©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Eastern Tibet ( Kham) ཁམས་ Why Go? Pasho . .194 Kham is the face you never knew Tibet had: a land of rag- Pomi . .196 ing rivers and deep gorges, alpine forests and rolling grass- lands, outspoken monks and rebel cowboys. Compared Tashigang . .198 with the rest of this largely barren land, it’s a world apart. Bāyī . .199 It’s still part of the Tibetan plateau, but Kham is where Draksum-tso . .201 Tibet begins its descent towards the subtropical Sìchuān Chamdo . 205 basin, and the landscapes here represent both extremes: Riwoche one day you’ll drive over a breathtakingly high mountain Tsuglhakhang . 209 pass, the next you’ll slide your way through rainforest on a mud-bath road. This is off -the-beaten-track adventure Tengchen . .210 travel at its most exhilarating, and the chances are you’ll Sok . .212 be the only foreigner in sight. Nagchu . .213 Kham gains much of its charm from its people. Kham- pas dressed in sheepskin cloaks and with braided hair cruise the region on motorbikes. It can sometimes feel like Best Places to Eat America’s Wild West, only with the cowboys and buff alos replaced by Khampas and yaks. » Lo Les Traditional Emotion Palace (p 199) » Guzel (p 197 ) » Lhasa Wealth God Restaurant (p 213 ) When to Go » Qílín Cānguǎn (p 209 ) May and June are the best months to travel in eastern Ti- bet. There’s hardly any rain, temperatures are at their most » Y īpǐnxiāng Lǔròuguǎn comfortable and much of the landscape is covered in blan- (p 211 ) kets of bright-yellow rapeseed fl owers. If you’re here in early August, try to pop in on the Nag- Best Places to chu Horse Festival; well worth a look if you’re on the North- Stay ern Route. And don’t discount coming in winter (November– » Ránwūhú Fēngqíngyuán February). Temperatures are warmer than you’d think (p 196 ) (apart from in the Nagchu region, of course), there’s hardly » Tashigang Village (p 198 ) any rain and usually not another tourist in sight. » Rinchen Family Guesthouse (p 197 ) » B āngdá Qīngnián Lǚshè (p 194 ) Amdo 190 Qinghai–Tibet Gangli Kundo-la A M D O (4850m) Bachen Birong Sok 317 Jiangge-la Xiang Yangan Shel-la (4929m) Gangduo (4905m) Choedo Shagchu Sok Tsanden Chak-la (4800m) Dodoka Monastery Bajung Zhamu Gompa (4500m) 317 Hwy Sertsa Ridazeng Ronpo Tuoka-la (4640m) Gompa Biru Chongnye-la Nagchu (4460m) Qinghai–Lhasa Train Line 109 Drolma (Salween Valley ὄὄὄNu Jiang River) Gulok To Damxung (10km); Nam-tso (76km); Lhari Yangpachen (90km) Artsa ὄὄὄὄὄYi'ong Tsangpo Drigung Til Monastery EASTERN TIBET (KHAM) Tangmi Draksum-tso Jimda Pelung Drigung Qu Nyiba Gyashing Gyala Pelri Songdo ὄὄ318 Bahel (Namse) (7151m) Medro-chu Gyamda Kongpo Bepa Tashigang Medro Pa-la (Mi-la) Shol Gyamda Nyang-chu Lunang (5013m) Gongkar Bayi To Lhasa Rutok (71km) Buchu Nyingtri Monastery Namche Lhamo Bonri Barwa La-tso Lamaling (4500m) (7756m) Temple Tsetang Kyimpong Miling Nang Yarlung Tsangpo Dzong Chongye Gyatsa Xian (Brahmaputra River) Yarlung Tsari Tsangpo (5735m) Eastern Tibet Highlights 1 Stay with a Tibetan family 2 Join devout Bön pilgrims suspended on stilts above the in the charming village of on an unforgettable seven- cool blue waters of Ngan-tso Tashigang (p 198 ) hour trek around holy (p 196 ) mountain Bönri (p 200 ) 4 Detour to Dodoka Gompa 3 Sleep in Tibet’s most to see its remarkable skull romantic guesthouse, wall (p 214 ), in one of Tibet’s CHINA Nangchen 191 0 100 km QINGHAI 0 60 miles To Ganzi (10km) Jiding Derge Wara Tengchen Chaksamkha Monastery CHINA Monastery Jomda Nge-la SICHUAN Tengchen Riwoche Tsuglhakhang Kaji-la Zong-la (4245m) (4680m) (4481m) Langtang Chayab 317 Monastery Monastery Topa Lamutang Dragu Chugu Gele-la Pelyul Riba Si Riwoche Monastery (4352m) Shala Jue'en Gompa (Baiyu) Reshe Jinkar Chamdo Söda Gompa Monastery Chabi-la Tsedru Seya-la Dzonglho Monastery (4680m) (4612m) Rotung Monastery Monastery Nya-la (3465m) K H A M Kyitang Drayab Lhorong Yushig Monastery Lang-la (4572m) Dri-chu (Jinsha Tongkha Jiang/Yangzi) 317 ὄὄὄ Kyidrup Monastery H Dza-chu (Mekong River) e Pomda Village n Pomda g Zar Gama-la Junction d (4618m) u EASTERN TIBET (KHAM) a Dodung Pasho n Katthar Monastery Tashitse Dola Gompa Monastery Thenthuk R Markham Lhorong a Druparong Pomi Monastery Shel-la (4905m) n (4360m) ὄὄ Dzongsar g 318 Baha Sundzom Dzogang e Gompa Parlung Tsangpo Ngajuk-la (4462m) Yupu Rongme To Lithang Dongda-la Denpa (97km) Rawok (5008m) Juetu-la (3908m) Rawok-tso Yu-chu Hong-la Southern Midui (4220m) Sichuan– Glacier Ngan-tso Tibet Hwy ὄὄὄὄὄ Nu Jiang (Salween River) Metok Demu-la Lhegu (4802m) Glacier Retob Kangri Lhegu Tsakalho (Kangri Karpo) ὄ Deqin Kyigang INDIA Dzayul ARUNACHAL PRADESH MYANMAR (BURMA) YUNNAN least-visited and creepiest 6 Hike towards the 7 Hunt down the three sights magnifi cent Midui Glacier closely guarded keys needed 5 Clamber up wooden (p 197 ) to unlock the treasures of ladders to cliff -top shrines at Riwoche Tsuglhakhang the spectacularly sited Tsedru (p 209 ) Monastery (p 211 ) History iron roofs) is fast altering the face of the re- 192 The area around Chamdo was one of the gion. Off the main highways, Khampa life fi rst settled in Tibet, as indicated by the remains culturally strong. 