Day 01: Fly from Kathmandu to
Lhasa. Early morning transfer to the airport and board the
plane for the flight over the Himalaya to Lhasa. If the weather
is clear ,there is a wonderful view of Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse,
Makalu, Kanchenjunga and other peaks en route. On arrival
at Gonggar airport (which is 90 km. from Lhasa), you meet
your vehicle and drive east along the broad Yarlung
Tsangpo valley to Tsedang (3400m.). After checking
into your hotel, you drive south to see the oldest
building in Tibet. The Yumbu Lakhang, a beautiful castle-like
dwelling and monastery, dramatically perched on a spur
looking out over the fertile valley below. If time
permits, you may be able to visit a small monastery
close to Tsedang, or an interesting carpet factory
where you can see the whole process of carpet making.
Day 02 and Day 03: Lhasa Sightseeing tour. You visit
the Potala & Norbulinka Palace, Drepung & Sera
Monastery, Jokhang Temple & the Barkhor Bazaar.
One of the highlights is the visit to the symbol of Tibet; the Potala Palace
set high on Red Hill, the winter home of the Dalai Lama until 1959. The most
sacred temple in Lhasa is Lokhang, where people come from all over Tibet to
visit and pray in this spiritual heart of the country. It was used as a military
kitchen during the Cultural Revolution but has now been beautifully restored,
with many priceless thangkas and statues adorning the chapels and magnificent
gilded roofs. Another great treasure is the Norbulingka – the old summer
palace of the Dalai Lama. Now you visit Jorkhang Temple, the center of the
Tibetan Buddhism and the sacred land of Buddhist followers where innumerable
pilgrims come for worship everyday. The temple, built in 647, is the earliest
wood-and-masonry structure still existing in Tibet. Surrounding the Jorkhang
Temple is the bustling Barkhor Street which is the religious and social focus
of Lhasa. Around the Barkhor there are numerous stalls selling all sorts of
handicrafts: brightly coloured boots and fur-lined hats, silver and turquoise
jewellery, rosaries, prayer flags and charms, as well as beautiful Tibetan
carpets and all manner of ordinary household ware. Next you visit Sera monastery,
which was created in 1419, has always been an important Buddhist seminary.
As rose are planted everywhere in the monastery, it is also called “the
court of wild rose”. Today still 200 Lamas live in there. On the other
hand, Drepung Monastery, is the world’s largest monastery with about
10,000 monks
Day 04: Drive from Lhasa to Gyantse crossing The Kamba
La(4794m.) and Karo La Pass (5010m.) via The Lake Yamdrok-Tso.
Today is a full day picturesque drive crossing over
a colorful Yamdrok Lake, Kambala Pass at 4,794 m and
Karola Pass at 5,010m. In Gyantse you spend time visiting
the Pelke Chode Monastery and Kumbum stupa in Gyantse
before driving through a landscape of fields and low
hills of Shigatse, Tibet’s second largest town
at 3,900m. Shigatse is situated near the junction of
the Ngang and Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) rivers,
with many traditional low ceiling, flat roofed, mud
brick Tibetan houses, but quite a lot of ugly modern
Chinese buildings as well. It is home of the Tashilunpo
monastery, traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, and
one of the great centers of Tibetan Buddhism. Shigatse
also has an interesting bazaar, where various traditional
items can often be found at more or less reasonable
prices. Shigatse has always been an important trade
and administration center and also has political and
religious significance, once being the seat of the
Panchen Lama. The town is essentially divided into
two parts: the old Tibetan style area in the city and
the concrete, modern Chinese part of the town. The
older streets and alleys here are very pleasant to
wander and there are a few sights of interest to warrant
a stay of a day or two.
Day 05: Visit Khumbum Stupa & Phalkor Monastery
at Gyantse. Proceed to Shigatse to visit the Tashilunpo
Monastery and the free market.
