7 days Tibet Landscape and Culture Discovery Tour detailed arrangements
Day 1: Arrive in Lhasa (alt. 3680m), to be transfered to hotel, rest for altitude (final payment to be collected)
Welcome to the “Roof of the World”. Upon your arrival in airport or station, your Tibetan native tour guide and driver will pick you up (with your name sign) and we will drive to downtown Lhasa. Check in a well chosen 3 star hotel such as Gorkha Hotel or Dhood Gu Hotel or Kyichu Hotel or similar if late booking. Have a good rest!
Travel tips:
Be altitude sickness free! Here are some suggestions for you to prevent it AMS.
- Avoid catching a cold before entering Tibet;
- Try to have a good sleep at the night before flying to Tibet;
- Drink lots of water-This is a must; begin drinking more water than normal before arriving in Tibet;
- Avoid tobacco and alcohol;
- Avoid intense physical activity on the first couple of days after arrival in Tibet;
- Walk slowly and drink extra fluids after getting off the airplane;
- Light and high carbohydrate meals are recommended for more energy; Don't drink alcohol or smoke;
- Climb up to higher altitude slowly;
- Avoid sedatives;
- Prepare some medicines as per doctors’ suggestion.
Day 2: Lhasa highlight city walking tour: Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor streets, [B]
Today what we will visit in Lhasa is the vital Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple with her vicinities. Potala palace is Lhasa's most important landmark and she a wonder of Eastern architecture. Your first site of this massive structure will be a magical moment which will be remembered for your rest life time. It has been a palace since the fifth or sixth century and was once the home to the Dalai Lama. Well another visit we will take is to Jokhang Temple which locates at Barkhor Bazaar. This temple is the most revered shrine in Tibet and is constantly bustling with devout worshippers. We will also be given the opportunity to shop in Barkhor Bazaar, the crowded central market in ancient section of Lhasa where is the residence of many local people.
Day 3: Lhasa city highlight tour:Tibet Museum-Norbulinka- Sera Monastery
After breakfast, at 9 am, we will drive to west Lhasa city, visit Tibet Museum and Norbulinka, finish the sightseeing around 12:20 and then we drive to west Beijing Road, have lunch in Steak Restaurant (you order the food by yourself). Enjoy the lunch and have about 1 hour time rest, then we will ride to visit Sera Monastery (about 30 minutes ride) where we will spend about 1 hour and 30 minutes, then we will ride slowly back to Barkhor area,
Sera Monastery: it is at the foot of Tatipu Hill, located in the northern suburb of Lhasa City. The debating traditions in the Sera Monastery are unique among the three famous monasteries in Lhasa.Sera Monastery is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, located 1.25 miles (2.01 km) north of Lhasa. The origin of the name 'Sera' is attributed to a fact that the site where the monastery was built was surrounded by wild roses (se ra in Tibetan language) in bloom. The Sera Monastery, as a complex of structures with the Great Assembly Hall and three colleges, was founded in 1419 by Jamchen Chojey of Sakya Yeshe of Zel Gungtang (1355–1435), a disciple of Tsongkhapa. After Sera Monastery, if someone of want to go to learn something about Tibetan Medicine, we can drive to Tibet Medicine Company to look around.
Day 04 Lhasa Yangpachen Geothermal-Damxung County-Lake Nam-Tso-Lhasa (500 km roundtrip of close touch to Nature)
To experience the natural views of Tibet is a dream of many tourists. This one day roundtrip tour will offer you great opportunity to see the real Tibet. You will see the great mountains, huge grasslands, local nomads, sheep, yaks, goats, horses, most importantly, you will feel the pure huge Lake-Nam-Tso, which is 4718m high. It is the second-largest saltwater lake in China, the first being Koko Nor (Qinghai-Lake) in Qinghai province. More and more people want to visit this holy lake. In clear weather the water is a miraculous shade of turquoise and there are magnificent views of the nearby mountains. The wide open spaces, dotted with the tents of local drokpas (Nomads) are intoxicating. On the way back to Lhasa, we can stop in Yangpachen Hot spring where we can enjoy the Hot sping service on our own if we want.
Day 05 Lhasa-Lake Yamdrok-Gyantse (Palkhor Monastery & Kumbum Pagoda)-Shigatse(280km)
Today's trip is little bit tight cuz of so much to see. We will pass the two high passes of Khamba La and Kharo La which are over 5000m, and we will bypass the beautiful and snake-like Lake-Yamdrok Tso. We can stop to ride a yak on the back of which we can get pictures of the lake and mountain peaks from a far. When get to Gyantse, We will have a quick lunch and rest little bit, then we will drive to see the Gyangtse Dzong and Pelkhor Choede Monastery & Kumbum Pagoda. The Kumbum is much more than a Stupa, as it is surrounded by numerous Tibet murals and small chapel houses. Even if you are not professional art connoisseur you will still be shocked by these ancient murals and architecture. After the visit in Gyantse we will continue another easy drive about one and half hours to Shigatse city which locates 90 km from northwest Gyangtse. Shigatse is the second Tibet's second largest city where we can have a good rest. On this day, mostly, people, especially those from west do not have any mountain sickness. o/n at hotel.
Day 06 Shigatse sightseeing then back to Lhasa
After breakfasts around 8 am, we will take a walking visit to famous Tashilunpo Monastery,and Shigatse local free market, It is very interesting to see the differencee between ancient Tibetan culture and the modern one because there are countless amounts of sights, both modern and ancient to see in this city. Today our tour ends with a relaxing and pretty loose drive back to Lhasa, check in hotel and have good rest before leaving Tibet for next destination.
Day 07 leave Tibet for next stop
Our Tibet guide and driver will transfer you to airport or train station for departure.
*You can begin this trip with Nepal or China.
