Altitude Lhasa- 3656m. We will depart from the hotel at 8:00 am to the international airport of Kathmandu, our destination: Lhasa, capital of the Autonomous Region of Tibet. Approximately one hour flight to cross the Himalayan range and land on the Tibetan plateau. If the sky is clear during the flight we will enjoy close views of the highest peaks in the world. Once the border procedures are completed, we will exchange money in the local currency and after an hour of road we will arrive at the forbidden city of Lhasa around 4:00 pm (local time) because the whole People's Republic of China is governed by the Time zone of Beijing. Our hotel is in the best possible location, just over a kilometer from the Potala Palace and just 600 meters from the Barkhor, Lhasa's old town. After an early dinner, we will take a walk to the Potala Palace Square, enjoy it illuminated at night and will acclimate to the height.
Hotel Kyichu. Bed and breakfast
A majestic palace, a school of dialectics and the Dalai Lama's garden, a visit to Tibet can not be considered complete without a visit to the Potala Palace, a spectacular building that literally dominates the Lhasa skyline. It contains the private stays of the consecutive Dalai Lama as well as numerous government rooms and many chapels. The oldest part of the palace is of the fifth and sixth centuries. But the palace as we can visit it today is of the seventeenth century. The Jokang Temple, this is the most important pilgrimage point of Tibetan Buddhism. Around the temple is Barkhor street where you can do kora (a religious circle of a building or mountain) with pilgrims and locals, in the meantime you can buy souvenirs.
Hotel Kyichu. Bed and breakfast
In the morning we will visit the Monastery of Drepung founded in the fourteenth century. For a time it was the largest monastery in the world, with a population of about 10,000 monks. Today the number of monks has dropped to several hundred, but it remains a very interesting monastery to see because it did not suffer great damages during the Cultural Revolution.
Norbulinka Monastery: Norbulingka is a Summer Palace of Dalai Lama, the most famous garden in Lhasa. It consists of several palace complexes, such as the Kelsang Potrang, Tsokyil Potrang, Golden Linka and Takten Migyur Potrang. Each palace complex is divided into three sections - the palace section, the section in front of the palaces and the woods.
In late afternoon we will attend the philosophical debate in the monastery of Sera, the most important Buddhist university in Tibet.
Hotel Kyichu. Bed and breakfast
Distance traveled: 360 Km. Estimated time on the road: 9 - 10 hours. Altitude: 3,836 mt We start our journey by road where we will cross much of the plateau, we will drive towards Shigatse. Visiting the walled city of Gyantse. We will leave early in the morning, it is a long day but with some landscapes spectacular the speed limits are very severe and we will pass many controls, after almost three hours of road we will reach the top of the Kamba pass (4700 mt). From here we enjoy a beautiful view on the sacred lake Yamdrok Tso of a perfect turquoise color. We go down the path and bordering the lake we will arrive in an hour approximately to the city of Nangartse (4,300mt) where we will stop for lunch. When we left Nangartse we started to climb the second step of the day: Korala the 5,045 meters above sea level, from the top we can admire very closely the spectacular Nojin-Kangtsang glacier (7.206mt). Before we get to Gyantse we still have a very nice view. The construction of a hydroelectric plant has created a beautiful landscape of turquoise waters nestled in a beautiful valley. In about an hour we will reach Gyantse, an ancient walled city dominated by a fortress built in 1390. The original fortress is believed to have been built by Pelkhor-tsen, son of the anti-Buddhist king Langdharma, who reigned between 838 and 841. The walls were built in 1268 after the rise to power of the Sakyapa sect. Gyantse is known as "the city of heroes" because of the strong resistance they offered to the much superior forces of the British expedition to Tibet led by Francis Younghusband in 1903-1904. After visiting Gyantse, we have about two and a half hours to reach Shigatse. At dusk we can make a "kora" to the Monastery of Tashilhunpo, this means circumambulate it in the sense of clock hands. This is a Buddhist practice that in the sacred sites, the Tashilumpo ring road offers a good overview of the city, a good time to meditate or simply stroll and enjoy a beautiful sunset. In case of arriving late to Shigatse we will do the morning kora following.
Hotel Manosovar. Bed and breakfast
Distance traveled: 310 Km. Estimated time on the road: 7 - 8 hours. We continue our journey through Tibet, we will have to cross two mountain passes to enter the National Park of Everest, the first Tsuo La (4,500mt) from where we enjoy the typical landscape of the high plateau, a large horizon of small Valleys and a blue sky like in few places. The second step of the day will be the highest point of our journey, the passage of Lhakpa La (5,220mt), here we officially enter the Chomolungma National Park, this is called Everest in Tibetan. To the descent Of the step, if the sky is clear and we will be able to enjoy the view of Everest. We will arrive to Xegar (new Tingri) where We will spend the night.
Hotel Everest/ Quongmola. Bed and breakfast
BASE EVEREST CAMP (5.200 mt) & SAKYA-4500mt. Distance traveled: 340 Km. Estimated time on the road: 9 - 10 hours. Altitude: 3,836 mt
Today is the hardest day of our adventure, we will leave the hotel before dawn, despite having only 110 kilometers to Everest base camp ta kes about 3 hours, we will arrive to Ronbuk, the last inhabited nucleus in the vicinity of Everest. Drive little further to the Everest viewpoint ( Everest Base Camp) full of Prayer flags we enjoyed a spectacular panoramic view of the Himalayas presided over by Everest.We will also visit the cave where Guru Rinpoche meditated. After spending a few hours on the roof of the world, we began our return, but we will sleep in Sakya and visit the main monastery of the Sakyapa sect built in 1073.
Hotel Manasarovar. Bed and breakfast
Distance traveled: 430 Km. Estimated time on the road: 7 hours. Altitude: 3,600 mt Sakya- Shigatse 150 km,
Approximate 2/3 hrs drive and shigatse to Lhasa 5 hrs drive or in Train 2 hrs. The day is mostly covered in drive. Estimated time to reach Lhasa in the evening 5 or 6 p.m. Evening free time for shopping or stroll around Return to Lhasa via New Road
Hotel Kyichu. Bed and breakfast
