Tidrum Nunnery

Tidrum is a Nyingma Kagyu Nunnery and its popular for local hotsprings. The location of the nunnery is 140km from Lhasa. The Nunnery is 14km from the Drigung Till Kagyu monastery. Tidrum Nunnery is one of my favorite places in Tibet.

In the year 2020, Tibet Travelers company offered 180 wisdom books to one hundred eighty nuns at Tidrum Nunnery as a 2020 Social Responsibility Project.

Hike options at Tidrum nunnery

Check out my hike to the meditation caves of Maha Guru Padmasambhava.

1. Hike to the Du Dul Puk Meditation Cave of Maha Guru Rinpoche

The first thing we can do near the Tidrum nunnery is to hike for 2 hours to the Dudul Puk meditation Cave (Evil Conquered Cave) of Maha Guru Rinpoche. This is a wonderful short hike; you can also meditate in the Cave for blessings.

Blessings near the Cave 

1. The hair of the Dakinis.
2. Unique spiritual accomplish hands and footprints on the stone.
3. Cold and tasty holy water.
4. Passing by many meditation houses of Nuns.

Near the meditation cave of Maha Guru Rinpoche, there is the meditation cave of Jetsun Kandro Yeshe Tsogyal, consort of Maha Guru Padmasambhava. She became a wandering Yogi at the age of 16 during the 8th century in Tibet at Samye.

Check out my hike video to both of the meditation caves for blessings.

2. Hike from Tidrum Nunnery to the Drigung Somtuk Monastery

A Great Tibetan Yogi was meditating here during the 16th Century. His name was Gyalwa Ngawang Rinchen if I remember correctly. Around 2 hours hike from the Nunnery towards the west. If we choose to do the 5-6 hours hike, we will pass by the Monastery. They are five Monks at that time. It was very peaceful.

Locals told me that the Drigung Trilo Teaching, celebrated every twelve years,  was organized near the Monastery but later, they were so many people, so the Monks chose to start the ceremony near the Drigung Til Monastery.

Photo: Tidrum nunnery during winter mid-November 2018

3. Hike to Ding Chen Nunnery or take the vehicle to Ding Chen Nunnery

The hike from Tidrum to Ding Chen Nunnery is nearly 2 hours.  Ding Chen Nunnery is very peaceful with few Nuns. Inside the Nunnery, we can get blessings from the beautiful statues of the Drigung Kagyu sects Masters and Maha Guru Rinpoche. Nuns are very humble and kind. 

We hiked from the Ding Chen Nunnery up to the highest point of the trek, which is around 5000M. From the top, we can see all the mountains nearby. To get the blessing from the Yogis, we meditated for a few minutes before reaching the pass. After the pass, it was all way down to the Drigung SomTok Monastery. On the way down, we have to hold the rope to go down since it was very steep.

Photo: Meditating during the hike from Dingchen nunnery

On the way going down, we also saw another trail route to the meditation cave of Maha Guru Rinpoche, which might be difficult to find without local Tibetan help. The route is very steep that we can't even walk, and must roll slowly, we saw the trail and all we can say was wow.

The mountains near were also very different than other areas. We also saw a very beautiful crow in Dark Blue Color, which was my first time seeing such a beautiful Crow.

After we visited Drigung SomTok Monastery, where we can get the blessing from Drigung Kagyu 16th Century Master Gyalwa Ngawang Rinchen, we hiked back to the Tidrum Nunnery, overall one whole beautiful five hours Kora. After having some Dinner at Nunnery Restaurant, we went to the Hot spring to relax.

Tidrum Nunnery Hot Spring

They are many hot springs in Tibet; the Tidrum Nunnery hot spring is one of the best hot springs in Tibet. The hot water is serene. The hot springs for males and females are separated by a wall. 

There are four small pools. One for male, and one for female. The other two men and women share the time frame. The Shawa ( Deer ) hot spring is shared by males and females. 

Accommodation at Tidrum Nunnery 

They are four guest houses including the nunnery guesthouses. The rooms are basic with no shower or private bathroom. The Toilet is quite challenging to adjust for some Westerners since it's a Tibetan-style toilet. 

Travelers can also choose to stay around 8km from the nunnery at the House of Shambhala in the Lhasa branch hotel at Tidrum Valley. The hotel offers a private bathroom and shower with a hot spring pool from the hotel. 

Conclusion 

One of my unique experiences near Tidrum Nunnery was the beautiful hike and the hot spring. Tidrum is special for locals and fewer foreigners. Tibet Travelers arrange 9 Day relaxing hot springs & Join a Group hike Tour.  Travelers can send us Emails regarding traveling to Tidrum nunnery. info@tibettravelers.com