10 Day Lhasa, Everest, Namtso Tour

An unforgettable journey through the Tibetan Himalayas

Tour Summary

If ten days exploring the ancient, windswept landscape of the Tibetan Plateau, and experiencing its ancient and mysteries customs and culture sound like your adventure, then come join us for this 10 Days Lhasa-Everest Base Camp and Namtso Lake journey! From the bustling Bakhor Street exploding with sights and sounds akin to the ancient silk road, to the dark and secretive Johkang Temple filled with the devote from every corner of Tibet, you will feel the heartbeat of Tibet and its people. Along with the exciting capitol, the tour will journey through the landscape to holy lakes and commanding views of Mt Everest from its basecamp in the north! Come and fill your senses with all the sights, sounds, and colors of this enigmatic world.

From $1141

The price of this tour depends on the season and comfort class. Click here for pricing details.

Included

Excluded

Tour itinerary at glance

Day 1
Lhasa (Arrival)

Pick-up, rest, acclimatize

Day 2
Lhasa

Potala Palace, Jokhang temple, Barkhor Str.

Day 3
Lhasa

Drepung and Sera Monasteries

Day 4
Lhasa/Gyantse/Shigatse

Yamdrok Lake, Karo-la Glacier, Gyantse Kumbum

Day 5
Shigatse/Everest

Rongbuk Monastery, Everest Base Camp

Day 6
Everest/Shigatse

Himalaya ranges

Day 7
Shigatse/Lhasa

Tashilumpo Monastery

Day 8
Lhasa/Namtso/Damxung

Namtso Lake

Day 9
Damxung/Lhasa

Tibetan family visit

Day 10
Lhasa (Depart)

Breakfast, sort pictures, journey home

Detailed itinerary

Day 1 - Lhasa (Arrival)

You are welcomed warmly in Tibetan by the greeting “Tashi Delek” at Train station/ Airport by our professional Tibetan guide. After meeting your guide you will be transferred to your prearranged hotel in Lhasa. The choice is yours, either enjoy some time relaxing or take a stroll through the city’s’ streets to take in some of the local flavor. Whatever you choose it is important to take it slow as your body needs time to acclimatize. This will help you to have a more enjoyable experience for the rest of your time.

4-7 Days Tours

8-15 Days Tours

Day 2 - Lhasa

In the morning, we will begin the tour with the grand Potala Palace! Built in 7th century, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is the highest building in Lhasa. With roughly 1000 stairs to climb, you will enjoy a commanding view of beautiful Lhasa City and the surrounding mountains. There are many rooms, courtyards, and views to explore in Potala Palace, so the better part of the morning will be spent here.In the afternoon we will visit Jokhang Temple, which is considered the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. It was built approximately 1350 years ago in a mix of styles including: Tibetan, Tang Dynasty Chinese, Nepalese and Indian.After experiencing this incredible and ancient temple you will find it is the perfect opportunity to envelope yourself in the famous shopping district of Barkhor Street. Beautiful and unique handicrafts from all over Tibet can be found here, and the shopping is enjoyed by both tourists and locals alike! After perusing the wares, join in with locals and pilgrims from around the country and the world in a traditional “kora”. A kora is a clockwise walk done around Buddhists sites, and is traditionally done three times. You may see some walking counterclockwise, however this is only for Bon religion followers, and it is best to stick to clockwise as a tourist. After your kora, sit and watch the many faces and colorful clothed locals while sipping traditional Tibetan butter tea, made with fresh yak butter and yak milk.Free welcome dinner will be arranged for the first night!

Day 3 - Lhasa

First on the itinerary for your 3rd day is Drepung Monastery. It is considered to be one of the three great Gelug monasteries in Tibet. Drepung Monastery is also famous for hosting the unveiling and displaying of the enormous Thanka of the Great Buddha and the Tibetan Opera Show during the Shoton Festival. Later in the afternoon, we will explore another of the “Great Three” monasteries, Sera Monastery. Visitors will have the unique privilege in witnessing one of the magnificent traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, the courtyard debates among the monks. These lively debates contribute to the monks understanding of Buddhist philosophy and achieve a higher level of study. The debates are held on weekdays from 3pm to 5pm in the afternoon.

