High Road to Lhasa
Namaste! Arrive in Kathmandu to be greeted by our staff at the Tribhuvan Airport, from here you will be driven to the beautiful Dwarikas Hotel, a living museum, where you will be made to feel very welcome with the wonderful and friendly service. The food is a treat here and the setting very peaceful and relaxing. Overnight Dwarikas Hotel, Kathmandu.
Members of the group who would like to participate in the optional Mount Everest scenic flight will be picked up at approximately 05:45hrs and whisked off to the airport, returning for a delicious Dwarikas breakfast before taking in the sites of Kathmandu. Our city tour includes a visit to Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple), Pashpathinath, Durbar Square (Kathmandu) and Bodhnath. Finish the day with a nine course Nepali meal at the unforgettable Krishnapan Restaurant at Dwarikas. Overnight Dwarikas Hotel, Kathmandu.
We travel north towards Tibet on the Arniko Highway (Friendship Highway) and stay at the beautiful Last Resort. Immerse yourself in the ambient atmosphere of the Last Resort and indulge in a soothing massage and finish off with a relaxing sauna. The Tibetan border is less than 15km from here. Drive time, four to six hours. Permanent Tented Accommodation. Overnight The Last Resort.
Enter China (Tibet) after all border formalities. Stay at Caiyuan Hotel, which is literally only metres away from Chinese immigration. Our crew will shop for perishable foods, which cannot be brought in from Nepal. This will be a good time for you to change currency and familiarise yourselves with a new country. The elevation of Zhangmu is just over 2,200m. Today we will begin to record everyone’s oxygen saturation levels with our pulse oxymeter. We will be doing this for the next week or so, until everyone is well and truly acclimatised. Drive time, (including border formalities) four to six hours. Overnight Caiyuan Hotel.
For the next two days, we travel a short distance and concentrate on becoming acclimatised to the altitude. We consider this to be extremely important, and vital to your safety and enjoyment of your journey. We will also visit Milarepa’s Cave today; Milarepa was a great 11th-century Tibetan magician and poet. Day five is our first of ten bush camps on the journey. The elevation is over 3,800m. While in Tibet, we travel on the Friendship Highway, even when we venture to Mount Kailash. Drive time, two to four hours. Overnight bush camp (near Nyalam)
After a late breakfast, leave the crew to pack up camp and we head to the top of La Lungla Pass. Here we take in spectacular views of the Himalayas while acclimatising. The altitude is approximately 5,000m. When we are ready, we will head back down the way we have come to our second bush camp where the crew will already have your camp set up and dinner will be prepared. Our bush camp will be higher than the previous night. When it comes to altitude, there is a golden rule that we will be implementing… climb high and sleep low! Tonight we sleep at an altitude of over 4,000m. Drive time, three to six hours. Overnight bush camp
We have finally made it over La Lungla and until we are in Lhasa, the altitude will remain above 4,000m, except for a couple of occasions. We stay at the very Tibetan and quite basic Snow Leopard Guesthouse in Lao Tingri. The next eight nights will be spent bush camping due to the remoteness of our journey. Drive time, three to five hours. Overnight Snow Leopard Guesthouse, Lao Tingri
We drive over Pang La (pass) 5,050m, which is between Lao Tingri and Everest Base Camp (EBC). On the ascent and descent of this pass, there are over eighty switchbacks… we know because we have counted them! As we are still acclimatising, we do not camp at EBC, or even Rongbuk Monastery as the altitude is still too high for us to camp sensibly at our rate of acclimatisation. We bush camp at a lower altitude of around 4,500m. Drive time six to eight hours. Overnight bush camp
Drive to Rongbuk (Rongphu) and EBC.Rongbuk is not only the highest monastery in Tibet (4900m), but the world. Standing within a stones throw of Mount Everest rarely fails to bring out ones emotions. Elevation at this point is approximately 5,150m. After leaving EBC, we backtrack to the Friendship Highway traveling along it for some time before deviating to the northwest. We will bush camp at the very remote and beautiful Paiko Tso (Lake) very close to Shishapangma, the fourteenth highest mountain in the world (8,013m or 26,289 ft). Drive time, six to eight hours. Overnight bush camp
