China Guide
Tibet
Sakya
The small but rapidly growing village of SAKYA, set in the midst of an attractive plain, straddles the small Trum River and is highly significant as the centre of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. The main reason to visit is to see the remaining monastery, a unique, Mongol-style construction dramatically visible from miles away. The village around is now a burgeoning Chinese community, full of ugly concrete, and has been corrupted by tourism; children everywhere will try to sell you quartz or fossils, or sometimes just rocks, and food is very expensive.
Situated 150km southwest of Shigatse, Sakya is an easy side-trip off the Friendship Highway if you've got your own transport. Public buses run here from Shigatse on weekdays, returning from Sakya at 11am the next morning (6hr). The permit situation is variable: there's a checkpoint just before the village, but some travellers without permits have been waved through.
On arrival, avoid the miserable accommodation at the bus station; head instead for the Tibetan Hotel opposite the north wall of the monastery; it is marginally better, though electricity is temperamental and pit latrines are the only facilities.