The aim of this trip, shortly after the
Tiananmen Square events in
Beijing, was to visit sacred sites in eastern Tibet
and then attempt to travel on by road the 700 miles southwards from
Golmud to Lhasa...
Kumbum Jampaling Gompa (7 400 feet) founded 1560 CE
It is one of the most renowned monasteries in Tibet built around
the tree marking the birthpace of Tsongkhapa (1357 CE)
(founder of the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism)
The gompa is comprised of 30 separate buildings and was undergoing
renovation when we visited
The courtyard was used for the annual sacred dances performed by the
monks in pre-communist times