Shelkar ཤེལ་དཀར, also known as New Tingri, is 7kms off of Highway 318 as you approach Dram from Shigatse along the Friendship Highway in the Tsang region of Tibet. In Tibetan, Shelkar means "white crystal". Even though scores of tourists pass through the region each year along the way to Mt. Everest Base Camp, relatively few people make it to Shelkar. Lying at 4150m above sea level, the village of Shelkar is not a bad place to spend the day, especially if you like hiking.
There are two main attractions in Shelkar. The first is the Shelkar Chode Monastery. This Gelugpa sect monastery was founded in 1266. Though in the past it was home to several hundred monks, today there are only a couple dozen or so living at the monastery. The hike up to the monastery will offer good views of the the village below. The monks are friendly and usually don't ask for any admittance fee like many of the other monasteries in the area do. People from the village below can often be found walking the small kora around the monastery.
The second attraction in Shelkar is the Shelkar Dzong (dzong means "fort). The remains of the fort lie above the monastery. The fort lies at the top of the mountain which is at least 1000m above the rest of the town. It is quite a hike and will take around 4 hours to reach the top. From the top, you will be rewarded with a good view of Mt. Everest. The trail leading to the top is decent for the most part, but some sections are in disrepair so make sure you have good hiking shoes on and watch your step. If you are unsure of which way to go, teen-aged guides can be hired in town for about Y40 to take you to the top. These guides don't speak English, but do speak standard Lhasa dialect as well as standard Chinese.
If you want to enjoy a nice hike and not be around lots of other tourists, make Shelkar a stop along your way to Everest or the Nepal border.
For more information about Shelkar or other areas of Tibet, please send an email to [email protected]
People there must be very strong climbing the streets
Posted by: Winstrol | January 18, 2011 at 08:51 PM
I went through Shekar in 1986 with a Tibetan guide. There were 2 elderly monks who told us they were the only survivors of the Chinese during the Cultural Revolution. The army forced the 200 monks to place explosives in the monastery and to blow up the buildings. Afterwards, they used machine guns to kill all monks except the 2 I met. They were told to tell other towns what happens if anyone resisted the army . The old monks were crying as they told us the story. There was one main building that was rebuilt and ceremonies were held there. I is a beautiful place, but it is good to know what the Chinese really did in Tibet.
Posted by: Mike; going to Kham soon cannot give name | August 03, 2010 at 03:22 PM
Great pictures. Congratulations to the author! Nicely done.
Posted by: bookie software | July 22, 2010 at 09:28 PM
Wow... great post! i am also going to go to china after couple of months! it amazing i am very excited to go! but this post has increased my excitement!!
Posted by: Pablo S | February 08, 2010 at 07:22 PM
I've been there, the place is amazing and it feels very peaceful there.
I would like to get back there someday. Here's a picture I took of the town: http://foto.md/ro/uphoto/28406
And by the way, I spelled the name for the town: Xegar. But it's obviously the same town.
Posted by: Serge | January 12, 2010 at 05:28 AM
While you are there, also enquire about all the ruins, both visible and hidden, and how shelkar looked before the "reforms" in the 1950's.
Posted by: shelkar | December 27, 2009 at 03:34 AM