Day 1：Arrive in Lhasa.

Arrive in Lhasa by train or plane. When you arrive in Lhasa (3700m) you will be welcomed by your English-speaking local Tibetan guide and driver and they will bring you to your 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. In the afternoon we go to Sera Monastery to watch the monks’ debate in centuries-old manner. Sera Monastery has a rich collection of cultural relics and a silk tangkha painting of Sakya Yeshe.

Day 4: Lhasa-Gaden Monastery- Yama Do 17kms (around 6 hours’ trekking).

Ganden Monastery is the first and primary monastery of the Gelug Sect in Tibetan Buddhism. With its stupendous views of the surrounding Kyi chu Valley and fascinating kora, Ganden Monastery is one of the impressing monasteries in the Lhasa area in terms of its beautiful surrounding. On the way to Yama Do, you will meet the Yaks and Yak men. In the morning, you will drive the 55kms from Lhasa to Ganden Monastery. Ganden was founded in the 15th century and is one of the most famous monasteries in Tibet. You will depart from Ganden and trek to the meadows of Yama Do, elevation 4456.

Day 5: Trek from Yama Do to Gampa La Pass 12kms (around hours)

Hike up out of the bowl crossing the pass at Tseb La (5220m). After crossing a broad valley and another pass (5000m), descend to our camp beside the Gampa La at 4820m.

Day 6: Trek from Gampa La Pass to nomad encampment near Gen Do 14kms (around 5 hours)

Today, you will head for Samye, passing through more valleys and nomadic valleys.

Day 7: Trek from Gen Do to Samye Monastery 37kms (around 10 hours)

Today, you will trek to Samye Monastery, and it is your final trekking day.

Day 8: Samye Monastery

Today, you have enough time to explore the first monastery in Tibet (Samye Monastery), built in the mid 8th century, the monastery’s site was chosen by Guru Rinpoche, founder of the Nyingma Sect. Trisong Detsan, 38th Tibetan King, presided over its foundation ceremony. After its completion, Trison Detsan invited renowned Buddhist master to preach Buddhism in Tibet.

Day 9: Samye-Lhasa 200kms.

You will back to Lhasa with plenty of time to wander around the Old Tibetan Quarter one final time.

Day 10: Depart from Tsedan to train or airport.

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.

Visa & Permits

China Visa:China Visa is required for applying your Tibet Travel Permits. For those who hold Singapore, Brunei and Japan passport is no visa required to visit China for up to 15 days for travel or visiting relatives etc. Chinese Visa can be applied from Chinese embassies and consulates in your locality and must be obtained for applying your Tibet Travel Permit. Please kindly check your regional Chinese Embassy website. Please do not mention you are going to Tibet when you apply Chinese Visa, otherwise your visa may be denied by Chinese embassy. You can write down the name of any city in China as your travel destination when you apply your Chinese visa.

Tibet Permits:All the application for obtaining Tibet Travel Permit should be submitted 15-20 days before your expected travel starting date. Your travel agency can apply for the permit for entering Tibet once you got your Chinese visa. Scanned copy of Chinese visa and information page of passport are needed to be sent to our tour agency once you confirmed your trip with us. Your travel agency will send a scanned Tibet Travel Permit to you if you travel by train to Tibet and original Tibet Travel Permits to your hotel in China if you travel by flight to Tibet since the original permit is required if you come to Tibet by flight rather than train. Different documents are required for applying your Tibet Permits in terms of the type of Chinese Visa that you hold.If you hold ‘L’ visa (tourist visa), please kindly email us clear scanned copy of your information page of passport and your Chinese visa around 25 days before you arrive in China and we can help you to apply your Tibet Travel Permit.If you hold ‘F’ (visiting) or ‘Z’ (business) visa, please kindly email us clear scanned copy of your information page of passport, your Chinese visa, and a recommendation letter from your company, and please be aware that if you hold business visa, then please send us your work permit as well.If you hold ‘D’ visa (permanent residence), please send us photo copy of your passport, Working Permit and Residence Permit.If you hold ‘X’ visa (student visa), please send us photo copy of information page of your passport, Chinese visa, the recommendation letter from your school with stamp for certifying your are currently studying in China and a scanned copy of your student ID card.Tibet Permits include Tibet Travel Permit, Alien’s Travel Permit & Military Allowance. Tibet travel permit often be issued by Tibet Tourism Bureau (hereinafter we call it TTB) if you, as a tourist, go to Tibet only for a tour.A second permit or travel document is also needed after you arrive in Tibet and you want to travel to places out of Tibet Travel Permit limit (you should list these places in your itinerary before you apply your Tibet Travel Permit & it only takes around one working day to be issued). This is called Alien’s Travel Permit and the permit can only be obtained from Foreign Affairs Division, Public Security Bureau Tibet and your tour agency will help you get it when you are in Tibet.