For the next three days we drive in some of the most remote countryside many of you will have encountered in your lifetime. There are no trees and very little vegetation with only the occasional nomad camp and ruined monasteries scattered along parts of the road. We take our time to explore and take photos. Our camp crew will be busy looking after all of your needs and at the end of every drive day; we will arrive at our camp, which will be a welcome sight in this seemingly empty countryside. Drive times six to eight hours each day. Overnight bush camp
Arriving at Lake Manasarovar will be the culmination of three drive days through breathtaking scenery. The stunning views of Mount Kailash are indescribable; we will camp on the edge of Lake Manasarovar with it’s pristine sapphire blue waters with a beautiful back drop of snow capped mountains. Enjoy a well-deserved wash in the hot springs behindChui Monastery. Drive time six to eight hours. Overnight bush camp
We drive to Darchen, which is the starting point for the Mount Kailash Kora where we get the chance to mix and mingle with many of the pilgrims who are about to begin, or have just completed this arduous pilgrimage. The Mount Kailash Kora is one of the most important pilgrimages in Asia and to date, no one has climbed this incredibly symmetrical and spiritual mountain (6,638m or 21,778 ft). Mount Kailash is one of the most sacred mountains in the world. We bush camp at the same site as the night before at Lake Manasarovar. Drive time two to three hours. Overnight bush camp
We head back east; the same way we came, so there are more opportunities to explore and photograph this amazingly magnificent and unique countryside, however, once we reach Saga, we will no longer be back tracking. These will be our last two nights of bush camping. Drive times six to eight hours each day. Overnight bush camp
Arrive in the small town of Sakya. Around one thousand years ago, Tibet was ruled from this town by the Sakya Sect for over seventy years. We stay at Sakya Hotel, quite refreshing to have a normal bed and a piping hot shower after eight straight nights of bush camping. Drive time six to eight hours. Overnight Sakya Hotel, Sakya.
Before heading east on the Friendship Highway, we take time out to explore the imposing fortress-like Sakya Monastery; the walls surrounding the monastery are 16m high and are 3.5m thick. In the afternoon we arrive drive to Shigatse. Drive time two to four hours. Overnight Hotel Manasarovar.
A whole day is spent in Shigatse, the capital of Tsang province giving time for a guided tour through the huge Tashilhunpo Monastery, seat of the Panchen Lama and to also wander around the Shigatse Dzong. Overnight Hotel Manasarovar, Shigatse.
Enjoy a short drive to Gyantse. We spend one night here and are accommodated at Gyantse Hotel. In the afternoon there will be plenty of time to explore Gyantse Kumbum, which is the largest chorten in Tibet. Time will also be available to explore the magnificent Gyantse Dzong, which dominates Gyantse’s skyline as it majestically perches over the town. Drive time two to three hours. Overnight Gyantse Hotel.
We arrive in Lhasa in the afternoon after skirting Yamdrok-Tso, one of the four holy lakes of Tibet, and then having driven over the last high pass of our trip, Kamba La, 4,700m. We spend four nights in Lhasa(3,650m), staying at the very tasteful Yak Hotel, only a few minutes walk from Barkhor Square. Drive time seven to nine hours. Overnight Yak Hotel, Lhasa.
Our first two days in Lhasa are spent exploring the city and surrounding areas. Included will be Barkhor Square and the Jokhang, the Potala Palace and Norbulingka (the Summer Palace) and both the Sera and Drepung Monasteries. Sera is famous for monks yelling and gesticulating at each other… Overnight(s) Yak Hotel, Lhasa.
Lhasa is a wonderful city to get lost in; it’s so fascinating and spiritual in places, especially the Jokhang. We have left day twenty-three free so you can wander at your leisure, explore the markets and buy a few souvenirs, walk a kora with the pilgrim’s… or just chill out for the day. Overnight Yak Hotel, Lhasa.
The drive from Lhasa to the Gongkar Airport is approximately 65km. On our flight back to Kathmandu; Mount Everest, as well as Lhotse, Makalu and Cho Oyu are on the flight path and usually can be spotted. Drive time two hours. Overnight Dwarikas Hotel, Kathmandu.
There is also another tour of Kathmandu available, this time to explore Patan and Bhaktapur. Patan used to be a separate city but is now part of Kathmandu; Bhaktapur was and still is a separate city from Kathmandu, and is only a short drive away. On our last night together we have a final group meal at the Kaiser Café Restaurant in the beautiful Garden of Dreams in the centre of Kathmandu; a lovely way to conclude our trip. Overnight Dwarikas Hotel, Kathmandu.
Farewell and end of trip. We transport you safely to the airport and personally bid you farewell.