Potala Palace

Norbulingka

Jokhang Temple

Trepung Monastery

Barhkore Street

Sera Monastery

Mt.Namcharbawa

Ranwu Lake

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

A more demanding excursion from Samye is the hike up to the Chimphu caves retreat, which takes 4 to 5 hours each way. Set in a thickly vegetated amphitheater to the east of the monastery, this retreat is a surprisingly lush mountain oasis of birds, flowers, and tumbling creeks. Chimphu is also an important pilgrimage site, for this is where Guru Rimpoche meditated and taught his disciples when he came to Samye in the eighth century. Of the several routes leading here from Samye, one of the more direct ways skirts the left (north) end of Haypo Ri to enter an adjacent desert valley lying to the east. A cart track turns left (north) across the desert plain of this valley, leading into the hills toward Chimphu. In one hour and a half, the track ends at a ghost town of ruined buildings. A trail continues up the valley from here, passing abandoned crop terraces and another ruined village before ascending into the tangle of wild rosebushes and shrubs that engulfs Chimphu.

Dozens of caves and retreats built under overhanging rocks pepper the hills of this beautifully basin. Most of the caves have been reoccupied by meditating hermits, and at times even a few Western Buddhists have established temporary residences in some of the caves. The white temple that can be seen from a distance is Dragmar Kaytsang. A meditation cave of Guru Rimpoche and an associated lhakhang are on the lower level. Above it are a smaller building with residences for visiting lamas and the meditation cave of Guru Rimpoche's main disciple, Vairocana.

Directly below Dragmar Kaytsang, a solitary, cinical outcrop of rock called Zangdog Paazer Ri, the "Glorious Copper-colored Hill," extends from the slopes. A pilgrimage route winds from cave to cave up to its summit. Towering above the entire Chimphu complex is the granite peak of Lonchen Gurgartse. A challenging pilgrim's kora that takes 8 hours or more to complete climbs above the Dragmar Kaytsang temple onto the ridge top. At the summit is the cave where Guru Rimpoche is said to have meditated with his disciples. A small shrine with carved stone tablets of this Indian tantric master and his two consorts is at the back of the cave. The kora then continues down the eastern ridge of this peak to return to Dragmar Kaytsang.

If you plan to spend the night at Chimphu, bring sleeping bags and sufficient food for your entire stay; bring along a tent if you have one. The monks at Chimphu are in retreat, living on meager food supplies. They have little to spare, nor do they have facilities for accommodating foreigners. If you sleep on the floor of Dragmar temple, be sure to leave an appropriate donation.