14 days fly in drive out Kailash tour

 

 

 

 

day 01 - arrival in lhasa by train or air from china side, or air from nepal side
once you arrive at gonggar airport or lhasa train station, an easy one hour or half hour drive will take you to your hotel centrally located in lhasa, such as kailash hotel, dhood gu hotel, yak hotel, shambala hotel...all with walking distance to jorkhang sqaure. the remainder of the day can be spent relaxing for acclimatization.
 
day 02 - exploring lhasa
haven't you always dreamed of visiting the ancient tibetan monasteries? our knowledgeable english-speaking guide will show you everything there is to see in some of these renowned sights. first off we will explore the beautifully preserved sera monastery. many of the pictures you see of tibet are of these buildings with their white washed walls and golden roofs. to this day several hundred monks live and study in this architecture. the afternoon will be spent in exploring the jokhang temple and norbulingka. the norbunglinka is another astounding piece of architecture and was once the summer palace of the dalai lama. jokhang temple will provide you one of your first sights of devout tibetans, as hundreds visit this sacred shrine each day. the central market of lhasa, the barkor, surrounds the jokhang temple. in these cobbled streets you can experience more tibetan culture and even purchase some amazing crafts.
 
day 03 - further exploration of lhasa
to explore some of the ancient quarters of the dalai lama we will visit potala palace in the morning. be prepared for astonishment as this grand palace has been around since before the 17th century. to add even more history and culture we will also visit drepung monastery. once home to over 10,000 monks, the drepung monastery is still a beautiful sight to see. miraculously it was one of the few sights to escape the cultural revolution without widespread damage.

day 04 lhasa - gyantse [3950m] - shigatse [3900m]
in the morning drive to gyantse along the kyichu river. on the kamba la (4.796 m) have a fantastic view of the holy lake yamdrok, one of the three holy lakes in tibet and the largest habitat of waterfowls in south tibet. then continue to gyantse, you can enjoy ningjinkangsang snow mountain and karola glacier from a distance on the way as well. upon arrival in gyantse, have a stop in palkhor temple for around one hour, if you would like to have a visit (self-paid), you could go and the guide will be with you. if you don’t, you could stroll in this ancient town at leisure. after that, continue to shigatse, the second largest city in tibet, have the view of the famous fertile farmers’ land.

day 05 - drive to saga
our final destination today is the small town of saga. we will cover many miles during the day but also encounter alluring river valleys and scattered villages.

day 06 - drive to paryang
even more gorgeous tibetan landscape will surround us as we drive to paryang. today is arguably one of the most beautiful days of our entire journey.
 
day 07 - drive to manasarovar
after several river crossings we will finally arrive at the shores of lake manasarovar. prepare for one of the most awe-inspiring and holy places you have ever seen.
 
day 08 - drive to tarboche
after only a 35 km drive we will reach tarboche. tarboche marks the start of our religious 53 km trek around the mountain. finally we have arrived!
 
day 09 - trek to dira-puk
from tarboche, we walk up the lha chu valley through beautiful green meadows and streams with mt kailash towering above us. we follow the river, which enters a narrow canyon with high, steep cliffs and spectacular waterfalls. continuing up the valley, the north face of kailash comes into view before we reach the 13th century monastery at dira-puk
 
day 10 - trek to zutul-puk
we now leave the lha chu valley and enter the drolma chu valley, heading up towards a high pass, the drolma la [5630m]. it's a tough climb to the summit which is festooned with prayer flags but from there it is all downhill or flat to zutul-puk, with views of one of the highest lakes in the world, thukpe dzingbu lake, known as the lake of compassion. as well as the monastery at zutul-puk, there are several meditation caves and another cave containing an image of milarepa
 
day 11 - trek to darchen
on the final day of the kora we cross several streams, and follow an impressive gorge. along the way we are once again treated to magnificent views of kailash. we then enter the bharka plain and it's about an hour's walk through this desert-like landscape to darchen.

day 12 - drive to saga
today is another driving day as we head towards saga. take in the sights of the small dusty towns along the way! today gives us more time to appreciate this truly ancient tibetan culture.

day 13 - drive to zhangmu
in the morning we will take a ferry across the yarlung tsangpo [brahmaputra river]. as we continue our journey stunning himalayan views surrounds us once again. along the way you will see many attractions including shishapangma and peiku-tso, a large majestic lake. another 180 kilometers is tackled as we head down the friendship highway. along the way we pass through the small town of nyalam. after nyalam we descend down through a mossy gorge and brilliant cascading waterfalls. we will spend the night in zhangmu, a border town.
 
day 14 - drive to kathmandu
in the morning we cross the bhote kosi river using the friendship bridge. at this point we must bid a fond farewell to our tibetan guide and go through all the border formalities. our last night will be spent in the bustling city of kathmandu. sadly our trip has come to an end.