Alien’s Travel Permit is need if you travel to regions below: Tsedang: Samye Monastery, Tomb of Tibetan King, Trundruk Monastery, YumbulakhangShigatse: Sakya Monastery, Mt.

Everest, Rongbuk MonasteryGyangtse: Pelkor Chode Monastery & Kubum Stupa

Ngari Region: Mt.Kailash, Lake Manasarovar, Tsaparang, Years, ect.

Nyingchi Region: Basum-tso, Pomi, Rawo-tso, ect.

Chamdo Region: Chamdo, Riwoche, Tengchen, ect.

The third kinds of permit are called Military Allowance & Foreign Affaire Permit:which often can be issued by the concerning military offices & Foreign Affairs offices. If the places you will travel to under the military control, you have to get the permit and your travel agency will tell you which places you need to apply this kind of permit.

Sensitive border, such as Mt Kailas, eastern Tibet, Mt. Everest…require a military permit and a foreign-affairs permit. These will also be arranged by our travel agency one month before you enter Tibet. It normally takes around 20 working days to get them all. Hence, you should inform contact your tour agency earlier and the sensitive areas you are going to travel to also should be listed in your itinerary. Please be aware that you need to send your itinerary before you apply Tibet Travel Permit and any traveller cannot book flight ticket or train ticket to Tibet without the Permit. And the permit will clearly lists every destination that you would visit in Tibet and this list cannot be change once you arrived in Tibet. Hence, please provide every destination you would visit in Tibet before you make decision about your trip plan. For those who hold Singapore, Brunei and Japan passport is no visa required to visit China for up to 15 days for travel or visiting relatives etc. However, they still have to apply Tibet Travel Permit for travelling around Tibet Autonomous Region and photo copy of information page of passport and travel itinerary also should be sent to a local tour agency in Tibet. Things needing attention when you travel in Tibet.

1. You’d better buy travel accident insurance before setting out so that you would get assistance in time if any accidents occur.

2. The temperature difference between day and night in Tibet is big and the weather is changeable. Please put on extra clothes or put off them accordingly. The temperature is low in the evening at high altitude, so it's necessary to wear down coats. Car will bump along the land stirring dust, so it would be better to prepare masks.

3. Namtso Lake is at an altitude of 4714 meters . You might develop altitude sickness in different extents. Please take some anti-fatigue medicines like Herba Rhodiolae or Gaoyuanan in advance. Good rest is needed and alcohol as well as strenuous exercise should be avoided.

4. In the area of high altitude, due to dry weather, thin air as well as the reflection of snow ground and water surface, ultraviolet radiation is very strong. A high SPF sunscreen and a pair of sunglasses should be prepared.

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.

The Jokhang temple was founded in 647. After generations of repair and build-out, it is nowa huge building group. The temple has an area of more than 25,100 square metersand has over twenty palaces. The main sanctuary is 4-storey high with goldplating copper tile roof, which shows the architectural style and drawn thearchitecture feature from Nepal, Indian and Tang Dynasty as well. In the middleof the hall, there is a gold-plated statue with the same figure of 12-year-oldShakyamuni which was brought by Princess Wencheng from Changan. On both wingsof the palace are enshrined the statues of Songtsen Gampo, Princess Wenchengand sPrincess Bhrikuti and other statues.

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.

