20-Day Chengdu, Lhasa, Shigatse, EBC, Kailash and Kathmandu Tour

Upon arrival in Chengdu airport or railway station, our guide will be meeting you and get you transferred to your hotel in Chengdu. The rest of the day is at leisure.

Optional:
If there is enough time, you can drive to Wenshu Monastery to have wonderful taste of the vegetarian food for dinner. Another alternative is to enjoy the cultural show - Sichuan Opera in the evening. (The cost is on you; we can help you arrange the visit, based on your priorities.)

Stay overnight in Chengdu.

Chengdu is the major overland gateway to Tibet and home to giant pandas. In the morning, we will drive about half an hour to Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center, where you will catch pandas' feeding time, they are at their most active, both Adults and Babies. There's a wealth of information and a panda museum in this 230-hectare park 10 km (6 miles) north of Chengdu. It takes about 2.5 hours to visit this site.

In the afternoon, we will move back to downtown Chengdu to visit Jin Li Street, a vivid replica of the old commercial street of Qin, Han, and Three Kingdom dynasties. You can take a leisurely stroll along the street and buy some souvenirs. After that, we will go to Renmin Park, which is a beautiful city park often filled with locals, and you can enjoy a cup of tea to experience the slow life of Chengdu there.

Stay overnight in Chengdu.

In the morning after breakfast, your guide will bring you to visit the famous  Dujiangyan Scenic Area. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and also a must-see attraction in Sichuan. Here, you are able to see the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, which was built in 256 BC. You will see how it is still working to irrigate Chengdu plain and be amazed by the wisdom of ancient human.

In the evening, you will be transferred to Chengdu Train Station for the overnight train to Lhasa. The train departs from Chengdu North Railway Station. It takes about 1 hour to check in as the train takes about 1000 passengers. Please be sure to arrive at the train station for 1 hour or a half before the train departure. Train Z322 from Chengdu to Lhasa departs at 21:37, and your Tibet Permit will need to be checked when you check in.

Stay overnight in the train.

Optional: If time permits, you may take a stroll around the shopping street - Chunxi Road before board the train to Lhasa. Here, you can browse the shops and malls, even taste the local snacks.

Spend the whole day on the train to Lhasa. It is quite a long journey of taking a train from Chengdu to Lhasa. It will take 41 hours and 31 minutes, two days and two nights in the train. On the first day you will pass through two important provincial capital cities in northwest China, Lanzhou and Xining. Xining is known as the beginning of Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Travelling along the rail line, you could see the scenery of countryside and cities in northwest China.

Stay overnight in the train.

Enjoy the most beautiful scenery of Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Spectacular land of snows, boundless desert, vast grassland, grand ice mountains, beautiful lakes that will continually appear and strongly attract your heart. You will arrive in Lhasa at about 09:55. Your tour guide will hold a board with your name to welcome you at the exit of the train station and escort you to your reserved hotel in Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today's tour will first bring you to the Potala Palace which is the winter palace of the Dalai lama. It was put to use since the 7th Century by the 33rd great king of Tibet. The most valuable collections of Potala Palace are the gilded burial stupas of former Dalai Lamas and meditation Cave of the 33rd great king of Tibet.

Then after lunch, tourists head to Jokhang Temple which was founded by the 33rd great king of Tibet in the 7th century, in order to promote the Buddhist religion. Inside you can see the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni at the age of twelve, perhaps the only most venerated object in Tibetan Buddhism. Around the temple is Barkhor Street where you can do kora (a religious circle of a building or mountain) with pilgrims and locals, in the meantime, you can buy souvenirs.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

In the morning, you are going to visit Drepung Monastery which is one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet, founded in 1416 by Jamyang choge, one of the Tsongkhapa’s main disciples. Ganden palace used to be Dalai lama’s palace in the Drepung before he moved to the Potala palace.                 

In the Afternoon, Tourists will visit Sera Monastery which is another one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet, founded in 1419 by Jamchen Chojey, one of the Tsongkhapa’s main disciples. The hot attraction is the Monks debate at around 3 - 5 in the afternoon.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

In the morning, drive from Lhasa to Shigatse .On the way, drive over the Gampala Pass (4,790 m), and you will have a glimpse of Yamdrok-tso (4,400m) .The Lake is surrounded by many snow-capped mountains and in the distance you can have spectacular views of Holy Mount Nyenchen Khangsar (7,191m) the highest mountain near Lhasa.

Later, you will pass and enjoy the Karola Glacier on the roadside. At Manak Dam Lake, you can hang pray flag at Simila Mountain Pass; Then, you will arrive in Gyantse, historically Tibet's third largest city (after Lhasa and Shigatse). In Gyantse, you will visit the famous Pelkor Monastery and Gyantse Kumbum and enjoy the Far view of Gyangtse Fortress.

After one and a half driving, you will finally arrive at Shigatse, which is the second largest city in Tibet. In Shigatse, if time permits, you may have a chance to visit the traditional Barley Mill and view the landscape of Barley Field (in summer).

Stay overnight in Shigatse.

Morning in Shigatse, you will visit the famous Tashilhunpo Monastery (may be arranged at the end of the trip) where you can see the well preserved largest statue of Jampa (future god) in the world. The monastery itself is abiding place for the successive Penchen Lamas.

There are only 2-3 hours driving from Tingri to Rongpuk through 90km new winding road in the mountains. On the way from Tingri to EBC, you can enjoy the stunning mountain scenery; pass the wild grassland, the torrent, and soaring mountains. If it is in clear weather, you can see the panorama of Himalaya range and among mountains you can see 4 mountains which are 8,000 meters high and more to enjoy like Mt.Lhotse (8,516m), Mt.Everest (8,848m), Mt.Qowowuyag (8,201m) and Mt.Mayalu (8,463m) at the mountain pass Gawula Pass (51,80m). If the weather is good and time allows, you will have a chance to see the majestic view of the golden summit of Mt.Everest at sunset.

