Pelkor Chode. The reason why people build
a town there is because of the trade in wool. The location was good because
Gyantse was on the road to India. Nowadays it is close to the Friendship
Highway. This is a road that literally makes its name true. It is a road that
runs at a height of approximate 3500 m above sea level. But for the rest it
does not look like a highway as we know it. It is a sandy road that now and
than turns out to be jammed because of erosion. The Dzong Fort is build on a
hill. You can visit it but than you must walk. A little further down the road is a wall build around a monastery and a strange building called the Kumbum.
The monastery is called Pelkor Chode. It was founded in 1418. Formally there were a number of monasteries inside the walls but today there is just one left. It is visited by Gelugpa monks. The Kumbum is a building with a strange form. Inside it is even more strage because on the first 4 floors there are rooms that are only on 1 floor but also rooms that extend over 2 floors. Inside you can find a large number of statues. In the gallery of pictures attached to this page you can see a number of the thousand statues.