Drepung Monastery

Drepung Located on the mountain of Gephel Wutse at the west suburb of Lhasa, Drepung Monastery is one of the three greatest monastery of Gelug Sect, and the biggest monastery in Tibet. Covering an area of about 200, 000 square meters, and the grand monastery which once contained more than 10 thousand monks is composed of white buildings arranged in close order, looking like a huge rice pile, so it is named Drepung. Drepung means “Mound of Rice” in Tibetan language, a symbol of prosperity. The Drepung Monastery was founded in 1416 AD by a disciple of Tsongkhapa named Jamyang Choje. Tsongkhapa once personally presided the consecration ceremony there. When firstly built, the temple was very small, with only a small hall covering an area of dozen square meters and 7 monks. During the first half of the seventeenth century, Fifth Dalai lama expanded the temple, which was finally developed into seven Dratsang. The major architectures of Drepung Monastery are the Tsoqen Hall, four colleges, Ganden Podrang and 50 Khumtsen. The Tsoqen Hall, among them, is a place for all monks to congregate to chant and perform ceremonies. Incorporated from seven Dratsang, four colleges include Gomang, Roscelin, Deyang and Ngagpa Dratsang; Before the Potala Palace was rebuilt, Ganden Podrang is the bedroom for Dalai Lama in the Drepung Monastery. As a rule, these colleges would house a total of about 800 monks. In the past, 10,000 monks were living at Drepung. Fifth Dalai Lama has been living here since he took power of government and religion in Tibet. During the Sholton Festival, the Drepung Monastery will hold a large exhibition of Buddha which exerts a wide influence.

Ganden Monastery

Ganden Monastery is the most special one among the six great monasteries of Yellow Sect and it was prepared and built by Tsongkhapa personally, the founder of the Gelug Sect of Buddhism, in 1409. Fifty-seven kilometers away from Lhasa, Ganden Monastery is located on the Ong Bo’ri Mountain with an altitude of 3,800 meters, south of Lhasa River within the Dagzi County of Lhasa. The monastery stands on the mountain and its overlapped buildings are towering and spectacular. The whole architecture group is made up of the Tsoqen Hall, Yangpachen Temple, the Sutra Hall, the Tri Dok Khang, Ngam Cho Khang, Jangtse College, and Shatse College. In 1419, Tsongkhapa passed away in Ganden Monastey, and his tomb stupa is still kept there.The Ganden Monastery houses rich and precious historical relics, including the gemmy armor with written words of Manchu, Han, Tibetan and Mongolian on it, the national superfine cultural relics, the full set of “Kanjur” Sutra of “Tripitaka” written in Tibetan with pure golden Khan words and the full set of Chinese silk tapestry tangka that is composed of sixteen arhats and four gods.Samye Monastery, founded in 762 AD, is the first Monastery with Buddha-dharma-sangha in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. The famous doctrine argument of ancient India Buddhism happened here. Samye Monastery was modeled after the Udapo Monastery built in Magadh at Basara Dynasty in ancient India. After maintenance and extension of many centuries, it has a grand scale, covering an area of over 4900 square meters.

Samye Monastery

Samye Monastery was modeled after the Udapo Monastery built in Magadh at Basara Dynasty in ancient India. Since the completion of the main shrine, it was maintained and extended through generations, covering an area of over 4900 square meters with a magnificent scale. The whole architectural complex is totally modeled according to the boundless universe of the Buddhist Scriptures: the grand Wutse hall represents the world center Sumeru Mountain; the Sun chapel and the Moon chaple symbolize the sun and the moon in the universe; the four pagodas in the four corners of Wutse hall represent the four kings; four big chapels and eight small chapels evenly distributed around the main hall represent the four big continents and eight small continents in the four salt seas; The circular wall around the monastery symbolizes the Iron Ring Mountain outside the world. The architectural complex covers an area of more than 110, 000 square meters. There is a “Buddha Vow” stele at the entrance of Wutse hall. Outside the gate of Dorjide hall on the right, there is a stone tablet which is 3.8 meters high and has a 0.8-meter foundation. The inscription is written in ancient Tibetan. In front of the gate of the main shrine is a pair of stone lions, which are 1.2 meters high, 0.47 meters wide and 0.76 meters high. The foundation is square and carved with square lotus pattern.