Lhasa to Nepal Border Tour

 

Day 01 : Arrival in  Lhasa

Flight to Lhasa, upon arrival at Lhasa airport, you will be greeted by our local guide and driver, transfer to hotel in Lhasa, upon arrival at hotel, check in the hotel and relax, rest for the rest of the day, acclimatize,  we may take a short walk around the Barkhor old town area, hotel stay

 

 

Day 02 : Lhasa sightseeing  

Guided tour to Drepung monstery, the summer palace and the Sera monastery /

Today, we will visit the Dreprung Monastery which is about 8 km west of Lhasa. Dreprung Monastery was once the world’s largest monastery with a population about 10,000 monks. Dreprung was founded in 1416 and in 1530 and the 2nd Dalai Lama established the palace that was home to the Dalai Lamas until the 5th built the Potala. Today, there are around 500 monks in residence and 40% of the Monastery has been destroyed.

 

Visit the Sera Monastery which is around 5km north of central Lhasa. It was along with Dreprung one of Lhasa's 2 great Gelugpa monasteries. It was built in 1419 by one of the eight disciples of Tsongkhapa, founder of the Ge-lug-pa Sect. It covers an area of 114,964 square meters, the structure is imposing, picturesque in disorder, and splendid in green and gold. It is a typical of Tibetan architecture.

Also visit the Norbulingka Palace which was developed as the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lamas since mid-18th century.

Overnight at the hotel.

 

Day 03 : Lhasa sightseeing

Morning guide to report to the hotel and provide sightseeing of Potala Palace and the Jokhang temple and Barkhor street.  Potala Palace, fort of 13-storeys which dominates the whole city, was set up in the 7th century during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo and covers an area of 41 hectares. The 13-storeys main building, 115,703 metres in height, consists of the White and Red palaces with 1,000 rooms, such as bedrooms, scripture rooms, stupas, and rooms for the monks.  It is the headquarters of the Dalai Lamas , and has been the home of each of the successive Dalai Lamas. It is a treasure house of traditional Tibetan culture.

 

Visit the Jokhang Temple in the heart of the old part of the town. It was built in the mid-seventh Century. It was founded by Queen Bhrikuti on a site deemed by Queen Wencheng to be the principal geomatic power-place in Tibet.

 

It is at Barkhor Street that most people fall in love with Lhasa. The Barkhor circuits runs through the heart of the old city where life has changed little over the centuries. The whole circuit is lined with stalls selling everything a Tibetan or visiting tourist could possibly need.

Overnight at the hotel.

 

Day 04 : Day trip to Ganden monastery

Drive Lhasa to Ganden monastery, touring the monastery the main seat of Tsong Khapa master who founded the Gelukpa sect of Tibetan Buddism back in the 14th century. This Ganden monastery is one of the 6 major Gelukpa monasteries in Tibet. After visiting this monastery  we have an optional 3 to 4 hrs trek crossing Ganden ridge to Trup Shi village where we can visit a local Tibetan family for some local drinks and snacks, then meet our driver and drive back to Lhasa or we do a 40 minutes scenic walk around the monastery ( the Kora ) and then drive to Lhasa, over night stay in Lhasa. We will be back in Lhasa reasonably early in the afternoon and will allow some time for us to wander around in the old town before leaving Lhasa the next day.

 

Day 05 : Drive from Lhasa to Gyangtse - Shigatse / 370kms / 9 hrs

Little early departure from Lhasa to Gyangtse, en route we will visit the Yamdrok lake, a scenic stop at Norjing Gangsang glacier, arrival in Gyangtse, touring the Palchor Chode monastery including the Kumbum, late afternoon continue our driving through the Nying Chu river valley, passing a lot of local Tibetan villages, we will visit local families as well, arrival in Shigatse in the evening, hotel stay ( 3800m )

 

Day 06 : Shigatse - Shekar - Old Tingri / 290kms / 6hrs

Spend the morning touring Tashi Lunpo monastery ( the main seat of Panchen Lama ) and the local traditional market, afternoon leave Shigatse, continue our overland trip on the friend-ship highway to Shekar with stops en route, and continue on to Old Tingri for the night, ( This is a small village at the base of the Himalayas and we have a chance to see Mt. Everest and Mt. Cho O Yu peaks under clear wether conditions ) hotel stay ( 4300m )

 

Day 07 : Old Tingri - Zhangmu - Kathmandu 305kms / 8hrs

We continue our over land trip to Zhang Mu border, en route we will make a short scenic stop at Thong la pass over 5000m for a panoramic view of Himalaya, from there we have a scenic descending down to 1700m within a 2 hrs driving down deep into Himalaya, arrival in Zhangmu, we go through the Chinese immagration, cross border, you will be received by our Nepali driver and go through the Nepali immagration and then we continue our scenic drive to Kathmandu