Drak Yerpa

Drak Yerpa is described as the "life tree" or spiritual axis of Lhasa, it is probably not of great interest for the average traveller, but for those with a particular interest in Tibetan Buddhism, Yerpa is one of the holiest cave retreats ever.

Built on a hillside with more than 80 meditation caves, Drak Yerpa had a powerful spiritual heritage, having been visited by Songsten Gampo, Padmasambhava, Yeshe Tsoygel, Padampa Sanggye, and Asisha. Before the Cultural Revolution is was the home of several hundred hermits, monks, and nuns. Tucci in 1949 describes it: "Yerpa appeared suddenly before my eyes as a bend of the road, a cascade of small white buildings along steep overgrown cliffs. One could have thought one was not in Tibet. Giant junipers and tufts of rhododendron topped a thick tangle of undergrowth, brushwood and grass victoriously fighting the hard barrenness of rocks. The cliffs were riddled with burrows and caves, some of which were so high up on the fact of the abrupt hill that it would have been risky to climb them."