10 Days Lhasa and Namtso Lake tour from Nyingchi

Nyingchi Airport is about 50km from the downtown, upon your arrival, our guide will welcome you at the airport and transfer you to hotel by private car.

Stay overnight in Nyingchi.

In the morning, you will visit the Giant Cypress Nature Reserve, you can see the over-50-meter-tall and about-2500-year-old King Cypress there. Then take car ride to Sekyim La Pass (4720m) and enjoy the great view of Mt. Namjia Bawa (7,700m) in the distance.

Continue your trip to Lulang Forest (3700m). Lulang Forest is a typical highland meadow strip with dense bushes, spruce trees, and pines. You can appreciate the distant clouds and the snow-capped mountains, the endless pines and the quiet pastoral scene there. After that, head for Bomi and stay overnight there.

Stay overnight in Bomi.

Today, you will visit Ranwu Lake. On the way, you will stop at Midui Village to visit Midui Glacier famed as the most beautiful glacier in China. You can also appreciate the primitive forests between the two ice falls which converge the glacier.

Continue driving for about 50km to Ranwu Lake, the main headstream of the Yarlung Tsangpo River confluent. You can enjoy the scenic view of snow-capped mountains, forests, and lakes there.

Stay overnight in Rawo.

Get up early to enjoy the splendid sunrise of Ranwu Lake, and then drive back to Bomi via G318 China National Highway. Along the way, you can encounter one of the most beautiful parts of Sichuan-Tibet Highway from Rawu to Palongzangbu of Bomi and take great photos. Then drive back to Nyingchi and take a good rest.

Stay overnight in Nyingchi.

Today we will drive to holy City Lhasa along the beautiful Niyang River, a major river in southeast Tibet and the longest tributary of Yarlung Tsangpo River. You can enjoy the picturesque natural scenery on the way.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today, you’ll pay a visit to the famous Potala Palace, the world culture heritage. You can explore its audience halls, the jeweled and golden burial chortens (stupa tombs) of past Dalai Lamas, and tremendous number of Buddhist frescoes, thangkas, combinations of mandala, etc.

Then tourists will head to the holiest temple in Tibet, the Jokhang Temple, built during Songtsen Ganpo's reign by Princess Wencheng of Tang dynasty, 647 A.D. Here you can observe sincere pilgrims making prostration in front of Jokhang Temple. While entering inside the temple, you can see the holiest statue of Buddha. Around the monastery is the famous Barkhor Street, where you can do the kora with pilgrims and locals. And then we’ll go to explore the old market and you may have chance to see the traditional jewelry trading between people from different parts of Tibet.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today, you will visit two important monasteries in Lhasa, the Drepung and the Sera. Drepung Monastery, the largest monastery in Tibet, was founded by Jamyang Choeje in 1416. Situated at the foot of Gebeiwoze Mountain, it was once home to more than 10,000 monks. Here you can see the biggest monastery kitchen inside and then pay a visit to the Buddhist Sculpture Carving Workshop near Drepung.

After having lunch, you’ll continue to visit the Sera Monastery, which was founded in 1419 by Tsongkapa's disciple Jamchen Choeje. The most interesting thing is to see monks debating in the courtyard at around 3-5 pm in the afternoon. Besides, you can also see the colorful Rock Painting of Buddha and the three sand Mandalas and then visit the Tibetan religious text printing house.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Optional:
After finishing the sightseeing, if time allows, you may go with tour guide to visit Tibetan Handicraft Art Center or Tibetan Traditional Medicine Center. Besides, you can also choose to upgrade your tour to enjoy Tibetan Culture Show in the evening (fr. 60USD).

In the morning, we’ll drive from Lhasa to Lake Namtso, one of the three holy lakes in Tibet. On the way, you can see Nyenchen Tangula Mountain Range and lots of nomads with yaks and sheep grazing in the flourishing grassland (in summer). In addition, you can also appreciate the view of Sky-Road Railway with snow mountain background. Driving over Lagenla Mountain Pass (5190m), tourists can far view Namtso Lake shinning under the sun.

Then you can take a leisurely trek around Tashi Island and enjoy the stunning sunset of Namtso Lake. Finally, we will head to Damxung (or Yampachen) and spend the night there (since the accommodation facilities around Namtso Lake were closed by the government in late 2018). The lower altitude at Damxung and Yampachen shall bring you a sound sleep.

Stay overnight in Dumxung or Yampachen.

The trip back to Lhasa is relaxing both to body and soul. You will make a stopover at Yampachen, where the famous mineral-rich hot spring will remove your tiredness and get your refreshed. Having enjoyed the joyful time at the outdoor hot spring, you again hit the road to Lhasa. The final leg of the road trip takes you to visit Chimelong Nunnery (Phyirmil Lung Nunnery) and you may have a far view of a sky burial site nearby.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Cultural Tips: Tibetan Buddhists believe that the corpse is nothing but a discarded shell, and offering their bodies to vultures is an offering of generosity back to the earth that gave them life. The master of the sky burial ceremony will perform rituals over the body, summon vultures by burning incense and tsampa, and dispose of the body into pieces. Sky burial is a private and sacred matter, it is not recommended to go to sky burial sites or take pictures.

Stay overnight in Shigatse.

The driver will take you to airport or train station.

Service end.