Ten Days Tour: Mt. Everest Base Camp with Namtso Lake

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.

Day 2

In second day we will visit the Potala Palace so, most likely, you will be challenged climbing up the Potala Palace (3,700m above sea level) but you will get a great view of Lhasa’s urban areas. You will hear the story of the Dalai Lamas and see the chapels where the Dalai Lamas studied, rested, and worked. You will also get to see the former Dalai Lamas’ graves, beautifully decorated. Continue your tour to the Jokhang Temple, within walk distance from the Potala Palace. It is considered the spiritual center of Tibet. You will see many pilgrims nearby the temple. Entering the first floor of the temple and absorbing the religious atmosphere, you will see pilgrims donating butter lamp in front of Buddha’s statue. While learning about more Buddhism and Lamas, you will gain a feeling of the vast history of Tibetan Buddhism. You might also listen red-robed Lamas praying. You will walk up to the roof of the temple, take some pictures of the gold roof and enjoy the beautiful sunshine of Lhasa while observing pilgrims praying in front of the temple. Finally, we will join in the local traditional pilgrimage route with a relaxing walk in a large circular path around the Jokhang Temple and Bakhor Street. The street is filled with pilgrims taking part in religious activities and street vendors selling a wide variety of traditional Tibetan goods and religious items. If you like you can also ask your tour guide to arrange a visit at a Thangka workshop, and marvel at the fabulous Thangka art work. We’ll take you back to your hotel

Day 3

In the morning you will visit Drepung Monastery. 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 unforgettable 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. We’ll take you to your hotel

Day 4

Drive fromLhasa to Gyantse. Admire the Gampala pass (4790 m) on the way, and get aglimpse of Yamdrok-tso (4400m), which is surrounded by many snow-capped mountains.Then continue to drive west towards Gyantse. In Gyantse, tourists will visitthe famous Pelkor Monastery and Gyantse Kumbum. After one and a half hour’sdrive, clients will arrive in Shigatse, which is the second largest city inTibet.

Day 5

We’ll begin the day driving to the Rongbuk Monastery in Mt. Everest Base Camp (EBC). Even though it is a long drive, the views are spectacular on a clear day, you can see the Himalayan mountain range, including peaks over 8,000, Makalu, Lhotse, Everest, Gyachung and Cho Oyu. When you finally get to the Rongbuk Monastery, the first sight of the mighty Mt. Everest will simply leave you speechless. All the hardship you bore along the way will be all worth it. The best times to watch Mt. Everest’s are early morning and late afternoon when Everest is shining like a goddess in the sun glow.

Day 6

We will wake up early morning to enjoy the marvelous sunrise on the peak of the world. After breakfast, take a sightseeing tourist Everest base comp near the Ronbuk Monastery .The top part of the mountain is covered with snow all the year round, when the sun shines on the mountain, the peak is like a white pyramid. You’ll get to see a famous unique natural formation of clouds that hang at the peak of Mt. Everest, known as “Flag Cloud”. The “flags” will appear around the peak in various shapes and sizes and will move freely according to the wind-direction .over night Hotel in Shigatse.

Tips: In a long-term effort to safeguard the fragile eco-system of Mt.Everest Region, the Everest Base Camp was relocated to near Rongbuk Monastery, according to the latest policy carried out by local government in Tibet in Jan 2019. Meanwhile, the previous address of EBC was abandoned and taken as part of the core protected zone of Himalaya natural reserve, which is forbidden to entry.However, to our clients, the overall EBC tour experience was not compromised at all and there was no need to worry about it. Standing at Rongbuk Monastery (5154m), the world’s highest Buddhist monastery, you enjoy the best vantage point for a panoramic view of the incredible pyramid-shaped summit of lofty Mt. Everest. Close-up enough to make your jaw drop. While touring the world’s highest peak at EBC, you may also contribute to responsible travel in Tibet and play your part in easing the meltdown of Everest Glaciers, due to global warming and increasing man-made pollution.Hopefully, you will find the latest Everest protection policy understandable and work with us to preserve the environment of mighty Himalayas and enjoy the trip to Mr. Everest.

Day 7

Today, exploreTashilunpo monastery of Gelug Sect, the seat of the Panchen Lama, built in1447. The monastery houses a giant statue of the Maitreya Buddha – the biggestgilded statue of Maitreya (Buddha of the future) in the world and a tomb of allthe Panchen Lama, containing jewels and gold. In the afternoon, you will driveback to Lhasa, which will take around 6 hours.

Day 8

Lhasa to Namtso Lake (240km, 5 hours ) In the morning, drive fromLhasa to Lake Namtso. On the way, clients can see Nyenchen Thanglha( snowmountain ranges )and lots of nomads tent with grazing yak and sheepdensely-populated around the mountain side. Namtso Lake is the Heavenly Lakewhich is one of the four holy lakes of Tibet and also the highest salt lake.You can do a very relaxing trekking around the lake side and Tashi Island. To spend a night at lake shoreis fantastic to see the stars.

Day 9

Namtso Lake to Lhasa (240km, 5 hours) Enjoy the clear morning at the lake shore; you can trek along the lake shore to Tashi Dor Island to explorethe meditation caves. Drive to Dumxung to have lunch. In the afternoon, tourists mayenjoy Yangpachen hot spring (Optional) and have both indoor and outdoor swimming pool filled with hot springs water. Finally, head back to Lhasa.

Day 10

This is your last day of this ten days trip, so your guide will take you to the Gongkar airport or the Libu train station in Lhasa