07
Days Lhasa & Shannan tour
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.
Shanan
Shannan, covering an area of 79'000 km in the
middle reaches of Yurlong Tsangpu River and
south to Mountain Nyancheng Tanghla is the cradle
place of Tibet civilization. The yearly average
temperature is between 7¡æ-9¡æ.
The average altitude is 3700 meters above sea
level. There are a lot of historical interests
surrounding Tsedang of which Samye Monastery,
Mindroling and Trundruk monasteries, and the
first palace in Tibet named Yumbulakang are
all famous.
Itinerary day by day:
Day 01 : 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.
Day 02 : 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.
Day 03 : 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.
Day 04 : Lhasa-Tsedang
Today we will drive to Tsedang, located by Yarlung
Valle y, is the capital of Shannan Prefecture.
It's reputed as "the cradle of Tibetan
Civilization", mainly for two reasons:
First, the mild weather and fertile land in
Shannan gestated the great Tibet dynasty. Second,
it's the birthplace of the first Tibetans who
were said to be the offspring of a monkey and
a demoness. So Tsedang literally means "monkey's
playground". Today will visit Yumbulakang
and Trundruk monastery.
Day 05 : Tsedang-Samye
monastery
Today's visit is to Samya Monastery which is
the first one built in the 7th century and has
three building with different style (Tibetan
Hans and India) and will be stay one night in
Samye monasatery.
Day 06 : Samye monasatery
to Chim-puk hermitage back to Tsedang
Chim-puk is north¨Ceast of samya monastery.
It is a warren of caves that was once a retreat
for Guru Rinpoche. It is a popular day hike
for the travelers. The walk takes around four
or five hours up and three hours down. Take
some water with you. If you are lucky you might
find a pilgrim truck headed up and some different
animals and birds and suck fox. There is also
108 meditation cave, 108 spring river and 108
sky burial.
Day 07 : Tsedang-Chengdu
Take flight to Chengdu, tour ends.
