Day 1：Arrive in Lhasa.

When you arrive in Lhasa (3700m), your local Tibetan guide and driver will bring you to hotel and rest at hotel for acclimatization.

Day 2: Visit Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple in the morning and Bakhor Street after noon.

In the morning, your guide will bring you to visit the huge and magnificent complex of ancient buildings, breathtaking Potala Palace, which is the winter palace of the Dalai Lama, built in the 17th century by the fifth Dalai Lama. After that, we explore the Jokhang Temple, the most sacred monastery in Tibet, and the surrounding Barkhor bazaar, the bustling Lhasa market.

Day 3: visit Drepung Monastery in the morning and Sera Monastery in the afternoon.

In the morning, we go to explore the expansive Drepung Monastery which is the largest monastery in Tibet and the home monastery to all Dalai Lamas. We go to Sera Monastery to watch the special monks’ debate In the afternoon, the Monastery has a rich collection of cultural relics and a silk tangkha painting of Sakya Yeshe.

Day 4: from Lhasa to Yamdrok Lake to Gyantse (260kms, around 6 hours)

In the early morning, you will start your journey toward south west, and you will see the breathtaking holy Yamdrok lake with its turquoise color and snow capped Mt. Nyenchen Khangsar in the distance, then continues drive along the lake for few kilometers get us to the lunch stop at Nagartse. On your way to Gyantse, you will see many magnificent valleys and small villages. After that, you have time to taking photo and enjoining the amazing scenery of holy Mt. Nyenchen Kangsar glacier when your car stops at Karo la (5150m). At Gyantse, visit Palkhor Choede monastery which is a magnificent multi-door structure and also is the largest stupa in Tibet.

In the early morning, you will depart Gyantse for Shigatse, after around 2 hours’ driving, you will get to Shigatse (3840m) which is the second largest city in Tibet. In Shigatse, you will go to visit the expansive Tashilhunpo Monastery. At the same time, you can also hike the ancient pilgrim circuit with many Tibetan pilgrims.

Today, you will depart Shigatse for Lhatse where you can visit the Lhatse Chode Monastery. On the way to Saga (4490 meters), you will go through the nomadic areas of western Tibet, and your driver will stop the car at the turquoise colored waters of Ngamring Lake.

Today you will go through the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River and you can see the vast expanses of grasslands that are home to many wildlife. Then you will reach the amazing Manasarovar Lake which is one of the holy lakes in Tibet (4590 meters). Manasarovar is a well known pilgrimage destination for Tibetans as well as Hindu’s. You can enjoy the beautiful view of the holy mountain in the distance.

In the early morning after having a simple breakfast, you will start your journey from the lake to Darchen where you will start your trek around Mt. Kailash. From there, you will take a short trek to Gyangdrak Monastery where you can enjoy the amazing view of Mt. Kailash.

Today, you will depart Darchen for the ancient Guge Kingdom. On your way to the ancient Guge Kingdom, at the same time, you will see some herding villages and enjoy the special landscape of western Tibet.

Today, you will have enough time to explore the ancient Kingdom of Guge which is located at Tsaparang. This mysterious place is nearly 1200 years old and is one of the wonders of western Tibet.

In the early morning, you will depart Zanda for Ngari, Ngari sits 4,500 meters above sea level in the northwest of Tibet, 1,600 kilometers from the capital Lhasa. The landscape along the way will continue to be barren grasslands with desert.

Day 12: from Ngari to Gegye (115kms, around 3 hours)

From Ngari, you will begin your journey across the amazing nomadic areas. There are many nomads and lots of wildlife in this sparsely populated area.

Day 13: from Gegye to Gertse (356kms, around 7 hours)

This day, you will continue the unforgettable journey of crossing the nomadic areas. Today, you will have many chances of seeing Tibetan antilopes, tibtan wild donkey etc on your way to Gertse.

