The Land of Snows

In Search of Gado Jowa

This past fall, I went on a journey searching for the holy mountain of Gado Jowa སྒ་སྟོད་ཇོ་བོ།. Most people are only familiar with one or two of Tibet's many holy mountains. Mt. Kailash གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ in far western Tibet's Ngari prefecture མངའ་རིས་ས་ཁུལ་ is the most well known, followed by Minyak Gongkar མི་ཉག་གངས་དཀར་ in Kham's Garnze prefecture དཀར་མཛེས་ཁུལ་, but most of Tibet's dozens of other holy mountains are virtually unknown. Gado Jowa is the most important holy mountain in northern Kham. It is located in Yushu prefecture ཡུལ་ཤུལ་ཁུལ་ in the remote county of Trindu ཁྲི་འདུ་རྫོང་, known as Chengduo in Chinese.

My journey to Gado Jowa began in the prefectural capital of Jyekundo. Jyekundo, of course, was destroyed by an earthquake in April of this year. The easiest way to get to Gado Jowa would be to head north from Jyekundo, but for this journey, I went northwest to Drido county འབྲི་སྟོད་རྫོང་, known as Zhiduo in Chinese. In Drido, I stayed at my old Tibetan teachers home for the night. I have several good friends from this rugged and remote region that I was happy to see. After a night in Drido, I was off in search of Gado Jowa. 

I had calculated that from Drido to the base of the mountain was roughly 215 kms (135 miles). This region is extremely remote and lies at an average elevation of 4300m (14,100 feet). The highest pass rises to 4812m (15,800 feet). Even in early October, the morning temperature was around -15C (5F). All of my bottled water in my SUV was frozen solid as were most of the food items I had. About 40 kms outside of Drido, I crossed over the first major bridge of the Yangtze River འབྲི་ཆུ་. The river already was beginning to freeze. Large chunks of ice were floating down the river. Most of the road was newly paved. Even with the good road, I only rarely came across another vehicle. This area of far northern Kham is very sparsely populated with only a few small towns. Fortunately, I filled my SUV with gas when I left Drido because I never came across a fuel station along this route.

The region around Gado Jowa is rugged. It is mostly high altitude grasslands with gently sloping mountains everywhere. This time of year, these mountains are all snow-capped. Large herds of yaks are everywhere along with gazelle, marmots, wolves and occasionally wild donkeys. Few foreigners have traveled along this route. Until just recently, the only way to get here was by a rough dirt road. Now, the road is nearly 90% paved. I was traveling at a good rate of speed when I noticed that my SUV was pulling to one direction. I stopped and checked my tires. Sure enough, the rear driver side tire was flat. I was still roughly 125 kms (78 miles) from the nearest town where it could be repaired. It was the first flat tire I had had on my 2009 Nissan Paladin. The spare tire had never been used. After changing the tire, I was on my way.

Shortly after the small town of Bagan in southeastern Chumarleb county ཆུ་དམར་ལེབ་རྫོང་, I caught my first glimpse of Gado Jowa. Though I had traveled this same route before, the last time it was snowing heavily making it impossible to see the mountain. This time though, the skies were cloudless. I could see all of the mountain as I looked at its western face. The mountain was covered in snow. The peak was jagged and triangular. I looked at my road atlas to find the best road that would take me close to the peak. I was using a detailed atlas that listed each county of the prefecture. Though it was written in Chinese, I knew most of the place names from years of studying the region. According to my map, I needed to go from Bagan to another small town called Zaduo. Zaduo was just inside of Trindu county coming from the west. Zaduo is a very small and dirty place. It has one road that runs through town. During the 1950's and 1960's, gold was found in this region. Abandoned gold mining equipment can be found throughout the area. 

When I reached Zaduo, I turned south off of the main road toward the town of Gado. I could see some of Gado Jowa, but was unsure about which road to take to get closer. I passed another vehicle with 4 passengers and asked them where to go. The four of them discussed the matter in Tibetan and then answered me in Chinese that the best way to get to the mountain was not from the Gado side, but from the Bagan side, which I had just come from 2 hours earlier. I asked them if there was any road on this side that would take me closer, but they didn't know of any. I decided to keep looking on my own. I turned down a narrow, rough, dirt road that went towards the direction of Gado Jowa. I drove down the road for about 4 kms and then the mountain appeared unobstructed. 

Gado Jowa isn't particularly high. It rises to around 5425m (17,800 feet). Though this would be an extremely high mountain in all other regions on earth, the Tibetan Plateau literally has thousands of mountains that are higher than this. To the Kham Tibetan people of this area, Gado Jowa is home to a protector deity. Each year, thousands of Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims set out to hike around the mountain. While it takes only a few days to complete the circuit of the mountain by hiking, many Tibetans prefer to prostrate around the mountain. Every third step they prostrate all the way to the ground causing the journey to take well over a week to complete. 

