Herders' Camps-Samye Monastery
[ 10 hours • 39km • 1200m descent ]

The trail is now wide and easy to follow as it traces a course down the east side of the valley. Walk through the thickening scrub forest for one hour and you will come to another stream entering from the east side of the main valley. Look for a small woodand-stone bridge 200m above the confluence. The valley now bends to the right and the trail enters the thickest and tallest part of the scrub forest. The right combination of elevation, moisture and aspect create a verdant environment, while just a few kilometers away desert conditions prevail.

The next three-hour stretch of the trail is among the most delightful of the entire trek. According to local woodcutters more than 15 types of trees and shrubs are found here, some growing 6m tall. Fragrant junipers grow on exposed southern slopes while rhododendrons prefer the shadier slopes. The rhododendrons begin blooming in early May and by the end of the month the forest is ablaze with pink and white blossoms.

The trail winds through a series of meadows. In one hour look for a ruined stone structure at a place known as Gen Do. Nearby is a shrine to the protector of the area, the ancient goddess Dorje Yudronma. Just past the shrine cross a small tributary stream. In one hour the forest rapidly thins and Changtang, the first permanent village since Hepu, pops up. Named after the northern plains of Tibet, its inhabitants are predominantly engaged in animal husbandry just like their northern counterparts. Although the villagers are friendly enough the village is infested with fierce dogs, which fortunately are usually tied up.

Look south to the distant mountains; this is the range on the far side of the Yarlung Tsangpo valley. Forty-five minutes down the valley is the turn-off for the Yamalung Hermitage. Look for a field of small cairns to the right of the trail pointing towards a bridge over the valley stream. It is nearly a one-hour steep climb to the hermitage. Yamalung (also called Emalung) is where Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated and received empowerment from the long-life deity Tsepame (Amitayus).

The hermitage consists of several small temples, and a few meditators live here. Below the temple complex is a sacred spring and an old relief carving in stone of Guru Rinpoche, King Trisong Detsen and the Indian scholar Shantarakshita, all of whom lived in the 8th century. The cave Guru Rinpoche meditated in is enshrined by the Drup Pug Mara Titsang Temple. Inside are the footprint and handprint of the saint said to have been created when he magically expanded the size of the cave.

From the turn-off to Yamalung the trail becomes a motorable track and the valley much wider. In 15 minutes you will reach a bridge; the trail now remains on the west (right) side of the valley all the way to Samye, a 3 1/2 hours walk away. Twenty minutes from the bridge you will come to the village of Nyango with its substantially built stone houses. A big tributary stream, entering from the north-west, joins the Samye valley here. The old trade route from Lhasa to Samye via the Gokar-la follows this valley.

Half an hour past Nyango is the village of Wango and an hour beyond it, the hamlet of Pisha. From the lower end of Pisha, a hill can be seen in the middle of the mouth of the Samye valley. This is Hepo Ri, one of Tibet's most sacred mountains. The entire lower Samye valley can be seen from Pisha: a tapestry of fields, woods and villages. Pisha is the last place that water can be conveniently drawn from the river. From here on in the trail only intersects irrigation ditches.

Fifteen minutes past Pisha a ridge spur called Dragmar meets the trail. On the summit is the partially rebuilt palace where King Trisong Detsen is said to have been born. Formerly a lavish temple it now stands empty. Below, just off the road, is a small red-and-white temple enshrining the stump of an ancient tree. Legend has it that a red-and-white sandalwood tree grew here, nourished by the buried placenta of Trisong Detsen.

Twenty minutes further down the trail is Sangbu village, from where there are good views of the golden spires of Samye. The route follows the jeep track direct to Samye along the margin of woods and desert: It takes about one hour. Use the shiny temple roof as your beacon. The closer you get to Samye the hotter the valley can become; in May and June it can even be fiery hot. The gilt roofs get ever brighter as you approach the monastery. You will reach Samye 10 minutes after passing inside the monastery's perimeter wall. Camping B,L,D