Stay overnight at Tent Guest House.

In the morning, you will visit Everest Base Camp, either by trek or by Eco-bus, the magnificent Mt.Everest is standing in the sky like a huge white pyramid, thus you are standing at the top of the world. Take pictures here before getting back to Rongbuk.

In late morning, we need to take the old Tingri road to Saga County. From the old Tingri, you can see the Mountain Everest ,Chuyo, and Shishapangma which is at 8012m was the least of the world's 8000m peaks to be climbed. The road runs parallel to the Himalayan ranges and Nepalian sides called Anapurna ranges. The main road passes through the desolate plain of Digur tang, and the closely neighboring snow peaks of Shishapangma and Langtang to the south. Leaving the bum-chu basin, and then ascends into the depression of Peiku-tso (4,600m), a cobalt blue lake. Today we drive to Saga, a small town 69km from the Phelgu-tso.

Stay overnight in Saga Xibuyizhan Hotel or Mu Linsen Hotel.

Moving towards the Drongpa County, the region around the sources of Brahmaputra River, which is about 167km from the Saga town. In the late afternoon, we will reach Darchen, a small town at the foot of Mt.Kailash. The tour guide will help clients to make a reservation of porters and Yaks if clients need (cost on tourists' own) and do some preparation for your following 3 days trekking around Mt.Kailash.

Stay overnight in Tarchen Chongqing Hotel.

8 kilometers after leaving Darchen with Eco-bus (20 minutes), we get to a village called Sershung, where porters are waiting for their clients. From here we begin our trek around Mt.Kailash, during your trek you can see a lot of pilgrims prostrating along the path and plies of Mani stones, small scenic sites and west face of Mt. Kailash. On the way, there are some tent shops you can refresh yourself and drink some soft drinks. First day's trek ends at guest house on the opposite side of Drirapuk Monastery. If you have more energy, you can visit Drirapuk Monastery on your own. from the guesthouse, you can have stunning view of north face of Mt.Kailash.

Stay overnight at the guesthouse.

The second-day is the hardest and most tough circuit with the Dolma-la Pass lying 6.4km ahead. The peak of Dolma-la Pass is about 5630m above sea level, so it is better to set off early in the morning as the sun rays break over the ridges above. After taking a rest at the peak of Dolma-la Pass, you will descend staircase bringing you to Lhachu Valley floor, on the way you can see the small beautiful lake called Khandotso. From here it is still four hours trekking to the today's final destination with no shelters on the way. the second day trek's destination is Zutulpuk. if have energy, you can visit the Zutulpuk Monastery and its miracle cave of Milarepa.

Stay overnight at the guesthouse.

We continue our Kora to Darchen, is easy and the exit from the valley can be reached within 4 hours walk. At the ending point of the valley, you can take the ECO-friendly bus to Darchen(4km).

Stay overnight in Tarchen Chongqing Hotel.

Drive from Darchen to Saga.

Stay overnight in Saga.

Today, you will go exit China in the afternoon after 5-6 hours driving from Saga to Chinese Gyirong border, also called Rashuwaghadi in Nepal, living in the border to wait for the Nepalese driver to pick you up in the next morning.

From Saga to Gyirong border, you will find a whole new world quite different than the snow land, waterfall, flourish forest, deep gorges accompany you traveling all the way. The most amazing view is the snow-capped mountains standing behind the forest, which makes scenery take varied forms.

Overnight in the hostel at Rashuwaghadi, the border town in Nepal side.

The road between the border to Kathmandu is small, it takes 8-9 hours driving to Kathmandu, you are free to stop anywhere on the road if it is safe to park and enjoy the mountain view. Tour ends in Kathmandu, the driver will send you to your reserved hotel.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu.

In the morning, we will the Kathmandu’s Durbar Square, which is one of three durbar (royal palace) squares in the Kathmandu Valley. It is the site of the Hanuman Dhoka Palace Complex, which was the royal Nepalese residence until the 19th century and when important ceremonies, such as the coronation of the Nepalese monarch, still take place today.

Then, we will tour Swayambhunath. It is one of the most recognizable symbols in Nepal and the painted eyes of Buddha watch all who ascend the worn stone steps. It is a World Heritage Site and one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Nepal, and is at the source of the Valley’s mythical beginning.

In the afternoon, the tour group will head to Patan City, which is 15 minutes driving from Kathmandu. Patan's central - Durbar Square, is absolutely packed with temples: It’s an architectural center point with a far greater concentration of temples per sq. meter than in Kathamandu or Bhaktapur. You may shop around and finally we will head back to Kathmandu.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu.

In the morning, we are about to tour Pashupatinath, the most important Hindu temple in Nepal, the old buildings on the site were destroyed by Moslem invaders in the 14th century, its stone linga smashed to dust, but it rose again behind their retreating backs. Succeeding monarchs reinstated the temple and the images.

Then you will explore the Bouddhanath, which is one of the largest stupas in South Asia, the focal point of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal. The white mound looms thirty-six meters overhead. The stupa is located on the ancient trade route to Tibet, and Tibetan merchants rested and offered prayers here for many centuries.

The third attraction we will cover is Bhaktapur Durbar Square. It is a conglomeration of pagoda and shikhara style temples grouped around a fifty-five window palace of brick and wood. The square is one of the most charming architectural showpieces of the Valley as it highlights the ancient arts of Nepal.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu.

You will be transferred to the International airport to connect onward flight.