Day 14: Gertse-Tsochen (250kms, around 5 hours)

The scenery from Gertse to Tsochen is special since you will across some of the beautiful valleys with views of about 6000 meters high mountains in the distance. After a long drving, you will arrive at a small nonad trading town, called Tsochen.

Day 15: Tsochen-Saga (290kms, around 6 hours)

Today, you will leave Tsochen for Saga, and start your journey of driving back to the holy city of Tibet (Lhasa).Day 16: Saga-Shigatse (450kms, around 7 hours)Today, you will depart Saga to Shigatse. After a long drive, you will arrive in Shigatse with time to walk the pilgrimage circuit around Tashi Lhunpo Monastery.

Day 17: Shigatse-Lhasa (260kms, around 5 hours)

After some hours of driving toward Lhasa city, you will arrive back in Lhasa at afternoon and there is enough time for you to explore to the fun streets of the Barkhor and Old Lhasa, and stay one more night in the holy city.

Day 18: Send off service

On the final day, your driver and guide will send you to Lhasa train station or airport.

Please see the detail information about what are included in this tour package:

This tour package includes all of your Tibet Entry Permits which you need for traveling around Tibet (Tibet Permits).

Transportation

Transfer fee: transfer fee from airport or train station to Lhasa and from Lhasa to airport or train station (land cruiser or mini bus),and transfer fee of traveling to the places which are listed in your itinerary.

Admission fee:admission fee of all tourist sites which are listed in your itinerary.

Tour guide: English speaking local Tibetan guide with national guide license.

Hotels: clean and comfortable 3 star hotel with sharing twin room accommodation when your stay in Lhasa,Shanna, Shigatse and hotels in other places list in the itinerary (The conditions of hotels in some remote places, such as Sakya, Everest Base Camp, Tingri, and Zhangmu are not as good as hotels in some major cities of Tibet.

Our agency service charge:salary of driver, tour guide, vehicle.

Oxygen:supplied in your car and mineral water.

Meals:breakfast is included in your tour package.

Travel insurance:please be aware that travel insurance in here is very limited. Hence, our agency highly recommends our customers buy their travel insurance in their own countries before you come to Tibet, and most of tourists also do so.

Please see the detail information about what are excluded in this tour package:

International Travel Insurance:International Travel Insurance is not included in our tour package (we highly recommend you to buy international travel insurance which covers tour cancellation & emergency evacuation from your own country before you come to Tibet since the Tourist Accident & Casualty insurance which provided by travel agency in here is very limited.

Meals: Lunch and dinner are not included in your tour package.

Flight and train tickets: the costs of Flight and train tickets are not included in your tour package.

