Six Days Tour: ​Cultural Odyssey

Total Fair From $760 per person.

ITINERARY IN SHORT

  • Day 1: Arrival and pick up, either, at the Gongkar airport or at the Libu train station in Lhasa
  • Day 2: Lhasa sightseeing: Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Bakhor street.
  • Day 3: Lhasa sightseeing: Drepung and Sera Monasteries.
  • Day 4: Lhasa-Tsetang (Yarlung Valley Centre)-Yambulagang Palace. Overnight stay in Tsetang.
  • Day 5: Samye Monastery and Chimpu Hermitage. Overnight stay in Samye guesthouse.
  • Day 6: End of tour. Your tour guide will arrange your transportation to either, the Gongkar airport in Lhasa, about 1 hr. and thirty minutes’ drive or the Libu train station in Lhasa.

Important notice when you visit the Potala Palace

 

To protect the Potala Palace, a limited number of tourists can go inside. The palace is made of clay and wood, and has become very fragile over the years, thus it is very easy to damage it if too many tourists enter at the same time. Visiting time inside the Palace is restricted to no more than two hours. Due to crowding conditions, tickets are very limited, especially during the summer high season. Sightseeing may also be changed from morning to afternoon, or switched from one day to another according to the situation or the space available.

Please be flexible to this possibility.

  1. Please bring your passport

  2. Tickets should be booked one day in advance

  3. The visit cannot be scheduled ahead of time, the ticketing officer will let your tour guide know when there is availability

  4. You should be at the first security checkpoint one hour ahead of the scheduled time of visit, if you are late then you will not be allowed to re-book a ticket for one week

Services included and excluded in this tour


The following 15 services are included:

  1. Payment for Tibet travel permit and all other necessaries permits to Tibet.

  2. All entrance ticket fees for all tourist sites listed in the itinerary.

  3. Meals as specified in the itinerary.

  4. Local tour Transfers, 5-29 seats comfortable tourist vehicle to accommodate Group Size.

  5. Professional English-speaking Tibetan local tour guide.

  6. Comfortable hotel accommodations.

  7. About your hotel accommodation: you will need to share a room with another member but if you prefer to be by yourself, you will need to pay a single room supplement.

  8. Breakfast in hotels

  9. Arrangements including planning, handling, operational and communication charges.

  10. Welcome Group dinner at a local restaurant in Lhasa.

  11. Transportation between Lhasa Gongkar airport or train station and your hotel.

  12. Welcome dinner is only possible in Group tours after your arrival in Tibet.

  13. Tibet Handy Map.

  14. Drinking water at the tour bus during travel.

  15. Shared oxygen tank inside the tour bus.
The following 6 services are excluded:

  1. International flight in and out of China.

  2. Domestic flight/train in and out of Lhasa. (We can provide you the domestic flight/train ticket booking service at the BEST discount price, please contact our travel experts for further details.)

  3. Lunches and dinners are not included. The cost is usually about $3-15 per person per meal in TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region).

  4. Tips for travel guide and driver

  5. Personal expenses, like laundry, phone call, snacks, soft drinks (please avoid alcoholic beverages during your Tibetan trip), optional tour activities, etc.

  6. Travel insurance covers trips cancellation cost in emergency evacuations, due to bad weather condition, avalanche, or natural disasters

The total fare for ​Cultural Odyssey

  1. Price: From $760 per person.

  2. Tour Type: Private Tour

  3. Trip Level: Easy – suitable for all level of fitness, family with kids and senior groups.

  4. Group Size: 2-8
  • Day 1: Arrival and pick up, either, at the Gongkar airport or at the Libu train station in Lhasa
  • Day 2: Lhasa sightseeing: Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Bakhor street.
  • Day 3: Lhasa sightseeing: Drepung and Sera Monasteries.
  • Day 4: Lhasa-Tsetang (Yarlung Valley Centre)-Yambulagang Palace. Overnight stay in Tsetang.
  • Day 5: Samye Monastery and Chimpu Hermitage. Overnight stay in Samye guesthouse.
  • Day 6: End of tour. Your tour guide will arrange your transportation to either, the Gongkar airport in Lhasa, about 1 hr. and thirty minutes’ drive or the Libu train station in Lhasa.

