Day 01: Arrive Lhasa Gongar Airport via Kathmandu/Chengdu/Beijing
Upon arrival meet & transfer to Tsedang in Yarlung Valley, the cradle of Tibetan civilization. Check in to your hotel.
Day 2: Guided tour of Samye, the oldest Monastery belonging to the Red Hat School & Yumbulakhang, the first castle built for a Tibetan king.
Day 03: Tsedang / Gyantse
Driving out of Tsedang, this long journey (8-9 hrs) takes you through the vastness of the Tibetan Plateau, past the turquoise lake Yamdrok and over Kampala(4794m) and Karola (5010m) Passes. We arrive the town of Gyantse at 3950m, a pastoral town which is still left pretty untouched by modern expansion. Check in to hotel.
Day 04: Gyangtse / Shigatse
Visit Kumbum Stupa (an oversized chorten of over 100,000 images) & the adjoining Palkor Choede Monastery & continue drive for 2 hrs to Shigatse.
Afternoon we visit Tashilhunpo Monastery & Shigatse open market. Check into hotel.
Day 05: Shigatse/Lhasa
We return to Lhasa. Check into hotel. Optional walking tour of Barkhor, the bustling market place of Lhasa. Check into hotel.
Day 06: This morning, we tour Potala, the winter palace of the Dalai Lama & listed as a world heritage site and Drepung Monastery, the biggest monastic university of Tibet.
Day 07: In the morning, we visit Norbu Linka, the summer palace for the Dalai Lama. In the afternoon, we cover Jokhang – the “central cathedral”, Barkhor – the bustling market in the heart of old Lhasa with its narrow streets whitewashed stone homes, window and the Tibetan Medical Centre.
Day 08: Lhasa to Chengdu/Beijing
After breakfast transfer to Gongar Airport to connect flight to Kathmandu/Chengdu/Beijing.