Gyantse lies at the head of the Nyangchu Valley astride the main trade routes
from India, Bhutan, and Nepal to Lhasa. Made wealthy by selling sheep and yak
wool, the rich lords of the city pooled their resources in the early 1400’s
to build the Kumbum, a Nepalese-style stupa containing some of the best preserved
and most unique art in Tibet, and Phalkor Chode Monastery, the spectacular
assembly hall. In the 15th century, there were actually nine major monasteries
near or in the town. In 1904, Younghusband, leader of the British expedition
to Lhasa, waged a major battle, killing several hundred Tibetans. He stayed
on for a month in the castle, before proceeding to Lhasa. The Kumbum is truly
the synthesis of Nepali (Newari)/Tibetan art and architecture. The building
itself contains 112 chapels each with spectacular statues and paintings in
remarkably good repair. As one moves from the lower to the higher stories,
the wall paintings themselves represent higher and higher Buddhist practices.
You will also visit the Phalkor Chode Monastery at the other end of town. The
monastery was built in 1418 by Rabten Kunzang. Excellently preserved, the monastery
contains many statues and paintings that date back to its founding. Without
doubt, the statues, paintings and thankas of Gyantse are among some of the
most spectacular art of the trip.
You will continue driving west to Shigatse. In the
early days of Communism, some of the monks of Shigatse
were in collusion with the security bureau and reported
anyone accepting or distributing pictures of the Dalai
Lama. They hoped that by cooperating with the Communists,
they could save their temple from destruction. Sadly,
it did not work completely. Nevertheless, Tashilumpo
Monastery, the oldest and largest Gelugpa Monastery
in Tsang province and home to the Panchen Lama, is
lovely, and your kora or pilgrim circuit, will take
you past holes for dogs, thought of as “fallen
monks,” as well as places to earn merit by rubbing
our bodies against holy rocks. We will also have time
to explore the bazaar.
Day 06: Drive from Shigatse to Tingri. Your trip today
takes you to Tingri, the trekkers’ gateway to
Mount Everest. The name of this windblown settlement
comes from the sound made by a special black rock,
thrown all the way from India to Tibet by an incarnation
of the Buddha, when the rock struck the ice near the
present site of the town.
Day 07: Drive from Tingri to Rongbuk. Drive over Pangla
pass to Rongbuk Monastery situated below the giant
North Face of Mt. Everest.
Day 08: Excursion to Everest Base Camp. Two hours
trek from The Rongbuk Monastery will lead you to the
base of the highest peak on Earth The North Face of
Mount Everest (8848m.) Or Mount Quomolangma in Tibetan.
Explore the base camp and The Ronghu Glacier. But the
views are stupendous on a clear day, and feature a
huge sweep of the Himalaya range including peaks over
8000, Makalu, Lhotse, Everest, Gyachung and Cho Oyu.
When you finally get to Base Camp, the first sight
of the mighty Everest simply leaves you speechless.
All the hardship you bear along the way makes sense
at this while.
Day 09: Drive from Rongbuk to Nyalam. Drive downhill
to Nyalam crossing two spectacular passes- The Lalung
La (5082m.) and Nyalam Pass (3800m.).
Day 10: Drive downhill to Zhangmu and to Kathmandu.
On this, your last day in Tibet, you will descend to
Zangmu or Khasa, some 560 miles from the beginning
of our journey in Lhasa. Today you will take the plunge,
dropping 15,000' to the lowest point in the Sun Kosi
valley. After completing all Chinese customs procedures,
depending on the state of the road, you will either
walk or drive to the Nepal border, cross customs, and
continue on to Kathmandu.
with
visits to the cultural, historic and natural attractions
of Tibet. The tour includes all the important places
of interest in central & south Tibet
including a visit to Rongbuk Monastery and Mt. Everest
Base Camp. After flying into Lhasa from Kathmandu, Chengdu
or Beijing, explore the cultural and historic sites of
Lhasa, Shigatse and Gyantse. Afterwards drive overland
in 4-WD jeeps across the Tibetan highlands and high passes
to the fabled Rongbuk Monastery and Mt. Everest Base
Camp from where the view of the great North face of Mount
Everest is the most spectacular of all.