Potala Palace

Potala Palace is located on the Red Hill in the northwest of Lhasa. And it is a famous architectural complex made up of palaces, castles and temples which are the essence of Tibetan ancient architectural art.The Potala Palace was built in the seventh century. A palace of 999 rooms, it was built at an altitude of over 3,700 meters on the Red Hill of Lhasa. The palace, which was built on the hill, now covers 410,000 square meters and its architecture area is 130,000 square kilometers. The main building of the palace has 13 floors and is 115 meters high. It is all stone-wood structure. All the five roofs of palace are covered by gold-plating brasses tiles. It is the essence of Tibetan ancient architecture art.The main structure of Potala Palace is the White Palace and the Red Palace. The White Palace is the Winter Palace of Dalai Lama. It also used to be the past Tibet local government office. There are seven storeys in this building. Tsoqinsha Hall is located on the centre of the fourth floor. It is the largest palace in the Potala Palace White House, whose area is 717 square meters. And it is the place to hold important religious and political activities such as Dalai Lama enthrones and attends grand ceremonies. Rooms on the fifth and sixth floors are for the regent to work and live. The seventh floor, on the top of the White Palace, has two living rooms for Dalai Lama during the winter. Because of the sunny weather all day, they are called East Sunlight Hall and West Sunlight Hall, respectively. The Red Palace, mainly consisting of the chapels for Dalai Lamas’ stupas and all kinds of Buddhist chapels, contains eight stupas which keep the relics of past Dalai Lamas. Among them, the stupa for fifth Dalai Lama is the biggest. In the west is great west hall, the memorial hall of the stupa for fifth Dalai Lama Hall. It is also the biggest hall in the Potala Palace, which covers an area of 725 square meters and there are all frescoes on its inner walls. The thirteenth Dalai Lama’s tomb stupa temple is the latest building in the Potala Palace, which starting in 1933, costing 3 years to be built. During more than 1,300 years, the Potala Palace has collected extremely rich historical and cultural relics and kept them in storage. Among them, there are murals of more than 2,500 square meters, nearly a thousand stupas, tens of thousands of statues and Thangkha (scroll paintings); also, there are valuable scriptures collections like Pattra-leaf scriptures and Kangyur via; There are numerous and various cultural relics, including golden books, golden and jade seals, porcelains, enamels, brocades, crafts, and gold, silver and jade articles.In addition, there are wall paintings on all walls of the palace, Buddhist prayer rooms and passages of the Potala Palace and various relief sculptures around there. Most of the murals and sculptures are bright and colorful, which are mainly themed by plateau scenery, historical tales, stories of Buddhism and construction scenes of the Potala Palace, etc. And they are of highly historical and artistic values.

Jokhang Temple

The Jokhang Temple is in the center of the old urbanarea of Lhasa, which has a history of over 1,350 years. Legend has it thatwhere Jokhang Temple locates was originally a lake. Songtsen Gampo once made apromise to Princess Bhrikuti at the lakeside that he would build a Buddha hallwhere his ring fell. Unexpectedly, the ring happened to fall into the lakebefore it was suddenly covered by light, reflecting a white nine-story pagoda.Then, a huge project was started by thousands of white goats transporting soilto build the temple. Jokhang Temple has undergone the construction for overthree years, and it was named “Rasa Zulagkhang” to commemorate contributionsfrom those white goats, because in Tibetan language “ra” meant “goat” and “sa”meant “soil”, Zulagkhang meaning scripture hall, full name meaning thescripture hall which was built from soil transported by white goats. Theprecious image of the 12-year old Buddha Shakyamuni statue is consecrated inthe Jokhang Temple. Every year, tens of thousands of Buddhists from far andnear, come to Lhasa only for paying their religious homage to this statue,which got a consecration by Shakyamuni in person when he was alive.

Sera Monastery

Sera Monastery is one of three famous monasteries in Tibetalong with the Drepung Monastery and the Ganden Monastery. It is the latestbuilt building among three Monasteries. The Sera Monastery, located at the footof Tatipu Hill in the northern suburb of Lhasa City, is one of the three majormonasteries of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It was built in 1419, themonastery means “Wild Rose Monastery” in Tibetan language. There is a mainhall, three Dratsang (college) and 29 khumtsen (dormitory of monks). There areover 5,500 monks at most. The monastery still keeps over ten thousand of vajraBuddha, most of which are made locally in Tibet. Many of them are copper statueof Buddha brought from mainland or India. Main hall and walls of other monkdormitories and chapels maintain a lot of original color murals. There are Jie,Me, and Nga-pa three scripture halls and colleges. Sera Je College is thelargest college where the monks study the Sutras. Sera Me College is the nextlargest college, where the monks study medicine. The third college is SeraNgag-pa College, the Tantric College. There are more than 9,000 Buddhist monksin that temple during the golden age. Sera Monastery did not suffer fromserious destruction in her history.

