Gyantse was one of my highlights. I was really looking forward to seeing the famed Kumbum. Over 700 years old, it is an astonishing structure. A 3-dimensional mandala with 108 chapels, all filled with statuary and stunning murals, it lives up to its name of "100,000 images". The best part of the visit to Gyantse, though, was meeting two little boys who appeared out of nowhere, yelling "Hello, hello" as they belted down the road to meet us. We also saw our first obvious ruins caused by the Chinese here at Gyantse. The photo of the Gyantse Dzong (which means 'fort'), one of my favourites, was taken from the roof of our hotel. The weather was really deteriorating and the storm clouds make a stunning backdrop to the Dzong.