Itinerary in Detail

Day 1

You will arrive at Lhasa either by fly or by train. Your Tibetan guide and driver will take you to your hotel in Lhasa city. The distance from the airport to Lhasa is about 70km, approximately 1:30 hrs. drive. The distance from the train station is only 25km, about 30 minutes’ drive. Check in the hotel and relax the rest of the day to acclimatize your body to the new altitude and alleviate the jet lag.
Overnight stay in Lhasa.

Day 2

In the morning you will visit the Potala Palace, the cardinal landmark of Tibet and the masterpiece of Tibetan architecture. It was built by 33rd King Songtsen Gangpo in the 7th century and, later in the 17th century, rebuilt by the 5th Dalai Lama. Since then, it served as the home to the Dalai Lama and his government. Walking though the long steps is quite challenging, but it is worthwhile to leave your footprints in the spiritual palace on God’s compassion, listed in the world heritage.
In the afternoon the tour will continue to the Jokhang Temple. About 2km east of the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple is one of the most revered religious structure in Tibet. After that, you will have time to walk around the Bakhor Street, one of the most devotional circuit as well as the most crowded central market in Lhasa. In the old days, it was the most famous local market but nowadays it has evolved into a very touristic gift shopping center. You will be impressed by the crowds of local pilgrims doing prostration in front of the temple, especially during the winter months. This old town area is both the spiritual heart of Lhasa and the main commercial district for Tibetans.
Overnight stay in Lhasa.

Day 3

About 11 km west of Jokhang Temple is the Drepung Monastery, once world’s largest monastery with about 10,000 monks. Deprung monastery is one of the world’s largest monasteries, housing more than 10,000 monks. It was the residence of the Dalai Lama prior to moving to the Potala Palace. Destruction has taken place at different times, but you can still fully enjoy it. You can walk through numbers of narrow and twisted lanes of monks’ apartments, which are more like a typical village.
This amazing day will end with a visit to the Sera Monastery. It was built in the 15th century by the Jamchen choji Sakya Yeshi who was a disciple of Tsongka pa. The monastic colleges in Sera house several hundred monks from different parts of Tibet. The famous Buddhist philosophical debates among the monks takes place every afternoon except on Sundays.
Expert travel tip: Today, we could visit Norbulinka Palace or Drak Yerpa Hermitage instead of Drepung Monastery. Just talk with your travel advisor to customize the trip according to your own interests.
Overnight stay in Lhasa.

Day 4

We’ll drive from Lhasa to Tsetang. Tsetang, rests in the center of the Yarlung valley between the Himalayan and Gangdise belts and it is one of the largest cities in Tibet. Tsetang is 183 km southeast of Lhasa in the Nedong County of the Lhoka Prefecture, in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China (TAR). Tsetang was the capital of Yarlung since ancient times and it was the seat of the ancient emperors of Tibet thus it played a big role in the history. Tsetang is regarded as the cradle of Tibetan civilization. Tibetan creation myths tell of how the first Tibetan people evolved here from the union of a monkey and an ogre, and early histories state that the first kings descended from heaven on a sky cord at Mt Yarlha Shanpo on the western edge of the valley. The early Tibetan kings unified Tibet from their base here in the 7th century and their massive burial mounds still dominate the area around Chongye. Yumbu Lhakhang, perched on a crag like a medieval European castle, is the alleged site of Tibet’s oldest building, while Tibet’s first cultivated field is said to lie nearby.
To visit Yumbu Lhakhanng we will need to apply for your Alien’s Travel Permit in PSB (Public Security Bureau) in Tsetang. After getting your Alien’s Travel Permit, we will drive to Yarlung valley, where we’ll head to Yumbu Lhakhang Palace either by horseback riding or driving. We will also visit the Tradrub Monastery located between Yumbu Lhakhang Palace and Tsetang. On the way to Yumbu Lhakhang we will enjoy the stunning farmland views of the Yarlung valley. Once we complete our tour in Yumbu Lhakhang then we will drive around one hour and a half to the Samye monastery.
Overnight stay at Tsetang.

