Tidrum Nunnery

Around 3hr-walk or 1hr-drive from the main valley, northwest of Drigung Til Monastery and a 13km up a side valley is Tidrum Nunnery(德仲寺). Tidrum Nunnery with its medicinal hot springs has a great location in a narrow gorge at the confluence of two streams. The entire valley is festooned with prayer flags. The small nunnery has strong connections to Yeshe Tsogyal, the wife of King Trisong Detsen and consort of Guru Rinpoche. The Kandro-la, the resident spiritual leader of the nunnery, is considered a reincarnation of Yeshe Tsogyal.

The delightful Tidrum hot springs are surrounded by wooden canopies and there are separate men’s and women’s pools. The pools are surrounded concrete-free and the water is crystal clear. It is said to be rich in minerals, including sulphur, coal, and limestone; a mixture of properties that locals say can cure everything from rheumatism to paralysis. The manager of the springs is adamant that you enter the pools buck naked, so there is no need for swimming trunks, though a towel and flip-flop would not go amiss. Photography is forbidden, even if no one is in the pool.

If you have a day to spare, you could do a tough day hike up to the Kiri Yangdzong Caves, associated with Yeshe Tsogyal.