Chiu Gompa

Chiu Gompa is small, and it is placed perfectly. The monastery sits on a steep rocky knoll at the north-western corner of Lake Manasarovar, high enough that the whole lake opens out below it, with the Gurla Mandhata massif across the water on one side and, on a clear day, Kailash away to the north on the other. Of everything on the Manasarovar shore, this is the view.

The name is usually rendered as the bird or sparrow monastery.

Padmasambhava's cave

The reason for the site is the cave the buildings are wrapped around. The tradition holds that Padmasambhava — Guru Rinpoche, who brought tantric Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century — spent the last days of his life meditating here before departing. The cave shrine is the heart of the gompa, reached through the small assembly hall, and it is a genuinely tight space; the visit is a few minutes and a steep staircase rather than an hour of touring.

The lake below

Manasarovar is the freshwater lake of the sacred pair, with brackish Rakshas Tal immediately to the west, and it is a pilgrimage destination in its own right — Hindus in particular come to bathe in it and to carry water home. The lake has its own kora, several days on foot around the shore, of which most visitors walk a short stretch.

There are hot springs close to the gompa, developed enough to bathe in, which after days on the plateau is a more compelling proposition than it sounds.