Yamdrok Lake

Yamdrok Lake, “swan pool” in Tibetan language, is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet. Elevation of the lake-surface is 4441 meters. The lake is 130 kilometers long from east to west and 70 kilometers wide from north to south. The lake shoreline is 250 kilometers in length, and the total area of the lake is 638 square kilometres. The average depth of the lake is 20 to 40 meters. It is the largest inland lake in the area of northern peaks of the Himalayas. There are many forks in Yamdrok Lake, which seem like coral branches, so it is also called “Coral Lake above”. More than ten small islands distributed in the lake. The large ones can hold five to six households, while the small ones are only hundreds of square meters. After climbing over the Khambala which is almost 5030 meters high, you get through its pass and tread straight down upon a road, along which it i takes you about 30 minutes to get to the Yamdrok Lake. On this road you will get a perfect angle of view of Yamdrok, since alongside the road are quite a few viewing platforms where you can stop and take pictures. Yamdrok is a low density salt lake. Its freeze-up period begins in the middle of November every year and the ice thickness can reach up to half a meter. The lake abounds in fishes such as Brachymystax Lenok, Tibetan Schizopygopsis, and Gymnocypris waddelli. Here is also the maximum waterfowl habitat in southern Tibet. Every winter, the birds will migrate southward here and there are a great many swans, water pigeons, yellow ducks, fish eagles and spotted eagles around the lake shore and central island areas. There are also plenty of famouse peaks at the west of Yamdrok Lake, such as Khangsong Lhamu Peak and Shegangsu Peak, etc.

Pelkor Chode Monastery

Pelkor Chode Monastery was initially built in Gyangtse, in the 15 century (about 1428), which took 10 years for completion. It is a classic Tibetan Buddhism temple with natural integration of pagoda and monastery. The monastery and the pagoda are an integral whole, which adds radiance to each other. It fully embodies the classic pattern of Tibetan monasteries dated back to the 13th to the middle and later period of the 15th century. Pelkor Chode monastery is the temple of 3 major coexisting sects: Sakya, Kadampa, and Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It now contains 16 Dratsang (monk dormitory). This gives it a special status and influence in the Tibetan Buddhism history. There is a world-famous Pelkor Pagoda in Pelkor monastery. Its formal name is “Bodhi Pagoda”. The pagoda is called “Pelkor Chode”.The Pelkor Chode was firstly established by Rabten Kunzang and the first Panchen Lama, Khedrup Je., in 1418. The Pelkor Chode has a good reputation of "hundreds of thousands of buddha pagodas". The Palcho Temple is extraordinarily charming because of this pagoda. The Palcho Pogoda is not an ordinary pagoda. It has about hundreds of chapels overlapping each other. The pagoda, with 9 levels, is over 32 meters high. There are 77 Buddha halls, 108 doors, shrines and scripture halls, etc. It is a unique treasure in the history of Tibetan architecture. There are more than 100,000 Buddha figures painted in the palace hall, so it is called Hundreds of Thousands of Buddha Pagodas.

Tashilhunpo Monastery

Tashilhunpo Monastery was built by the disciple of Gelug’s founder Tsongkhapa, the 1st Dalai, Gendun Drup. It was initially constructed in 1447 AD, after successive Panchen lamas' renovation and expansion; the scale of the Monastery has expanded constantly. Up to now, it covers an area of 200,000 square meters.After entering the main gate of the temple, the biggest building in sight is the Tsochin Hall. Out of the hall is a yard surrounded by winding corridors, which is the lecture field of the temple. In the past, Panchen Lama often preached to the monks in the temple here and it was also the place where monks carried out the regional reply. In front of the main hall is the main scripture hall. In the center of the scripture hall locates the throne of the Panchen Lama. Of the three Buddha halls at the back of the scripture hall, Shakyamuni hall rests in the middle, Maitreya hall rests in the west side and Tara hall rests in the east side. In Sakyamuni hall, a more than 5-meter-high gilt bronze statue of Shakyamuni is worshiped. It is said that inside the statue there are the Shakyamuni’s relics, Tsongkhapa’s hair and the scull of Gedun Drupa’s scribe, Sherop sangyel. The mural paintings on the wall of the Monastery are mainly biographies, such as Buddha worship figure, the Eighteen Arhats map, etc. There are many kinds of precious cultural relics in the monastery, among which the portrait of the Emperor Qian Long from Qing Dynasty hung in “Jena Lhakang” and other cultural relics kept here are of higher value. The stupa of the fourth Panchen Lama, Lobsang qukyi has been repaired with the tower body wrapped with copper and inlaid with jade jewelry, brilliant and glittering. A panorama of Tashilhunpo monastery drawled in the form of “Thangkha” hangs in the foreign guest lounge of the monastery, which is the current production of the lama in this temple. These are all priceless treasures to study the civil religion and state as well as social development in every historical period of Tibet. Tashilhunpo Monastery adequately reveals the excellent construction art of Tibetan people, which attracts Buddhists and tourists at home and abroad worshiping and visiting here.