If you are looking for a Tibetan experience that is way off the beaten path, consider Gado Jowa and the far northern regions of Kham found in Yushu prefecture. This area is amazingly beautiful, is not listed in any guidebooks and is 100% Tibetan. There is no public transportation to Gado Jowa. Because of the high elevation in this area (average of 4300m), it is best to travel here by private vehicle in case of altitude related illness. 

For more information on Gado Jowa or any other region of the Tibetan Plateau, feel free to email me [email protected]

Sertar

Though I have lived and traveled across the Tibetan Plateau for nearly 9 years, there are still a few places I have not been to yet. One of those places was Sertar. I was finally able to visit Sertar last week and I was not disappointed. Sertar གསེར་ཐར་, also spelled Sertal, Serda and Seda, is a remote county found in Garnze Tibet Autonomous Prefecture. Though most of Garnze Prefecture དཀར་མཛེས་ཁུལ་ is considered to be the traditional Tibetan region of Kham, Sertar is technically an Amdo speaking area. It was considered to be part of the Golok region for many centuries. 

Sertar is remote, difficult to reach and is often closed to foreign travelers. The main attraction in this high altitude, nomadic region is the Larung Gar Buddhist Institute. It is the largest Buddhist Institute on the Tibetan Plateau with between 40,000 and 50,000 monks, nuns and lay students. In the late 19th century, the site was home to a small Nyingma sect hermitage. In 1980, Larung Gar was founded by the late Kenpo Jigme Phuntsok ཇིགས་མེད་ཕུན་ཚོགས་. The institute is well known not only among Tibetans, but also among ethnic Chinese. Roughly 5% of the students at Larung Gar are ethnic Chinese from across mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. These Chinese students pursue degrees in Buddhist philosophy, astronomy and medicine. Most of the Chinese students wear either the maroon clothes of the sangha (monk-hood) or long traditional style Tibetan robes (chuba). 

Larung Gar sits in a valley, about 4kms off of the main road and about 15kms before reaching the county town of Sertar. Huge prayer wheels mark the entrance to the institute. The campus is enormous...much larger than I ever imagined. Houses for monks and nuns sprawl all over the valley and up the surrounding mountains. A huge wall through the middle of Larung Gar separates the monk side from the nun side. Monks and nuns are not allowed out of their designated areas. A common area open to both monks and nuns is found in front of the main monastery assembly hall. The houses are all built in a wood style that is traditionally found in this region. The houses are built so close together that they are almost on top of each other. How the monks and nuns find their specific house among ten thousand plus houses is beyond me!

Sertar and Larung Gar Buddhist Institute are sensitive areas that are often closed to foreign travelers. It is difficult to predict if the area will be open or not. I asked several of the Tibetan owned travel agencies that I associate with and they said that, for the most part, they did not have any problems taking groups of foreign travelers to the Sertar area this year. They knew of a handful of groups that were denied entry, but that most were permitted to enter. What the situation will be like in 2011 is impossible to say. I went during the winter. The air temperature was  -20C (-3F) when I was there in December. The few police that I saw in the area were probably more concerned about staying warm than keeping an eye out for foreigners. Larung Gar sits at 4000m / 13,100 feet so make sure you are acclimatized before going there. Summers are pleasant, but winters are deathly cold with temperatures regularly reaching -25C (-13F).

In addition to nearly 50,000 monks, nuns and lay students, Larung Gar also attracts thousands of pilgrims, especially during the winter. Pilgrims from all over eastern Tibet arrive during the winter months to worship at the monastery and to hear a lecture from one of Larung Gar's many famous teachers. Getting to Sertar and Larung Gar is not easy. The Buddhist Institute is well over 600kms (375 miles) from Chengdu along horrible mountain roads. There is occasionally a direct bus to Sertar from Chengdu. Otherwise, you have to take a bus to Garnze (Ganzi) and then take a bus to Sertar. Keep in mind that Sertar often closes to foreign travelers.

If you have any questions about Sertar, Larung Gar Buddhist Institute or about any other region of Tibet, feel free to email me at [email protected]

 

Zoige

Zoige མཛོད་དགེ་, known as Ruo'ergai in Chinese, is a nomadic county located in northern Ngawa Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture རྔ་བ་ཁུལ་ in far northern Sichuan province. Located in the traditional Tibetan region of Amdo, Zoige is a large county lying between 3300m and 3500m above sea level. Though this area gets horrible reviews by most guidebooks, it is actually an amazing area, especially if you have an interest in Tibetan nomad culture. The county has a population of around 60,000 with over 90% of the people being Tibetan. Nearly the entire county is covered in high altitude grasslands which are perfect for herding yaks and sheep. During the summer, thousands of families live in traditional style yak wool tents on the grasslands.

