07 Days Lhasa-Gyantse-Shigatse
Lhasa
Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region,
covers an area of 544 square kilometers and
is "The Land of Gods" in Tibetan,
sits on the north bank of River Lhasa, a tributary
of the Yarlung Tsangbo River, at an altitude
of 3,700 meters. It has a history of over 13
centuries. With more than 3,000 hours of sunshine
annually, Lhasa is famed as " the City
of Sunshine". It is the capital of Tibet
Autonomous Region and the center of Tibet's
political, economic, cultural and religious
activities. There are many historic sites and
famous relics in the city proper and its suburbs,
among which the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple,
Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery and Ganden
Monastery are world famous.
Gyantse
Gyantse was once considered to be Tibet's third
largest town-after Lhasa and Shigatse, but nowadays
its status has undoubtedly diminished. Nonetheless
Gyantse has preserved much of its old-world
atmosphere, and Tibetan rural life continues
here, virtually unchanged, against a backdrop
of magnificent 14th-15th century fortresses
and temples.
Shigatse
Shigatse, commanding the confluence of the Nyang-chu
and Brahmaputra rivers, is still Tibet's second
largest city, but it may not remain so for long
in view of the recent rapid development of other
cities in East Tibet. The city is slightly higher
than Lhasa, at 3,900 metres; with an oxygen
content of 67 percent and average annual temperatures
are 16¡æ in mid-summer and -5¡æ
in mid-winter.
ITINERARY DAY BY DAY
Day 1: KATHMANDU-LHASA
(3650 M), 90 KMS
Transfer to airport to connect SZ 408 KTM-LXA
flight.
Upon arrival you will be met by our Tibet representative
& transfered to Hotel.
Day2 Potala Palace, Jokhang
Temple, Barkhor street
The first day of sightseeing starts from Lhasa's
cardinal landmark- Potala Palace, a structure
of massive portions. Its towering image already
appearing on various occasions, but your first
sight of the Potala will still be an awe-inspiring
moment. It takes at least a good 2-hour to visit
those rooms, halls and chapels
In the afternoon, we will drop a visit of the
Jokhang Temple, the spiritual center of Tibet.
Everyday, pilgrims from every corner of Tibet
trek a long distance to the temple. The temple
is the product of Han, Tibetan and Nepalese
architectural techniques. Then we will visit
Barkhor, the oldest street in a very traditional
city in Tibet
Day3 Drepung Monastery,
Sera Monastey
About 8km west of central Lhasa is the Drepung,
once world's largest monastery with about 10,000
monks. This day's sightseeing begins with these
white monastic buildings piled up on the hillside.
Walking up to the hill is a pleasant thing,
an easy break from the solemn ambience inside
the halls and chapels. At the plat roof of hillside,
you can have very good views of the whole Lhasa
city and the distant mountains.
Drepung is one of Lhasa's two great Gelugpa
monasteries, the other is Sera. Around 5km north
of central Lhasa, Sera may not be as grandiose
as Drepung, but is more serene surrounded by
many small temples. The 'Buddhism Scriptures
Debating' in Sera is very famous.
Day4 Lhasa-Gyantse
Today you will drive about 300KM to Gyangtse.
Take a look at YamzhogYumco Lake on the way
and overlook Kalais Kora Glacier. Yamdrok Lake
is a coiling, many-armed body of water shaped
like a scorpion. It doubles back on itself on
the western side, effectively creating a large
island within its reaches. For Tibetans, it
is one of the four holy lakes of Tibet. And
the home of wrathful deities. The lake lies
several hundred metres below the road, and in
clear weather is a fabulous shade of deep turquoise.
Far in the distance is the huge massif of Mt.
Nojin Kangtsang (7191m)
In the afternoon, you will arrive in Gyangtse
and go for the tour of Palkhor Temple, built
in the 15th century, is situated in the west
of Gyantse Town with mountains enclosing form
three sides of the east, west and north. Its
uniqueness is that its three sects of Buddism-Shaja,
Ningma and Guolu stayed harmoniously under one
roof.
Day5 Gyantse-Shigatse
Drive about 90KM to Shigatse which is the second
largest city in Tibet. It's also the home town
of Banchen Lama. In the afternoon, you will
drop a visit of Tashilumpo monastery. Tashilumpo,
sprawls on the slops of Mt. Niser, southwest
of Shigatse. It covers an area of about 300,000
square meters. There are many valuable and rare
historical articles in the monastery
Day6 Shigatse-Lhasa
Today we will drive back to Lhasa city via Yampachen,
where you can enjoy the grassland view and hot
spring.
Day7 Lhasa-kathmandu
Take flight to Kathmandu
