Tidrum Nunnery

Tidrum nunnery has one of the best hot springs in Tibet.

The nunnery is a small Nyingma Kagyu school nunnery. The location of the nunnery is 140km from Lhasa towards the east to Drigung valley. The nunnery is 14km from the Drigung to Kagyu monastery. 

Hike options at Tidrum nunnery

They are two ways to start this beautiful day hike. Take a vehicle to Ding Chen Nunnery and hike from there or hike from Tidrum nunnery.

I did this hike a few years ago on the Tibetan new year; it took me around 5-6 hours. I have met one Tibetan along the way who helped me to hike together at that time.

This time I have hiked with a few Tibetans from different regions in Tibet.

I went to Drigung Til Monastery and after staying at Tidrum nunnery hot spring for a few days in the nunnery guest house.

At the Tidrum nunnery hot spring, they were a fewer tourist during the beginning of October; they were many local Tibetans. At the nunnery restaurant, I have met some local Tibetans, and I chat with them about what we can do near the nunnery.

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 of Maha Guru Rinpoche. The trail is straightforward to find near the Nunnery, which is in construction. Most of the Nuns will tell you where to find the path to the Du Dul Puk. (Evil Conquered Cave) This is a wonderful short hike; you can also meditate near the cave. The smell of the incense growing near the meditation cave smell very lovely. Locals told me that it is the hair of the Dakinis. (Goddess) There are many unique spiritual accomplish prints on the stone, which Nun will explain and also there is holy water, which is very cold and tasty with lots of blessings. On the way, we will pass 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.

Travelers can check out my recent hike video above 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 two hours hike from the Nunnery towards west. This Monastery can also be possible to visit if we choose to do the 5-6 hours hike which I have mentioned earlier, which I will explain in detail again.

They are 5 Monks at that time. It is very peaceful, and locals told me that once the Drigung Trilo Teaching, which happens every twelve years, occurs near this Monastery but later, they were so many people, so they have chosen to move 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

So here I am going to explain my two times experience, I had hiked to Ding Chen Nunnery before, which took me around 2 hours. This time I have chosen to take the vehicle to Ding Chen Nunnery and walk from there. 

Ding Chen Nunnery is very peaceful with few Nuns. Inside the Nunnery, we can get the 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. It is so peaceful during the hike that, there is not even a barking of a dog. These places are very spiritual, and it looks like the Palace of the Yogis.

To get the blessing from the Yogis, we meditated a few minutes before reaching the pass. After the pass, it was all way down till 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 Tibetans help, also the route is very steep that we can't even walk, 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. They are very few Travelers. The hot spring is mostly for local Tibetans. 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 for men and women share a time frame. The Shawa ( Deer ) hot spring is shared for 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 its a Tibetan-style toilet. 

Travelers can also choose to stay around 8km from the nunnery at House of Shambhala in 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.

I have seen a few tourists come here, but they don't know what they can do here, nor their Guide tells them, so I thought about sharing this useful information.

Tidrum nunnery is one of my favorite places in Tibet. 

Tibet Travelers arranges one of the most relaxing join group tour to Tidrum nunnery with a duration of 9 Days hot springs and hike tour.

We also arrange a private tour for Travelers who love to travel solo or with family without joining the group tour. 

Travelers can send us Emails regarding traveling to Tidrum nunnery. info@tibettravelers.com