Fort

The town of Gyantse is the third largest in all of Tibet.  And yet it only has about 60,000 residence.
Is is dominated by the fort (Gyantse Dzong) that is perched on the hill at the center of town.  It reminded me a little of Edinburgh in that respect.  Winding through the streets of the city, I was reminded of Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel and how Eurasia’s hard-won immunity to the same diseases that wiped out the indigenous peoples of the New World came from cities where humans lived in such close proximity to animals.
  
  Leaving Gyantse, we saw the Palcho Monastery.