Duration

17 Days

Trip Difficulty

Easy

Group Size

Unlimited

Trip Overview

Central Tibet Tour is an awesome journey that takes you to the wild landscape of Tibet. You can explore the sacred and pristine Buddhist culture in the ancient temple and monasteries of Tibet. Also, fly above the Himalayas to the mystical land of Lhasa. And relish yourself with the picturesque views of mountains like Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse and Mt. Makalu, Mt. Cho-Oyu, and many more as you rise above the heights of these mountains. As you arrive at Lhasa, visit the places of importance like Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Drepung Monastery, and Sera Monastery.

Nonetheless, Central Tibet tour along with Samye Ganden Trek offers trekking experience along with the best cultural sightseeing tour to the monasteries and temples in Lhasa. Appreciate the wild and high altitude landscape as you walk along the world’s highest and largest plateau that is geographically barren, scenic and arid. Central Tibet tour includes a drive to the Everest Base Camp which is the major highlight of this trek. Admire the northern close-up view of Mt. Everest and other surrounding peaks as you stand tall in front of towering mountains of that region.

After accomplishing our sightseeing tour in Lhasa, we trek to Samye via Ganden. We visit the Ganden monastery of Gelugpa sects founded by Tsong Khapa. This is the oldest and first monastery in Tibet built by King Dristen with the help of holy Guru Rinpoche and holds a history that is dated back to the 6th century. We further visit golden-roofed Tashilumpo Monastery at Gyantse and head towards Rongbuk and Everest Base Camp. After beholding the beauty of wild mountains at the base camp, we drive back to Kathmandu via Old Tingri crossing Thangna-la – pass. The views of mountains ranges i.e. Gaurishanker, Dorji Lakpa, Shisapangma, and Langtang Himalaya along with lush vegetation land with scenic drive bring us back to the buzzing city of Kathmandu. Explore the UNESCO listed heritage sites in Kathmandu once you arrive here.

Highlights

  • Get fascinated with the world’s highest and largest plateau.
  • Step on the roof of the world marked up in ancient history.
  • You will be rewarded with panoramic views of the world’s highest mountains namely Mt.Everest, Mt. Cho Oyu, and Mt.Shispangma,
  • Explore the traditional Buddhist culture and traditions in some renowned monasteries, ancient courtyard and palaces of Tibet
  • Visit some majestic places like Potala Palace and the Jhokhang Temple.
  • Relish the glory of azure mountain lakes and high passes

Cost Include

  • Our package is inclusive of all ground transport which includes airport transfers as well.
  • You will be assisted in acquiring visa to China.
  • Accommodation in three star hotel wherever available.
  • Tented camps or guesthouse wherever not available.
  • The package includes full board meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) during the tour
  • All the permit fees during the tour.
  • An experienced local guide.
  • Other government taxes and tourist service charges if any
  • First aid kit
  • All Nepalese staff insurance

Cost Exclude

  • Meals which are not specified in the itinerary.
  • International flights (flight from your place to Nepal)
  • Chinese visa fees.
  • Nepal entry and re-entry visa fee.
  • Snacks, soft drinks and water during the trek.
  • Hot showers during the trek.
  • Your personal expenses for shopping, internet, telephone expenses, laundry and other recreational
  • Personal trekking equipment
  • Tips to tour guide, porter or driver is not our responsibility
  • Travel insurance and Health Insurance
  • Extra baggage charge

