At a distance of one day driving from Kailas on a huge plateau of the Sutlej riverside you can see majestic ruins of once powerful kingdom of Guge. Ancient ruins lie among yellow-brown rocks speckled by erosion and time. All territory around looks like a lifeless desert. In former times a busy road, which connected Tibet with India and Chinese Turkestan was used by trade caravans and pilgrims, coming to the sacred Kailas Mountain. Nowadays solitary trucks pass by the road. Western travelers rarely come to these wild, half-forgotten places. Although lots of people believe, that mythic mysterious Shambala, the kingdom of pure and sage people, was located here. You can not come here by public transport; therefore the only way to see these places is to include their visiting in overland safaris. We start this great trip from Lhasa, situated at a distance of 1500km from here.

Tholing monastery is located not far away from Zanda village. It was founded at the beginning of X century by monk Rinchen Zangpo. Under the patronage of King Yeshe he spent 17 years in India, studying Buddhism. After returning in Tibet he became a well-known translator of Sanskrit texts into Tibetan and one of the key men in a history of spreading of Buddhism on the territory of plateau. Owing to him famous scientist from Benghal Atisha spent in Tholing monastery 3 years before going to the Central Tibet.   
In the old times Tholing was one of the most important monastery complexes of Tibet. It existed until 1966, when Chinese army destroyed it. Today the monastery is partially recovered. On its territory you can see chapel of Mandala or Gold chapel, which is built in a shape of three-dimensional mandala and surrounded by unique chorten stupas. Walls of dukang, the main building of ensemble, are decorated with paintings in Kashmir and Nepal styles of XIII-XVI centuries.

Ruins of Tsaparang city, which was destroyed in XVII century, lie at a distance of couple kilometers. The ruins preserved fine samples of early Buddhist art, therefore they are so interesting for visitors. Ancient ruins harmonize with surrounding landscapes and locate on a ridge slope. Buildings of a monastery in a good state of preservation remained at the foot of a mountain. Then the path goes up to the buildings, which served monks for a dwelling. The path goes to the narrow tunnel, after which you can see a castle, standing on the top of a mountain. It’s a hard ascend, but it’s a worth doing. The view is fantastic!
To the beginning of Cultural Revolution, Tsaparang had been already destroyed, so the Chinese didn’t damage it a lot. Today Tsaparang is considerably restored. Special attention was devoted to restoring and preserving of mural paintings, which had been created under the influence of early tantric Buddhism in Tibet.

Not far away from Tsaparang there is a Dungkar – place, where not long ago was discovered a cave-town. Walls of the caves keep the most ancient in Western Tibet images of Buddha.