Day 5

After an early breakfast, we will spend about one and half hours visiting the Samye Monastery, then we will begin our hiking tour into the Chimpu Hermitage. Chimphu hermitage cave is one of the most sacred place in Tibet. It is said to be the Indian master Guru Rinpoche’s speech. This is where the Indian Master taught the Twenty-Five Disciples and where numerous disciples had profound realizations. Today, there are still over 50 or more yogis, men and women, living in the cave and doing retreat. As we hike up to Chimphu and explore caves scattering at the mountain slope and the newly constructed Chimpu Nunnery, there will be plenty opportunities to interact with devoted Yogis or see them in their Meditative Retreats in their caves. You’ll enjoy the spectacular views of the Brahmaputra valley.
Special travel tip: Foreign tourists may not be allowed to visit Chimpu Hermitage according to local travel regulations. This is subject to change. Local travel regulation must be obeyed and are beyond the control of the travel agent. If this is the case, then tourists can do the hiking in Hepori Mountain, very close to the Samye Monastery.
Overnight stay in Samye guesthouse.

Day 6

End of tour. Your tour guide will arrange your transportation to either, the Gongkar airport, about 1 hr. and thirty minutes’ drive or the Libu train station in Lhasa.

Important notice when you visit the Potala Palace

 

To protect the Potala Palace, a limited number of tourists can go inside. The palace is made of clay and wood, and has become very fragile over the years, thus it is very easy to damage it if too many tourists enter at the same time. Visiting time inside the Palace is restricted to no more than two hours. Due to crowding conditions, tickets are very limited, especially during the summer high season. Sightseeing may also be changed from morning to afternoon, or switched from one day to another according to the situation or the space available.

Please be flexible to this possibility.

  1. Please bring your passport

  2. Tickets should be booked one day in advance

  3. The visit cannot be scheduled ahead of time, the ticketing officer will let your tour guide know when there is availability

  4. You should be at the first security checkpoint one hour ahead of the scheduled time of visit, if you are late then you will not be allowed to re-book a ticket for one week

Services included and excluded in this tour


The following 15 services are included:

  1. Payment for Tibet travel permit and all other necessaries permits to Tibet.

  2. All entrance ticket fees for all tourist sites listed in the itinerary.

  3. Meals as specified in the itinerary.

  4. Local tour Transfers, 5-29 seats comfortable tourist vehicle to accommodate Group Size.

  5. Professional English-speaking Tibetan local tour guide.

  6. Comfortable hotel accommodations.

  7. About your hotel accommodation: you will need to share a room with another member but if you prefer to be by yourself, you will need to pay a single room supplement.

  8. Breakfast in hotels

  9. Arrangements including planning, handling, operational and communication charges.

  10. Welcome Group dinner at a local restaurant in Lhasa.

  11. Transportation between Lhasa Gongkar airport or train station and your hotel.

  12. Welcome dinner is only possible in Group tours after your arrival in Tibet.

  13. Tibet Handy Map.

  14. Drinking water at the tour bus during travel.

  15. Shared oxygen tank inside the tour bus.
The following 6 services are excluded:

  1. International flight in and out of China.

  2. Domestic flight/train in and out of Lhasa. (We can provide you the domestic flight/train ticket booking service at the BEST discount price, please contact our travel experts for further details.)

  3. Lunches and dinners are not included. The cost is usually about $3-15 per person per meal in TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region).

  4. Tips for travel guide and driver

  5. Personal expenses, like laundry, phone call, snacks, soft drinks (please avoid alcoholic beverages during your Tibetan trip), optional tour activities, etc.

  6. Travel insurance covers trips cancellation cost in emergency evacuations, due to bad weather condition, avalanche, or natural disasters

The total fare for ​Cultural Odyssey

  1. Price: From $760 per person.

  2. Tour Type: Private Tour

  3. Trip Level: Easy – suitable for all level of fitness, family with kids and senior groups.

  4. Group Size: 2-8