Wednesday

GYANTSE



Gyantse was great ... typical Tibetan / Chinese (damn them) town with a great Dzong (fort) and a the largest Stupa in the world (complete with 77 temples within). Apparently the British, during their invasion of Tibet in 1904 did not move into the fort despite the fact that it was left empty by the retreating Tibetans. It seems that the Tibetans had been told that the blessing given by their Lamas would make them invisible to the British bullets ... ther Maxim guns disagreed and the Tibetans were a little confused when the British at first tried to kill them and then tried to save the dying!

The streets of Gyantse were great and every other house seemed to have a cow / yak / goat tied up outside. No running water save for a standpipe at the end of each street and probably no toilet. Despite the obvious poverty people were friendly and cheerful.

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