Trip to Dhakla Monastery

As the great proverb goes:

We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.

There are many places in Tibet where I haven't traveled before so every winter during the less tourist season; I used to take the opportunity to visit many remote areas in Tibet. 

No matter if it's a work wound, family wound, or relationship wound, Tibet is known as one of the best places to heal for many Travelers. 

2019 Tibetan New Year Losar

Even though New Year is actually the time for gathering, this time I have left the crowd and traveled alone to East Tibet Nyingchi Kongpo area and East South Tibet Tsetang Lhoka area. 

Tibetan New Year Losar for the year 2019 starts on February 5th as Day 1. Tibetans celebrate two New Years. The first is the harvest new year, which starts one month before the actual new year. Harvest new year is celebrated in the Shigatse area, the Nyingchi Kongpo area, and some areas in Kham. 

It is essential to travel during the winter to different places in Tibet to check the changes and conditions of travel areas in Tibet. 

Another reason is to do my best to avoid entertainment. This time I have planned to read a book from my ancestor who wrote the ( 37 practices of Bodhisattvas )

Nyingchi

The Journey started from Lhasa towards the Nyingchi. I have traveled through the new LinLha highway which begins at the East of Lhasa and ends at the west of Nyingchi Bayi city. Around 15km from the main road, there is the Siji Lhatso Lake. 

Once we pass Kongpo Gyamda town, after around an hour, we will reach the main route to Draksum Lake, also known as Basum Lake. Draksum Lake is the most popular lake in the Nyingchi area. The travel duration from Lhasa to Nyingtri is around 400Km  with a travel duration of around 5 hours via the LinLha highway and about 7-8 hours through the old route. 

Lamaling Monastery

The next day, I traveled to Lamaling Monastery — about 20km from Bayi City. The Lamaling monastery is a Nyingmapa sect school monastery in the eastern Tibet Nyingtri area. The main chapel is known as SangDok Phelri. The four-floored monastery is stunning. I was very fortunate to witness the chantings from the Nuns and Monks group pilgrims. 

Later I traveled to Nyingtri Miling town, Miling airport, from Miling town, there is another few hour's drive to Nang town. I was planning to stay a night in Nang town, but I arrived there quite early, so I planned to travel further. 

Dhakla Monastery

Dhakla monastery was built by the chief disciple of Milarepa, known as Dhakpo Lhaji or also known as Jetsun Gampopa. 

Photo: Je Gampopa lookalike statue is the main relic of the Dhakpo monastery 

The monastery is situated in the middle of the mountain facing towards the southwest. From the main road, it is dusty and zigzags for around 30km to the gate of the monastery. 

Once I reach the monastery, I asked the monk about the main relics of the monastery. Monk told me about the look-alike statue of Jetsun Gampopa in the main chapel.  

Other relics are the meditation cave, and the Golden Tomb of Jetsun Gampopa situated even higher from the monastery towards the upper summit. I hiked for around nearly one hour and reached the meditation cave.

The Stunning View from the Meditation Cave

The view was terrific on the hike to the meditation cave. The Monk told me that in summer from June to September. We can witness the beauties of green nature and unique white flower which grows near the monastery with a beautiful smell.

The area was mainly for meditation. They are a few meditators who meditate for three years, three months, and three days above the monastery near the summit of the mountain. It is not allowed to visit the meditation caves.

The guest house of the monastery is very basic with no restaurant, and that's the beauty of the monastery from what I feel. That makes it authentic. 

The next day, I traveled towards the Tsetang Lhoka area to Gyatsa town, Sangri town, and finally arrived at Tsetang city. From Tsetang, the route to Lhasa is around 170km with a driving duration of around 4 hours. 

Conclusion

As another great proverb says: Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer. Traveling makes us richer from both inside and outside.  Traveling also helps us to be away from entertainment which wastes lots of our precious time and opportunity so I highly recommend everyone to travel.

Writing articles is a great way to express my mind and improve my English so I will write more soon. Thank you for reading my recent travel article. As a Local Tibetan Tibet travel expert living in Tibet, Email us regarding traveling to Tibet.  info@tibettravelers.com