Update:  Here’s what we’ve been talking about doing.  

Route:  Lhasa, Onphu Taksang, Daglha Gampo, double back and walk down the Kyirong valley to Tsalung and the caves at Drakmar.  All of these are off the beaten track, permits and guides will be hard to come by, and we’d have to carry our own gear.  Our motto (Marion):  “Hard Travel to Airless Places.”  1 month door-to-door.  (We always request a permit for Lhodrak, but I don’t think that will never be opened to westerners.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It appears the Kyirong pass into Tibet is now open and is being actively promoted.  The permit situation is always dicey.

The intention (see “preferred route” below) was to approach Kyirong from the north, by way of the north-south trending valley that starts in Dzongkha  (see map 2886 under “Milarepa’s Homeland,” below–Dzongkha is just west of lake Pelku Tso).  The plan was to start that section after visiting Daglha Gampo and Onphu Taksang.  West from Lhasa, visit Onphu and Daglha, then double back to visit Milarepa’s homeland and retreat area.  If a route north through Kyirong that comes in from Nepal is offered, that could be taken under consideration.

Trans-Himalaya made an offer that’s detailed below (see “offered route” below), but Gyurme Dorje, unfortunately, is no longer with us.  

Where We’ve Been So Far: 

Maps referred to by number are here: http://www.tibetmap.org/eros3br.html

So far we’ve been to Yerpa, Kailash, Guge, Tsaparing, Shugseb, Samye, Chimphu, sites in Yarlung (Crystal Cave and others), Ramdung, Everest north face, Tsogyal Lhatso, Lapchi (from the Nepal side) lots of places in Lhasa, and the caves along the Tsangpo (Dorje Drak, Drak Yongdzong). Lhodrak is closed, Rongshar, Drin and Lapchi from the Tibetan side are difficult at present.  Tsari is a headache, but Roger seems to thing he might be able to figure something out.

 

Maps and Places We’ve Been To, and Places We Want to Go To:

     (Google Maps links–zoom in, zoom out–great fun):

     East from Lhasa, along the Tsangpo River, to Yarlung

Yerpa
Tsurphu
Shugseb / Gangri Tokar
Tsogyal Lhatso
Mindroling
Drak Yongdzong
Yamalung
Samye
Chimphu
Crystal Cave / Sheldrake
Daglha Gampo

    Northeast

Drigung Til

    South to Lhodrak

Lhodrak & Sekhar Gutok
Pemaling Gompa

    Lapchi

Lapchi (Nepal side)

    Western Tibet

Jonang stupa
Kailash-north face hotel
Manasarover_Gossul Gompa
Guge
Tirthapuri

    Tsari

Tsari

More here from Nekhor

Maps Annotated with Prospective Routes:

Lhasa to Onphu Taksang to Daglha Gompa to Lhodrak

Lhasa_Onphu_Lhodrak_smaller

Onphu Taksang

OnphuTaksang_detail

Daglha Gampo

Daglha Gampo_detail

Chuwar, Drin, Rongshar

Jonang

Kyirong-Tsalung

Dorje Drak, Yarlung

Tsari

 

Map resources (these map links sometimes work, sometime don’t, depends on the mood of the CCP)

North and East of Lhasa

1. Drak Yerpa (Guru Rinpoche & Tibetan kings cave complex) (map 2991)

 South of Lhasa and east along the Tsangpo (all map 2991)

1. Shugseb and Gangri Tokar (Longchenpa’s retreat area, just south of Lhasa, also stop at Nyethang Drolma Lhakhang)
2. Tsogyal Lhatso (Yeshe Tsogyal’s homeland)
3. The caves of Drak Yongdzong and Dzong Kumbum
4. Samye and Samye Chimphu
5. Onphu Taksang, and Kachu Monastery
6. Sheldrake (Crystal Cave-Yarlung Valley)
7. Daglha Gampo (Gampopa’s monastery) (map 2992)

Milarepa’s retreat area: (map 2886)

1. Rongshar valley south to–
2. Chuwar and Drin
3. Over the Kangchen la to Lapchi (Tibetan side)

Milarepa’s homeland (map 2885)

1. From Dzongka south to Kyirong and the Valley of Happiness
2. Tsalung (Milarepa’s birthplace)
3. Drakar Gompa, Riwo Pelbar, and Ragma

Footprints Tours no longer runs a tour to Kyirong, but there is a good description of the route they used to take here: http://www.greenkiwi.co.nz/footprints/frames/vh.htm

South from Yarlung and west to Lhodrak (map 2890)

1. Lhodrak, Sekar Guthok, Drowolung, and lake Pemaling (NW of Drowolung, past Chupak)
2. Yamdrok Tso, and Samding Gompa

(–this link comes and goes–stories of Drowolung might be here: http://blog.ifeng.com/article/1241722.html

Far west from Lhasa

1. Pindsoling and the Jonang stupa (map 2987)
2. Kailash and Manasarover (map 3081)
3. Tirthapuri (map 3180)
4. Guge and Tsaparing (map 3179)

Tsari

1. From Chikchar, south to circumambulate Mt. Dakpa Sheltri (Kang Pema Ri) (map 2893 and 2892)
2. Circumambulate to Chozam, 7-10 days.