Mount Everest

With an altitude of 8,848 meters, Mount Everest or Qomolangma, the "holy mother" in Tibetan language, is the highest mountain in the world and is also the most beautiful and amazing one among ten famous mountains in China. It is located on the China-Nepal border of the middle part of the Himalaya Mountains and on the due south of Tingri County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet. Its north slope is within the border of Tibet in China while the south slope is within the border of Nepal. Mt. Qomolangma is the main peak of the Himalayan range. "Qomo" stands for goddess and "langma" means the third in Tibetan. There are other four peaks around and Qomolangma ranks third, so it is called Qomolangma. Its summit is covered with snow all the year around, representing a holy and pure scene. There are 4 peaks of over 8,000 meters and 38 peaks of over 7000 meters above sea level in Qomolangma region, which is honoured as “the Third Pole on the Earth”. Located at the foot of Mount Qomolangma, Rongbuk Monastery is the world’s highest monastery above sea level, and is regarded as the best spot to overlook Qomolangma, with a linear distance of 25 kilometers.The word Qomolangma is transliterated from Tibetan language, meaning “the third goddess”. The upper part of the mountain is covered with ice and snow throughout the year and is cliffy and steep. It is a place attractive to mountaineers worldwide. Overlooking Mount Qomolangma, people will be amazed by its mystery and beauty. Either the chain of grotesque mountains and peaks swathed in cloud or the dazzling ice world arouses people’s great interest. However, what people are most interested in is the cloud floating over the summit, which is like a flag fluttering on the mountain top, so this kind of cloud is vividly described as flag cloud or flag-shaped cloud. The only place to accommodate people near Everest Base Camp is Rongbuk Monastery where is convenient to take a good look at the Mount Everest in the morning and evening. The only place that people can live near the base camp of Everest is the tent area, 2 kilometers from the south of the Rongbuk Monastery.

Manasarovar (Mapam Yutso) Lake

Manasarovar (Mapam Yutso), which means “invincible lake” in Tibetan, is 35 kilometers away from the east of Ngari Champlain County in Tibet and the south of Mount Kailash. With quite beautiful surroundings, it has been regarded as “the center of the world”by Buddhists since ancient time. As one of the three great “Mystery and Holy Lakes”in Tibet, it is also the maximum transparent fresh water lake in China. It is the source of four major rivers of Asia. With the lake-surface elevation of 4588 meters, the lake has an average depth of 46 meters, a maximum depth of 81.8 meters, and an area of 412 square kilometers. The lake is quite lucid, with the transparency of 14 meters. Believers think that, Manasarovar is manna that is granted from the Buddha. It can clean filthy in skin, wash out five evils in mind, and it also can prolong life. Therefore, all of the people coming to visit the lake will take a bath here, and then they will also take some water back from the lake, sending to families and friends as gifts.

