70 km west of Lhasa... 1.5 hrs drive away, up the mountain...

The unfortunate cultural revolution saw the destruction of many parts of this monastery up the slopes of the mountain... ruins of the traumatic past still lie around in some areas...

Fortunately, orders have been given to reconstruct this ancient monastery, and many parts of the buildings are still work-in-progress...

Highlight for me must be the 1 hour hike around the high Kora (the religious pilgrim circuit)... The high altitude hiking made me pant desperately and breathe heavily in the thin air... No joke... But the view along the way is splendid... Bird's eye view of the great Tibetan plateau...

And I soon came to understand why Tibetans are such religious and faithful people... To survive in such harsh and unforgiving terrain and high altitude plateau, to endure such tremendous hardship, they have nothing else but Faith...