Day 8 (1/2) - Drak Yerpa

First stop on the itinerary was Drak Yerpa, a hillside temple about an hour away from Lhasa by driving. It is not a common destination for tourists to visit here, but visitors with interest in Tibetan Buddhism will appreciate Drak Yerpa. Many of the prominent religious figures mediated in one of the many caves here dating all the way back to the 7th century during the Songtsen Gampo period. For visitors who are not well versed in Tibetan Buddhism, it is best come come with a guide to understand the religious and historical context.


The day started innocuously. Waking up without any aching, I took a full shower which our guide advised against if we were still feeling altitude sickness. We left our hotel around 9AM, as with the day before, it was drizzling. The street was kind of quiet.

After about half an hour drive, we stopped at a vista point for picture taking. There were some stone stackings, Tibetan use this to pray that the household is safe.

Stone stacking

View of the Lhasa River

Road less traveled

By now, we were completely outside of the city - farm houses dotted the open areas which was either meadows up the hills or barley fields, it felt very pristine. At times, our car stopped to let the herd of goats and cows to pass by.

The last leg of the drive turned rough. The road was not paved and the car slow to a snail pace. By now, I started feeling the effect of altitude sickness again. Though our guide said the altitude difference between Lhasa and Drak Yerpa was about 500 meter, it made a difference.

We arrived!

There was a small grocery store and Tibetan restaurant. Drinking water and cookies were available at the grocery store, while the menu of the restaurant did not look enticing. The toilet at the entrance was not for the faint of heart. The picture on the right is the grocery store and the restaurant.

We were in the clouds

As usual, we the tourist were required to pay ticket, 60RMB each IIRC. It did not look like the ticketing was strictly enforced as there were very few tourists here.

view of the buildings from bottom of the hill

The climb was tougher than at Potala place - more stairs and higher altitude. I was not much of a climber to start with, and it felt like I was walking with extra weight. Unfortunately, our guide's word did not register much - lack of oxygen perhaps?

This is one of my favorite view of the entire trip - the picture does not capture the feeling when seeing this in person - not even close

There were plenty of caves and little buildings to visit here. The passage was narrow, and the caves even more so. It was interesting to see the caves that important religious figures meditated in, some allowing only walking with head bowed.

Caves and small houses built into the hill had all sort of religious items - mostly status of Buddhism deities.

Dried well

Environmentally friendly water cooker!

Not sure what this was - some kind of cooking device?

I just spent my last ounce of energy putting on a smile - not a sincere smile at that!


Small route - need to negotiate tight spots

We made it to the bottom of the hill, all with my own power - was not easy!

We spent about 3 hours including climbing up and down the stairs. There were plenty of chances to donate - each statue housing had a few places. Anyone interested in donating should being a lot of small changes. Donation is one of the income source for the temple.

On our way out, we saw people pushing a broke down bus up the hill to the temple. Well, I guess it could have been worse - having to push a bus/car with AMS.

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