Mount Kailash

Kailash, the main peak of the Gangdese Mountain, is 6714 meters above sea level. In Tibetan language, it means “Saint of the Snow”, but it is called “Kailash” in Indian language. Buddhists, Bonists and Hindus regard it as the “center of the world”. Heading north from India and crossing nine mountains, one can find “Big Snow Mountain”, underneath which is “Source of Four Rivers”. Snow Mountain is called “Dese” in Sanskrit. In history, “Big Snow Mountain” referred by Buddhist texts was regarded as the holy mountain-Gang Rinboche, and “Source of Four Rivers” referred to the holy lake- Manasarovar. Buddhists compare it to the center of the universe -- Mount Meru, and believe that it is the ashram of Sakyamuni. And in Hinduism, it is the incarnation and hall of Shiva. In Tibet, Buddhists believe that worshipping and circling the holy mountain one time can wash away all sins in life; worshipping ten times can avoid suffering in hell in a life cycle of 500 years; the one who worships for a hundred times will become a Buddha and go up to heaven. In the year of horse when Gods and Buddhas get together, circle the mountain one round is equal to thirteen rounds in ordinary years. Therefore, in every horse year, thousands of believers, men and women, the old and the young, gather around to sincerely pray to Buddha in order to accumulate blessings and contributions.

Ngari Guge Ruins

Ngari Guge Ruins, which is located on a mountain in Ngari Tadha county and covers an area of 180 thousand square meters, is only a little more than 10 kilometers away from Ngari Tadha county. With peculiar and magnificent buildings, delicate murals as well as the mysteries about the ancient Guge Kingdom attracting a large number of tourists to visit here, Guge ruins has become a hot tourist attraction of Tibet and also provides important materials for the historical study of the Guge Kingdom. From the middle of the tenth century to the early of the seventeenth century, the Guge Kingdom commandeered the area which is called Ngari in Tibet nowadays. It played an important role in spreading Buddhism and warding off invaders for Tibet in history. At that time, its ruling scope was already very extensive, reaching Rutog in the north, India in the south, Indian occupied Kashmir in the west, and Kailash foot in the east. Now, Guge ruins were used to be the capital city “Tsapurang” of Guge Kingdom. The region around the River Sutlej (lhangchen Tsangpo) basin was the ruling center at that time. The origin of the Guge Kingdom goes back to the end of 9th century. The powerful Tubo Dynasty declined rapidly as the last Tibetan Tsampo (Tsampo means the king) Langdarma was killed in the year of 823 AD. His descendants have fought against each other for their own interests for many years. Finally, the prince’s descendant Jigtan Nymagun was defeated and escaped to Ngari. The Burangtu King, ruler of the original Ngari, made a Jigten Nymagun king and betrothed his daughter to him. In the later years of Jigten Nymagun, he gave Shangshong to his youngest son became the first king of the Guge kingdom. Guge Dynasty reached its peak in the sixteenth century when economy, Buddhism, culture and art of Guge flourished. Many merchants gathered here with various commodities and inhabitants here lived and worked in peace and contentment. But just as the saying goes that things will develop in the opposite direction when they become extreme, the rich Guge was inevitably coveted by its neighboring countries, and as the domestic conflicts escalated, the Guge Empire began to decline. According to statistics on Guge ruins, the whole site has more than 300 houses, over 400 temples, 28 pagodas, 58 towers, 4 passages, 11 barns and nearly one thousand holes and caves. Until now, the reason why Guge Kingdom with the population of 100 thousand disappeared suddenly remains unknown. The top of the building is the imperial palace, below which are residences for military and political officials and barracks guards, and then some temples came after. The lowest parts are civilian residences. This arrangement is a reflection of the rigid hierarchy. Some temples and palaces are carved with exquisite murals. The most amazing thing was that people had to pass the gate looking like a mountain tunnel when going from the foot of the hill to the palace. The terrain which was easy to hold but hard to attack well protected the royal family. From July to September each year, it is a suitable time to visit the Ngari area when the weather and the scenery are both nice. The sunrise and sunset watching from the Guge ruins are very beautiful and very nostalgic.