Samye

Samye (桑耶) is a village in Shannan prefecture.

Get in

[edit | edit source]

Buses leave for at the Brahmaputra River Crossing (Chinese: dùko) at 7:30AM from just south of the New Mandala restaurant in Lhasa, a journey of about 90 minutes. From the crossing, an open, flat-bottomed boat transports passengers across the river in about 1 hour. Finally, a 40 minute tractor ride completes the journey to the monastery.

Sculpture in the Samye Monastery

Get around

[edit | edit source]

See

[edit | edit source]
  • Samye Monastery (桑耶寺; Tibetan: བསམ་ཡས་). The first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet, and the location of the famous 792CE debate when Indian forms of Buddhism were pitted against Chinese. The Indian traditions prevailed and consequently were established as the state religion. Samye Monastery was constructed in 779AD under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen and overseen by Santarakshita and Padmasambhava, two prominent Buddhist teachers from India.

Do

[edit | edit source]

Buy

[edit | edit source]

Eat

[edit | edit source]
  • Gompo's Snowland Restaurant (near East Gate). The restaurant has English speaking staff. (updated Jan 2025)

Drink

[edit | edit source]

Sleep

[edit | edit source]
  • Samye Guesthouse, near Monastery. Offers cheap dormitory beds
  • Family-run Guesthouse, near East Gate. Popular with Western travelers.

Go next

[edit | edit source]

Buses leave Samye for Lhasa via Tsethang at 08:30, and this journey takes about 6 hours.


This city travel guide to Samye is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!