Day 4 - Lhasa/Gyantse/Shigatse

On the fifth day of the tour, you will make your way to the highest monastery in the world, Rongbuk Monastery (5100m). First the tour will pass by Latse, and Shegar before arriving at the Rongbuk Monastery where both monks and nuns live and practice together. A little further on you will find the guesthouse run by a wonderful family where you will spend the night. From here, it offers a commanding view of Everest, or “Qomolangma” in Tibetan. Rongbuk Monastery sits small and unassuming tucked into the rock, a visit to this retired monastery with its one monk caretaker is a window into the past with its secret spaces and wall frescos. The Rongbuk Monastery has an intimate connection with the Tengboche Monastery just on the other side of Qomolangma where the Sherpa people, who are Tibetan in origin, came through the pass some 500 yrs. ago

Day 5 - Shigatse / Everest Base Camp

Morning visit to the lively local market in Shigatse while your guide assist to process the PSB permit at local PSB office, afterwards start driving to Rongbuk via Lhatse and Shegar, cross over Gyatsola [5200m] & Gawu la pass [5250m]. From the top of Gawu la you will see the spectacular Himalayan Ranges and its glorious peaks viz Mt. Makalu [8463m], Mt. Lotse [8516m], Mt Everest [8844m], Mt. Cho Oyu [8201m] and Mt. Shishapama [8020m] from Left to right, climbing down through numbers of switchback bends lead to the dry valley of Tashi Zom and then arrive at Rongbuk Monastery(5100m), the world's highest monastery. From here, we continue a 8km’s drive to reach Everest Base Camp. If time and weather allows, we can enjoy the beautiful sunset over Everest peak from the lodging area.

Day 6 - Everest Base Camp / Shigatse

A pre-dawn rise and swift boarding of the tour bus will allow you to climb from EBC back to the pass for a breathtaking sunrise behind Mt. Everest (8848m) weather permitting. You will also get the chance to look at other famous peaks such as Cho Oyu(8201m), and Shishapangma(8012m). After that, we drive back to Shigaste.

Day 7 - Shigatse / Lhasa

In the early morning on day five, the tour will arrive at Tashilunpo Monastery which is the seat of the of Panchen Lamas. Built in 1447, the monastery houses a giant statue of the Maitreya Buddha, the biggest gilded statue of the Maitreya (Buddha of the future) in the world and a tomb of all the Panchen Lamas. This enormous Buddha is decorated with jewels and precious stones, and many pilgrims come to rub their “malas” or prayer beads along the flanks of this statue. In the afternoon, we drive back to Lhasa.

Day 8 - Lhasa / Namtso / Damxung

Lake Namtso is the destination for day eight of our adventure in the beautiful landscape of Tibet. On the way, you will see sweeping vast open landscapes surrounded by snow covered mountain ranges such as Nyenchen Thanglha. Along the way you may notice nomad tents with grazing yak and sheep dotting the hillsides of the mountains. Lake Namtso is known as heavenly lake to locals, and it is one of the four holy lakes in Tibet. Once at the lake you can relax with an easy hike around the lake and see Tashi Island floating in the distance. After the tour finishes on Namtso lake, we will drive back to Damxung to stay overnight.

Day 9 - Damxung / Lhasa

Enjoy the breakfast, on the way back we will have a visit to a Tibetan family. Later we drive back to Lhasa

Day 10 - Lhasa airport / train station dropping off

Our journey ends today, and your guide will help transfer you from your hotel to the airport or train station and wish you a safe journey.

Some extra information for this tour:

In order to protect and preserve the environment in Namtso Lake, the government moved the tabernacles and tents at the lakeside. There is no further information about it’s being reopened or not. After the tour finishes on Namtso lake, we will drive back to Damxung to stay overnight. Damxung is about 60km away from Namtso lake, the altitude is 4200m(600m lower than in Namtso lake).