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival Day
As you arrive at the airport in Kathmandu, your guide will pick you up and escort you to the hotel. Check in to the hotel and get a short briefing about your plans ahead from the guide. Overnight at a hotel in Kathmandu.
Day 2: Fly to Lhasa
Fly over the snow peaked Himalayas to Lhasa. As you arrive at the airport in Gonggar, you will be welcomed by our Tibetan crew. We proceed with the immigration formalities and drive along the road that takes us to Lhasa. Overnight at a hotel in Lhasa.
Day 3: Sightseeing tour in Lhasa
Take your breakfast and get ready for the sightseeing tour in Lhasa. An experienced guide will accompany you throughout your journey. We head to some famous places in Lhasa and first on our list in Sera monastery. The designs and art in the monastery is beautiful. Exploring the monastery, we head to a grand palace called Norbulingka. It is a summer palace of Dalai Lama. Then we head to Jokhang Temple which is surrounded by the famous Bakhor streets. Exploring Lhasa city is an amazing way to rejoice the cultural aspect of Lhasa and Buddhism. Overnight at a hotel in Lhasa.
Day 4: Sightseeing tour in Lhasa
Our second day in Lhasa where we get acquainted with the unique culture and art of Lhasa. Early in the morning, after the breakfast, we start of tour with a visit to the beautiful Potala palace. Potala palace is a grand and majestic villa that towers above on the Red hill of Lhasa. The unique, pristine and overwhelming array of intricate Tibetan murals, temples, stupas, and tombs of eight past Dalai Lamas that one can witness in this palace is absolutely amazing. After exploring the palace, we head towards Drepung monastery. It is a big monastery where we can observe number of monks chanting and performing religious chores. After accomplishing the tour, we head to our hotel for dinner and peaceful sleep.
Day 5: Lhasa - Tsurphu - Ganden
We leave the mystical city of Lhasa behind and drive towards Tsurphu Monastery. The monastery is the seat of 17th Karmapa Lama. To acclimatize with the gaining elevation, you can perform kora at this monastery. After exploring the monastery and performing kora, we drive towards Ganden. Overnight at a camp in Ganden.
Day 6: Garden - Drogpa
Our trek starts with a climb up to Drogpa. We ascend up through the alpine meadows for around six hours until we reach Drogpa (about 6 hours). Overnight at a camp in Drogpa.
Day 7: Drogpa - Chitu La
We trek up to Shuga La pass at 5300 m and descend down into a vast plateau to Chitu La Pass at 4940 m. We set a camp at Chitu La.
Day 8: Chitu La - Nyango
Our trail leads us to Yemalung monastery. We visit the monastery and admire the magnificence of Buddhism and art of Tibetan people. Exploring the monastery we continue our trail until we reach to a village called Nyango. Overnight at a camp in Nyango.
Day 9: Nyango - Samye
We continue our walk through a wide valley and continue down to Samye Monastery with the fascinating views of wild landscapes that extends to the Tsangpo River. After visiing the monastery, we trek up to the hermitage of Chimpu. We will see numerous meditation caves in that place with the amazing views of the Tsangpo Valley. Overnight at a guesthouse in Samye
Day 10: Samye - Yamdrok Lake - Gyantse
Today, we continue ascending up to the top of Khampa La pass at the height of 4794 m. The views of panoramic mountains back to Tsangpo is stunningly beautiful. From the pass, we head towards the Yamdrok Lake. At a distance from the lake, we can see the amazing Nöjin Kangsa. We continue our trail along the shores of Yamdrok lake that winds all over to Karo La (5010m) and the Zhimi La (4370 m) and descends down to Gyantse. Overnight at a guesthouse in Samye.
Day 11: Gyantse - Shigatse
In the morning, we visit a monastery known as Palkhor Chode. The monastery preserves the unique art treasures and is one of the oldest chamber of protective deities. We then head towards Kumbum. It is a like a stupa with mandala that consists of 85 rooms. The chambers are beautifully sculptured with the pictures of Buddhist deities. After exploring Kumbum, we drive to Shigatse and visit Tashilhunpo Monastery. Overnight at a guesthouse in Shigatse.
Day 12: Shigatse - Sakya - Rongbuk
Our trip today is quite interesting. We pass through numerous impressive ruins across the country of Sakya through variety of landscape in a valley. We visit the Sakya Monastery and move ahead to across the Lakpa La (5,260 m). We can get a glimpse of Mt. Everest from the Lakpa La pass. We further drive ahead and cross Pang La (5,150 m) to reach Rongbuk (4,998 m). Upon our arrival, we visit a small monastery at Rongbuk. Overnight at the Camp in Rongbuk.
Day 13: Rongbuk - Everest Base Camp - Zhamgmu/ Khasa
Early in the morning, we can see the sunrise over the glittering snow of Mt. Everest. We can either walk or take a drive to Everest Base Camp. After reaching the base camp and appreciating the panoramic views of mountains, we drive down to the plains at Tingri. Then we join the main road to Arniko Highway that takes us to Nepal via Thorong La Pass. From the pass, we can get some wonderful views of Mt. Everest, Cho Oyu , Shishipagma etc, and many more. We descend down to Nyalam and drive along the Tibetan plateau to Zhangmu. Overnight at a guesthouse in Zhangmu.
Day 14: Zhamgmu / Khasa - Kathmandu
We cross the China – Nepal border and get inside Nepal. We complete the immigration formalities at Kodari and drive back to Kathmandu enjoying the views of lush hills at the riverside of Nepal. Overnight at a hotel in Kathmandu.
Day 15: Sightseeing tour in Kathmandu
Today, we can enjoy a guided tour to the UNESCO listed heritage sites in Kathmandu. We commence our tour with sightseeing of Kathmandu Durbar Square. It is an old yet artistic palace made by the Malla kings of Nepal. Our visit to palace will be followed by Swayambhunath stupa, Pashupatinath temple and Boudhanath stupa. Overnight at a hotel in Kathmandu.
Day 16: Leisure day in Kathmandu
A leisure day in Kathmandu. You can utilize the day either by resting or strolling around the malls for shopping. You can also explore Patan and Bhaktapur Durbar square if interested. Overnight at a hotel in Kathmandu.
Day 17: Departure Day
Your guide will escort you to the airport for your journey ahead.