Upon your arrival at the Lhasa airport, your tour guide will greet you and escort you to your hotel and help you get checked in. You will have the rest of the day and evening to rest and relax to become acclimatized to the higher altitude of Tibet.

Meals: No meals, advice freely available

Accommodation: Lhasa Economic/Comfortable Standard Hotel (Twin sharing)

Today you will visit Norbulingka Park and the Sera Monastery. Afterwards you will then visit the Potala Palace, constructed in 637 by Songtsen Gampo. Later you will visit a Tibetan family and then be taken back to your hotel for the remainder of the evening.

Meals: Breakfast Provided by the hotel

Accommodation: Lhasa Economic/Comfortable Standard Hotel (Twin sharing)

Today you will visit the Jokhang Temple and the bazaar at Barkhor Street. Afterwards you will be taken to the Carpet Factory and The Tibetan Traditional Medicine Hospital. Finally you will see Drepung Monastery, constructed in 1416. The second through fourth Dalai Lamas once lived here. Afterwards you will be driven back to your hotel for the remainder of the evening.

Meals: Breakfast Provided by the hotel

Accommodation: Lhasa Economic/Comfortable Standard Hotel (Twin sharing)

This morning we’ll take a drive up to the Kampala Pass (elevation 4797 meters) where you’ll have a glimpse of Yamdrok Lake down below as well as spectacular views of the holy Mount Nyenchen Khangsar in the distance. You will want to have your camera at the ready for the turquoise waters of Yamdrok Lake, which is one of the three holy lakes of Tibet, and the beautiful Mt. Nyenchen Khangsar glacier as seen from the Karola Pass. Later on we’ll be able to visit the Karola Glacier before continuing along the southern Friendship Highway to Gyantse, where you will be able to see the famous Gyantse Kumbum, one of the most stunning architectural wonders in Tibet. Late in the afternoon we will continue on to Shigatse where we will spend the night.

Meals: Breakfast Provided by the hotel

Accommodation:Shigatse Economic/Comfortable Standard Hotel (Twin sharing)

Today you will visit Tashilunpo Monastery in Shigatse. Afterwards, you will drive to Sakya and visit Sakya Monastery, the main monastery at Sakyapa. Then continue your way to Lhatse.

Meals: Breakfast Provided by the hotel

Accommodation:Lhatse Local Hotel

Enjoy a breathtaking sunrise at the Everest Base Camp before we journey back through the spectacular scenery to spend the night again in Shigatse.

Meals: No Meals

Accommodation:Saga Hotel or similar (Twin Sharing)

Today in the morning you will drive to Paryang from Saga. Upon arrival in Paryang, you will be transferred to a guest house, dorm bed, to have a rest for the reminder of the day.

Meals: No Meals

Accommodation:Paryang guest house(dorm bed)

Today you will continue your way to Lake Manasarovar from Paryang. On the way you will drive by villages and yak herds and cross Mayun-La pass which is over 5200m. Upon arrival at the lake, visit Chiu Monastery to see the best view of Lake Nanasarovar. Overnight at Chiu Monastery dorm guesthouse.

Meals: No Meals

Accommodation:Guest House (Dorm bed)

Lake Manasarovar is also named Mapam Yumco, which lies to the south of Mount Kailash. It is the highest body of freshwater in the world. After a walk around Manasarovar, you will be heading for Darchen, the starting point of Kailash trekking. Overnight at Darchen dorm guesthouse.

Meals: No meals

Accommodation:Guest house (dorm bed)

Buddhist pilgrims traditionally begin the 52-kilometer religious trek around Mt. Kailash at Darchen (elevation 4574 meters), which is also the finishing point for the circumnavigation of the sacred mountain. After hiking for a few hours out of Darchen, we will reach a valley known by the locals as “Sarshung” where we will meet an eager group of porters who will be happy to help us carry our gear on yaks and horses along the rest of the trek. After another couple of hours of trekking, we will find a grassy plain populated by nomads, who will be happy to offer up their tents as a place to relax with some soft drinks for a while. From here, we will travel on for another approximately two hours to a place known as Drirapuk (elevation 4920 meters) where we will spend the night in a monastery’s guesthouse that offers the best accommodations in this area (although it is still very rustic.)

Meals: No Meals

Accommodation:Local Guest House (Dorm Bed with humble facility)

This second day of our circuit of Mt. Kailash will be the toughest as we ascend 762 meters up to the Dolma-la Pass. The peak of this pass lies about 5630 meters above sea level, so we’ll get an early start as the sun begins its rise over the mountain ridges above us. Once we have reached the peak of the Dolma-la Pass, we’ll stop for a rest and the opportunity to admire all of the fantastic scenery around us. Then we will begin our descent to the Lhachu Valley, which will take us about one hour. After another short rest, we’ll trek on for another four hours to our final destination for the day. We will walk along the right side of the river to finally reach Dzultripuk, whose name means “miracle cave of Milarepa” in the local language. We will be glad that we got an early start to reach Dzultripuk so that we will get there before the other groups – there are a limited number of rooms available here. We will have time this evening for some rest and relaxation in the guesthouse as we prepare for the final stretch of our trek tomorrow.

Meals: No Meals

Accommodation:Local Guest House (Dorm bed with humble facility)

Today we will complete our trek around Mt. Kailash, beginning by visiting the many caves, temples and shrines that have been built upon around Milarepa’s cave. It is an easy walk back towards Darchen, taking only about 3 hours of trekking to reach the end of the valley where our driver will meet us to take us back up to Darchen where we will spend the night.

Meals: No Meals

Accommodation:Darchen Local Hotel

Today we will drive through the windswept territory of rural Tibet, passing through numerous small villages as well as camps of yak and sheepherders on our way back to Saga. With all of the beautiful scenery surrounding us, we will have plenty of opportunities to stop and take photos if you like.

Meals: No Meals

Accommodation:Saga hotel or Similar

More spectacular scenery awaits us as we continue on our leisurely drive back to Shigatse where we will spend the night.

Meals: No Meals

Accommodation:Shigatse Econimic/Comfortable Standard Hotel (Twin Sharing)

We will get an early start today to visit the Tashilunpo Monastery, which was founded in 1447 by the 1st Dalai Lama. After visiting this ancient monastery, one of the most important sites in Tibetan Buddhism, we will head back to Lhasa in the afternoon.

Meals: Breakfast Provided by the hotel

Accommodation:Lhasa Economic/Comfortable Standard Hotel (Twin sharing)

Today you will have free time until your tour guide escorts you to the Lhasa train station or airport for your departing train or flight from Lhasa. This will end your tour services in Tibet.

Meals:Breakfast Provided by the Hotel