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Itinerary in Detail
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Day 01 : |
Fly from Kathmandu to Lhasa. Airplane
will land at Lhasa Gonggar Airport (96
kilometers from the main city).
Early morning you are transferred to the airport
to board the plane for the flight over the
Himalaya to Lhasa. If the weather is clear there
are wonderful views of Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse,
Makalu, Kanchenjunga and other peaks en route.
On arrival at Gonggar airport (which is 90
kilometers from Lhasa), you meet your vehicle
and drive east along the broad Yarlung Tsangpo
valley to Tsedang (3400m.). After checking in to
your hotel, you drive south to see the reputed
oldest building in Tibet, the Yumbu Lakhang, a
beautiful castle-like dwelling and monastery,
dramatically perched on a spur looking out over
the fertile valley below. If time permits you
may be able to visit a small monastery close to
Tsedang, or an interesting carpet factory where
you can see the whole process of carpet making.
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Day 02-03: |
Lhasa Sightseeing tour. You visit
Potala & Norbulinka Palace, Drepung & Sera
Monastery, Jokhang Temple & the Barkhor Bazaar.
One of the highlights is the visit to the symbol
of Tibet; the Potala Palace set high on Red
Hill, the winter home of the Dalai Lama until
1959. The most sacred temple in Lhasa is the
Lokhang, where people come from all over Tibet
to visit and pray in this spiritual heart of the
country. It was used as a military kitchen
during the Cultural Revolution but has now been
beautifully restored, with many priceless
thangkas and statues adorning the chapels, and
magnificent gilded roofs.
Another great treasure is the Norbulingka – the
old summer palace of the Dalai Lama, which his
is alleged to have preferred to the Potala as
the rat population was less!
Now you visit Jorkhang Temple, the center of the
Tibetan Buddhism and the sacred land of Buddhist
followers where innumerable pilgrims come for
worship everyday. The temple, built in 647, is
the earliest wood-and-masonry structure still
existing in Tibet. Surrounding the Jorkhang
Temple is the bustling Barkhor Street which is
the religious and social focus of Lhasa. Around
the Barkhor there are numerous stalls selling
all sorts of handicrafts: brightly coloured
boots and fur-lined hats, silver and turquoise
jewellery, rosaries, prayer flags and charms, as
well as beautiful Tibetan carpets and all manner
of ordinary household ware.
Next you visit Sera monastery, which was created
in 1419, has always been an important Buddhist
seminary. As rose are planted everywhere in the
monastery, it is also called “the court of wild
rose”. Today still 200 lamas live in there. On
the other hand, Drepung Monastery, is the
world’s largest monastery with about 10,000
monks
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Day 04 : |
Drive from Lhasa to Gyantse. You stay
overnight at hotel in Gyantse.
Today is a full day picturesque drive crossing
over a colorful Yamdrok Lake and Kambala Pass at
4,794 m and Karola Pass at 5,010m. In Gyantse
you spend time visiting the Pelke Chode
Monastery and the 35m high famous Kumbum stupa
inGyantse packed with exquisite Tibetan
sculpture and paintaings, a stunning
architectural wonder in Tibet
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Day 05 : |
Drive from Gyantse to Shigatse. After sight
seeing drive further back to Gonggar airport.
You stay overnight at hotel.
With Gyantse just fades away from your sight,
Shigatse becomes clearer because it's just 1 1/2
hours' driving (98km).
Shigatse is situated near the junction of the
Ngang and Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) rivers,
with many traditional low ceiling, flat roofed,
mud brick Tibetan houses, but quite a lot of
ugly modern Chinese buildings as well. It is
home of the Tashilunpo monastery, traditional
seat of the Panchen Lama, and one of the great
centers of Tibetan Buddhism. Shigatse also has
an interesting bazaar, where various traditional
items can often be found at more or less
reasonable prices. Shigatse has always been an
important trade and administration center and
also has political and religious significance,
once being the seat of the Panchen Lama. The
town is essentially divided into two parts: the
old Tibetan style area in the city and the
concrete, modern Chinese part of the town. The
older streets and alleys here are very pleasant
to wander and there are a few sights of interest
to warrant a stay of a day or two.
Here you go to Tashilunpo Monastery and the free
Tibetan market. Tashilhunpo (Heap of Glory)
Monastery is seat of the Panchen Lamas. Built in
1447, it is the head monastery of Yellow Hat
sect (Gelukgonpa). It is today one of Tibet's
most active monasteries.
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Day 06 : |
Fly from Lhasa to Kathmandu.
The flight from Lhasa to Kathmandu takes one
hour and during your flight, you can see Yarlung
Tsangpo River, Yamdrok Tso (Lake), Mount
Kanchanjungha (8,586m.), Mount Makalu (8,463m.)
and Mount Everest (8,848m.). But the visibility
depends on the weather condition. Your Tibet
Tour ends on your arrival at Kathmandu Airport.
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