5000-year-old Neolithic remains at nearby Karo. Fossilised millet hints at a 5000-year Permits tradition of agriculture in the region. Military presence is strong in eastern Tibet, Kham was the home of many early lamas, and this has for a long time been a heav- including the founders of the Drigungpa ily restricted area for general travel. Since and Karmapa schools. In 1070 many Bud- 2008 the whole of the Chamdo and Nying- dhists fl ed persecution in central Tibet to tri regions (an area which covers almost Kham, where they set up infl uential mon- all of eastern Tibet, save the area closest asteries, later returning to central Tibet to to Lhasa) have been closed to foreigners spearhead the so-called second diff usion of for around three weeks every year during Buddhism in Tibet. March. At other times travel is allowed, Lhasa’s control over the region has waxed although foreigners cannot normally take and waned over the centuries. Lhasa fi rst public transport and must, of course, have gained control of Kham thanks to Mongol all the necessary permits. assistance, but the majority of the region At the time of research, foreign visitors has traditionally enjoyed de facto politi- needed three permits to travel in eastern cal independence. Until recently, much of Tibet: an Alien Travel Permit, a military Kham comprised many small fi efdoms permit and a Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB) ruled by kings (in Derge, for instance), permit. These permits were registered at lamas (Lithang) or hereditary chieftains the Public Security Bureau (PSB), Foreign (Bathang). Relations with China were Aff airs Offi ce and Military Offi ce. They also EASTERN TIBET (KHAM) mostly restricted to the trade caravans, needed to be shown at a number of check- which brought in bricks of Chinese tea and points along the Sìchuān–Tibet Hwy. Your left with pastoral products. travel agency will organise all these permits Chinese warlords such as Zhao Erfeng for you (and the registration process), but it and Liu Wenhui swept through the east- will take a minimum of 15 days. ern part of Kham (modern-day western Itineraries Sìchuān) in the late 19th and early 20th There are three main routes for those want- centuries, eventually setting up the Chinese ing to see eastern Tibet: the southern route province of Xīkāng (western Kham). Kham- of the Sìchuān–Tibet Hwy, the northern pa rebellions occurred frequently, notably route of that same highway, and a big loop, in 1918, 1928 and 1932, though not all were taking in parts of both the southern and the against the Chinese; in 1933 the Khampas northern route. tried to shake off Lhasa’s nominal rule. Scenery in these parts is stunning wher- In 1950 Chamdo fell to the People’s Liber- ever you travel, but the southern route prob- ation Army (PLA) and much of eastern Ti- ably just about edges the northern route bet came under Chinese control. In 1954 the when it comes to landscape diversity. It also part of Kham east of the upper Yangzi River has more in terms of sights. Bank on needing was merged into Sìchuān province and a between one and two weeks to drive from program of land reforms was introduced, Bathang, in Sìchuān province, to Lhasa. including the collectivisation of monaster- You need about the same amount of time ies. When in 1955 the Chinese tried to dis- to drive the drier, more barren northern arm the Khampas and settle the nomads, route from Derge, also in Sìchuān province, the Kāngdìng Rebellion erupted and fi ght- to Lhasa. For both routes it’s worth factor- ing spread to Lithang, Zhōngdiàn and Dào- ing in one or two rest days to help you ac- chéng. When the PLA bombed monasteries in Dàochéng and Lithang, the rebels fl ed to Chamdo, and later to India and Nepal, to organise armed resistance from Mustang in PUBLIC TRANSPORT Nepal with CIA assistance. At the time of research, foreigners Today eastern Tibet remains quite heavily were not allowed to travel on public Sinicised along the southern Sìchuān–Tibet transport in Tibet. Basic information Hwy, where the controversial construction of is included here in case the situation new towns (with multicoloured corrugated- changes. FOUR RIVERS, SIX RANGES: THE KHAMPA RESISTANCE 193 Following a failed rebellion against new Chinese rule in the late 1950s, a core of Khampa fi ghters managed to regroup in Lhoka, in southern Tibet, and in a rare mo- ment of Khampa unity formed an organisation called Chizhi Gangdrung (Four Rivers, Six Ranges), the traditional local name for the Kham region.