25 July 2006 * Dzongsar

There are two legs to the journey from Palyul to Dzongsar. First, there is the route back up alongside the Dri Chu to its junction with the blue-green Mesho Chu. This spot is overseen by some stunning giant granite cliffs jutting upward from the nearby mountaintops. From here, it's a bumpy 42 km up the Mesho Canyon to Dzongsar.

Entering the Mesho Canyon, I was almost immediately struck by its unusual air of natural purity and peace. The canyon was mostly trash-free and the river's waters appeared to be cleaner and brighter than any other rivers we've traveled beside. The forest seemed to be mostly undisturbed, and an abundance of unfamiliar plants filled the roadside meadows and slopes. Some parts of this lovely canyon were heavily forested and seemed to be uninhabited. Other sections were filled with the fields and pastures of traditional Khampa agriculture.


At long last, we reached Mesho township, where the canyon opens out to a broad green alpine valley filled with rich pastures and nettle-fringed barley fields. The bright golden sun shone in the deep blue sky as we stopped for a picnic of peaches, fresh cucumbers, dried yak meat, and fried bread kapse snacks. Tessa befriended some fluffy calves grazing in the picnic meadow. Later we busied ourselves carrying water from the stream to a small muddy puddle where we had discovered hundreds of baby black tadpoles.

After our picnic, we finally entered Mesho and Dzongsar, in search of Dr. Lodrö Phuntsok. We visited the Dzonsar Shedra (monastic college), which was in summer recess. The inner courtyard was a lovely and peaceful place, lined by carved and painted monastic quarters and filled with a profusion of flowers.

A monk from Sakya by the name of Könchog Gyantso let us into the assembly hall, which was a beautiful, warm, magical space. Photos of Dzongsar Chökyi Lodrö and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche were hung high from two shrine-side pillars, and the main throne also supported a large photo of Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö.

The walls were painted in exquisite murals of various Buddhas, Godesses, Protectors, and meditation masters.

The soft, polished wooden floor supported arrays of carpet-topped cushions, which seemed at once to be vacant and occupied. The air smelled of butter and incense. Tessa felt immediately content there, and began to prance like a cheetah and an antelope from cushion to cushion.

20-July-2006 * Palyul

As we rolled into Palyul, my worries evaporated. The dirt tracks became paved roadway. Hydroelectric plants and new construction projects emerged on either side of the road, and we soon found ourselves driving through the midst of a bustling town with numerous shops, restaurants, hotels, government buildings, and even a traffic jam or two. I was completely shocked to see such a busy booming town at the end of 94 km of rough dirt-track roadway.

Even more amazing is the monastic city covering the mountainside overlooking the town. Hundreds of maroon clay and log homes for monks and nuns are stacked in rows climbing the slopes, which are crowned by several large assembly and shrine halls.



The newest and largest is an impressive huge assembly hall, which was still under construction. The main hall offers space enough for thousands to gather on its vast hardwood floor. Lining the north wall are three giant statues of Buddha, Padmasambhava, and Chenrezik. Aloft, bright and colorful decorations cover the beams and the upper walls are painted in beautiful murals. Crowning the building is a large round glass and steel canopy, through which natural sunlight flows, filling the interior space with a golden glow.


A second older shrine building contains beautiful large statues in several chambers, each staffed by a monk or two, constantly immersed in meditation practice. Across from this hall is a structure I dubbed the "merit factory." It is a two-level building. The lower level contains a dozen or more huge mani wheels surrounded by many dozens of smaller ones. Practitioners are constantly spinning and circling these wheels, reciting mantras as the bells topping each large wheel chime with every rotation. In my mind I began to visualize millions and billions of mantras of all sizes and colors spinning and whirling upward into a vast, bright, limitless sky.

On the upper level of this building is a small shrine room, containing statues, sacred relics, and a 20-strong contingent of monks doing strong and energetic practice to the accompaniment of drums, bells, horns, cymbals, and conch horns. This shrine is also constantly circumambulated by lay practitioners.

Crowning the monastic mountain is a lovely gilded 3-level shrine containing statues of Padmasambhava, Chenrezik, and Amithaba, each residing in a small chamber with walls painted in beautiful frescos of various deities and meditation masters, and lined with shelves holding hundreds of small statues. We visited this shrine and circumambulated the outer walls on each level before entering each chamber to offer prostrations and inner circumabulations. From the upper level of this building, one can look down to see the entire spread of monastery, town, valley, and mountains spreading out to the horizon.


We met up with a group of 5 young men, friends and relatives from Kutse, who were working as xylograph carvers for the Palyul Printing Academy. We toured the 5-story building, which is also in final stages of construction. The central atrium contains a large 4-story tall stupa, surrounded by the various sections of the printhouse. On the second level, we found a large group of Kutse xylograph carvers hanging out together, carving, printing, editing, smoking, chatting, joking, drinking tea, and having a good time.

The upper levels housed many racks containing thousands of xylographs. Also, we saw large stacks of printed text bundles, ready for distribution. Incense lingered in the air as nuns sweept the wooden floors of the upper levels with bound swatches of leafy branches. I wondered whether there was some special purification property associated with the particular brush plants they used for their brooms.

We also visited the Palyul Monastic College, where a beautiful new library is under construction. Hardwood floors and ornately carved beams gave indication of the peace and grace this new building will inspire when finished. Below the monastery complex is a row of eight new stupas, around which, local practitioners frequently circumambulate.

The town of Palyul is a vibrant and wild mixture of old Khams and new China. One section of the town is dominated by large 3- and 4-story Tibetan-style wood and rammed earth homes, each surrounded by extensive greenhouses and horticultural gardens. Vegetables of every type are flourishing in these urban farms, tended by the expert hands of Chinese agriculturalists.

A decrepit stupa crowns a small hill in this part of town. I climbed to see it, and was saddened to find it defaced with Chinese and Tibetan graffiti, and defiled by trash, broken glass, urine, and shit.

The main drag through town is lined by trees and 3-story buildings housing street-level shops of every type. Repair shops, metal fabricators, grocers, restaurants, tailors, hardware vendors, hairdressers, IP telephone call shops, Internet cafes, and pool halls are intermixed along the bustling jumbled street sides. Large trucks, SUVs, breadloaf vans, Mao tractors, motorcycles, compact taxis, and horse-riders clatter thorough the streets. Prowling these streets are Khampa men in long dark chubas and red or black hair sashes, and Chinese women with their clicky-clack high heels and sequined scarves. Monks and nuns, both real and imposter, are to be seen everywhere in their red shirts & robes and orange & yellow shirts. Some sit on street corners chanting mantras, ringing bells and constantly asking passers-by for spare cash. Chinese men, cigarettes dangling from lips and cell phones glued to ears, also ply the streets, putting out their vibes of power, money, and importance. Old Tibetan women, with dark wrinkled faces, gappy smiles, and grimy clothes can also be seen spinning prayer wheels and clicking their malas.

I found Palyul to be an interesting and lively town and wished I could have stayed longer. In the end, we stayed for two days and one night before setting out for Dzongsar.