 

Preferred Route–Lhasa, Onphu Taksang (Yeshe Tsogyal’s retreat), Daglha Gampo (Gampopa), then back to Kyirong, Tsalung (Mila’s home village), ending up in Drakar (Mila’s retreat area). The itinerary would be (roughly): Day 1-3 arrive & acclimate, 4-Shugseb, 5-Tsurphu & kora, 6-Onphu Taksang, 7-Dalglha, 8-to Gyatse from Tsetang via Yamdrok, 9-Dingri, 10-south to Dzongka, to Kyirong & Valley of Happiness (!), 11-Tsalung, 12-Drakar Gompa, Riwo Pelbar, Ragma, 12-Shigatse, 14-Lhasa, 15 depart.

From Yarlung we could try going for the Yeshe Tsogyal cave up by Crystal Cave, though we would have to start the climb at 3AM or earlier.

From Kailash one needs a permit for Tirthapuri.  The road to Darchen has now been paved.

Offered Route

About the only place that came back with a coherent itinerary for us was Gyurme at Trans-Himalaya, and they seem to have evaporated.

This is what I got back from them (edited version):

Day 04 Lhasa-Shugseb- Lhasa
Day 05 Lhasa- Tsurphu-short kora- Lhasa
Day 06 Lhasa-Tsetang- Keru Lhakhang-Chabtang- trek Onphu Taktsang (Camping)
Day 07 Onphu Taktsang-trek Chabtang- drive Zangri- Gyatsa
Day 08 Gyatsa-drive Daklha Gampo- Gyatsa
Day 09  Gyatsa-drive Zangri (Machik Lhakhang)-Tsetang

We’ve been at the other places they suggested before and after this list, thus the edited version.  Spending some time at Daglha Gampo, maybe 2 days, would be nice.  Khenpo Kunga (Mingyur Rinpoche’s right-hand man) has a friend there who could probably show us around.  I pointed out to Trans-Himalaya that Tsalung (Mila’s home) and Kyirong were missing from their itinerary (Kyirong is now open) and they got back with this:

“You could visit Taklung (north of Lhasa), Drigung and Reting instead of Zhigatse and Dingri if that would be of interest. Some places in Kongpo (excluding Lamaling unfortunately) are also open.”

Drigung is supposed to be very cool.  They are famous for their sky-burial site.  We saw the beginning of a sky burial during our early-morning climb to Sheldrake before we were shooed away.  

 

Resources:

Online map of Tibet:      http://www.tibetmap.org/eros3br.html

This site sometimes disappears from the internet, so it’s worth using an application like SiteSucker to download the whole thing.

 

Written guides to pilgrimage in Tibet:

2. Tibet Handbook by Victor Chan. This guide is about 1000 pages, a doorstop. Travelers refer to it as “Vic the Brick.”  The maps are not so great, but if they’re used as a general reference, one can figure out places and routes by comparing Victor’s maps with the online map of Tibet
3. Tibet Guide by Gyurme Dorje. Gyurme Dorje was a westerner who ran a travel agency from London
4. The Power Places of Central Tibet by Keith Dowman Good descriptions, reasonable maps.
5. Trekking in Tibet by Gary McCue

 

Travel agents:           

Shigatse Travels  Contact is Rene.  Genden left to form his own agency. Shigatse Travels  is the agency that took us to Kailash and then to the caves along the Tsangpo, Yarlung, and Sheldrake.  Our guide was Tendzin.

Raphaele (French woman who books Matthieu’s travel) suggests Fuching [email protected]    and   Jampa http://[email protected] or, better:  [email protected]   They are pals.  Jampa is the most responsive to emails.  Jampa seems to think Kyirong is open, as well as Daglha Gampo and Onphu Taksang.  Permits are a problem.  He knows a guide who knows Kyirong and the old Milarepa places.

Gyurme Dorje wrote the footprint guide to Tibet.  He was a great source, but he’s departed this mortal coil.  

HTT Tibet Contact is Karma Khampa ([email protected]). Suggested by Gary McCue (author of one of the travel guides).  

Road To Tibet, suggested by Dechen Yeshe Wangmo (we traveled to Tsogyal Lhatso with her).  Contact there is Woeser.   It appears he specializes in Kham.

Kawa Karpo Adventures was suggested by Catharine Serret, who runs the Chengdu office for Global Nomad (Marion’s outfit).

She also suggests Tibet Wind Horse

This place, Tibet Travel, sends me lots of emails.  They seem very commercially oriented.

Drin and the Tibet side of Lapchi appear to be off-limits.

Snow Jewel   Roger

The Jonang Foundation runs trips to Kham and the Jonang stupa.