The county capital of Zoige is a fairly modern town for the Tibetan Plateau. It has several good hotels to choose from along with many restaurants. However, going to the county town is not the main attraction of the area...the grasslands are! If you just go to the county town, you have missed EVERYTHING this area has to offer. I have several friends from Zoige and all of them tell me that their grasslands are the best in all of Tibet and I have a hard time arguing with them. During the summer, the grasslands emerge into an amazing shade of green. The contrast against the high rocky mountains is amazing. Nomad culture is something that is almost non-existent along the popular tourist route that connects Lhasa with the Nepal border. For those who are interested in traditional style Tibetan culture, the grasslands of Zoige is a must see region.

The winter time brings severe freezing temperatures to the region with temperatures easily reaching -25C. April through late October are good times to visit with October being the driest time. Most people going to Zoige do so starting from either Chengdu or Xining. From Xining, you can reach Zoige by taking a bus to Hezuo in Gansu province before taking another bus to Zoige. From Zoige, the picturesque town of Taktsang Lhamo (Langmusi) is only 90kms to the north while the popular town of Songpan lies 160kms to the south. 

Along with grasslands and nomadic culture, there are also plenty of monasteries to see. There are around 80 monasteries in the county, with most of them being from the Geluk set of Tibetan Buddhism. The most famous monastery in the county is Gonsar Monastery, which is found in the county town. 

Don't pay attention to what some of the guidebooks say about Zoige. The area is amazing and has some of the best preserved Tibetan culture remaining. If you do go to Zoige, don't just stay in the county town. Get out and experience nomad Tibetan culture on the grasslands. The small town of Tangkor, roughly 60kms west of the county town, is a "wild west" type of town full of nomad traders. The grasslands in this area are great place to base yourself for a few days or more.

If you have any questions about Zoige or any other region of Tibet, feel free to email me at [email protected]

Losang

Zhilam Hostel

In October 2010, my wife and I took a management position at Zhilam Hostel. Zhilam Hostel is located in Kangding (Dartsendo in Tibetan) in western Sichuan. This area is in the traditional Tibetan region of Kham. Zhilam ཞི་ལམ་ is a Tibetan word meaning "the path of peace". Zhilam Hostel is the only foreign owned guesthouse in all of western Sichuan and in all of the Kham region. Located in Bai Tuo Kan village, the hostel overlooks all of Kangding and looks out to Paoma Mountain and the snow-capped peaks of the Minyak Konka range. The hostel is inside a modern Tibetan style home. The top floor, pictured above, also has a cafe serving breakfast and dinner as well as an assortment of hot and cold drinks.

Zhilam Hostel currently has capacity for 22 people. It has 2 standard rooms with private bathroom and shower as well as 3 dorm style rooms. There is a good chance that the hostel could be expanding in 2011. The cafe serves up great western style breakfasts and dinners and also offers free wireless internet. The hostel can purchase bus tickets and arrange transportation to places such as Tagong, Danba, Muge Tso and to the trailhead of the Minya Konga (Gongga Shan) trek. Though foreign owned, the hostel is staffed by Tibetans.

My family and I plan to be in Kangding until around January 2012. If you have read any of my blog posts or my posts on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree Travel Forum, you will know that I have traveled the Tibetan world extensively. In the past, I co-owned a travel agency that arranged over 400 custom tours across Tibet. Currently, I arrange high-end photography workshops across the Tibetan Plateau. I will use my past management and business experience to help take Zhilam Hostel to the next level. Our plan for 2010 was to be in Jyekundo and Nangchen, but the Yushu Earthquake in April changed all of our plans. We are quite happy in Kangding and look forward to being here for the next year or so.

This is the view of the snow-capped mountains from the guesthouse.

This is one of the dorm style rooms.

This is the TV room. We offer around 1000 DVD's to use free of charge.

The staircase leading down to the TV room and dorm rooms.

Standard room #1 with private bathroom.

Private bathroom in room #1.

Standard room #2.

Computer room

Kangding is the gateway to the Tibetan world. If you plan on traveling that way, stay a few nights in Zhilam Hostel. There are plenty of things to see in the area to keep you busy for several days. For bookings, check out the website at zhilamhostel.com or send an email to [email protected]

If you have any questions about traveling in the Tibetan world or which travel agencies to use, feel free to contact me at [email protected]

See you in Kangding!

Losang