayer wheel in Tashilhunpo.Between two blurred wheels, flags and a white building in Tashilhunpo.A pilgrim walks along the row of golden prayer wheels in Shigatse.Carved into the rock, the letters picked out in colour: a mantra.Two large prayer wheels in a dark room, script on the metal, in black and white.Behind blurred golden prayer wheels, pilgrims sit in Shigatse.Colourful prayer flags rise from a white wall corner into the sky.Three rows of colourful prayer flags run in front of the clouds over Shigatse.White buildings of Tashilhunpo climb the slope, the mountain behind them bare.Prayer flags on poles on a roof, blue sky and clouds above them.Under a canopy in Shigatse, men stand around a billiard table.Meat hangs from hooks under the canopy, a market stall in Shigatse.Shigatse in the evening light, houses packed close, the valley and mountains behind.The mountain ridges near Shigatse in the last evening light, the sky still bright.Dark clouds over the mountains near Shigatse, a band of evening light beneath.White walls of Tashilhunpo with a dark roof edge, two figures along them.An orange cloud in the evening sky over Shigatse, the line of mountains below.Behind the barred window of an eatery in Shigatse, a person looks out.In the Tibetan teahouse a man sits on the patterned bench, the bowl on the table.
