View of Shigatse's new town from the top of Old Town near Shigatse Dzong |
View of the area of Shigatse north of the castle |
Looking south over Old Town, towards New Town, with the stairs to Shigatse Dzong |
Semi-industrialized district north of Shigatse Dzong |
View south from the hills west of Shigatse Dzong |
Led by a local boy, I'm climbing up one of the mountains west of Shigatse Dzong where there are good views |
Shigatse Dzong seen from the trail to the west |
Climbing west of the castle, Shigatse |
Shigatse is the second largest city in Tibet with a population of 80,000 |
A faint rainbow across the valley |
Shigatse Dzong as we climb higher towards a saddle marked with prayer flags |
District north of Shigatse Dzong |
District north of Shigatse Dzong |
District north of Shigatse Dzong |
Prayer flags marking the saddle in the hills west of Shigatse Dzong |
The next valley to the northwest |
My helpful local guide from Old Town |
The view is great from here |
View from the saddle at N29.279/E088.868 |
We continued over the mountain into the next valley |
If we had more time, from here it is possible to climb over the mountain and end up behind Tashilhunpo Monastery |
...though the route to Tashilhunpo is steep |
Local guide |
Hiking along the faint trail in the hills behind Shigatse |
It's getting late and I don't want my official guide to get nervous |
Hiking in the hills above Shigatse |
Headed back to town past a pile of rocks |
Shigatse |
It's a worthwhile walk - not too strenuous |
Hiking back to town |
The small mosque of Shigatse |
New Town meets Old Town, Shigatse |
Shigatse Dzong and city on a very nice afternoon |
I enjoyed the first days hike in the hills so the next day after the official tour was over I went back to the hills |
This time, I hiked from Tashilhunpo Monastery to Shigatse Dzong |
Shigatse Dzong from the southwest |
The Mosque of Shigatse (N29.272/E088.876) |
The hike along the hill between Tashilhunpo Monastery and Old Town |
Old Town Shigatse from above |
A commercial street cut through Old Town Shigatse |
Qingdao Lu, a broad east-west avenue in New Town |
Shigatse |
New Town Shigatse |
Road cut through Old Town Shigatse |
Road cut through Old Town Shigatse |
Road cut through Old Town Shigatse |
Produce spread out on a roof in old town Shigatse |
Park to the east of Tashilhunpo Monastery |
The park has a fake Himalayan peak with yak statues |
Fake Himalayan peak with yak statues, Shigatse |
Shigatse |
Shigatse Dzong rising over Old Town |
The hillside trail from Tashilhunpo to Old Town and the castle |
The hillside trail from Tashilhunpo to Old Town and the castle |