The overland tour from Lhasa to Kathmandu or the other way round is one of the most amazing overland tours. As a tour operator running Tibet tour since 1984, we are the only travel agency that has offices both in Lhasa and Kathmandu, as well as in Chengdu. This enables us to provide one-stop service that ensures smooth and convenient transferring between Tibet and Nepal.
Since we have run a couple of Lhasa-Kathmandu tour recently, let’s have a look at the service you can enjoy when crossing the Sino-Nepal border.
From Gyirong Border to Kathmandu
Following our classic 7-Day Lhasa to Kathmandu overland tour, you will spend the last two days crossing the border, one day from EBC to Gyirong border and another day from the border to Kathmandu.
EBC to Gyirong Border
Today is some 370km drive which will take 6 hours. You will get up early to capture the amazing sunrise of the Everest. Then we will drive along Pekutso Lake and enjoy the lofty Mt.Shishapangma along the way. After passing through Ghungtang Lhamo at 5,236m, we will arrive in Gyirong in the late afternoon.
Gyirong Town
It seems a bit tough, isn’t it? As you can see, you’ll be passing an altitude of above 5,000 meters. Don’t worry. To minimize the impact the altitude sickness and coldness, we have provided hot tea, oxygen, warm Tibetan apron and hot water bag, etc. A routine tour service training is also held every year, including first-aid training, to help provide our guests with a safe and high-quality journey.
Since it’s a 6-hour journey and Gyirong border closes every day at 5 pm Chinese time, you will stay overnight in the guesthouse in Gyirong. This will enable you to regain some energy as well.
Gyirong to Kathmandu
Today we’ll drive through the border and get to Kathmandu after 7 to 8 hours’ driving. Our Tibetan guide will escort you to the border and this is where the tour service ends.
So that’s it? Not really. To provide a hassle-free service, we will arrange a roomy jeep to transfer our guests to their hotel in Kathmandu. Each designated jeep (Mahindra Scorpio) will accommodate up to 5 people at the most to guarantee the utmost comfort. By comparison, the common practice in the tourism industry is to have 6-7 tourists on a cramped tour bus.
Our driver and vehicle
Our guests after passing Gyirong border
However, since such tourist-friendly service is not included in the tour package in Tibet, each client may expect to pay 60USD for the transfer.
From Kathmandu to Gyirong Border
You may be wondering: why do I find Kathmandu to Lhasa tours from other company being 7 days only? Are you doing 8 days to make more money from us?
Not at all. To be frank, it is deliberately designed like this. We spend one more day in Gyirong only to make our guests better acclimatized to the altitude. We used to have it 7-day but later we found it hard for our guests to get used to the rise of altitude. So the tour package was upgraded to 8 days, with one night in Syabrubesi (2,380m) and another one more day at Gyirong Town (2,800m) before reaching out to Everest Base Camp (5,200m).
Kathmandu to Syabrubesi (2,380m)
The first day of our 8-day Kathmandu to Lhasa tour starts with our driver picking you up in the hotel in the morning. It will be a journey of 137km but it actually takes about 7-8 hours to drive through, because of the rocky and uneven single lane road. By comparison, a normal shuttle bus would see a bunch of people cuddled in it for about 10 hours.
Road condition from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi is a bit rough
However, there are views to enjoy on the way. The stunning views of the Himalayas and Langtang National Park will somewhat sooth you a bit from the bumpy journey.
Langtang National Park
You will stay overnight in village guest house in Syabrubesi.
Syabrubesi to Gyirong (2,800m)
After breakfast, we will drive 15km to the border. Our Tibetan guide will meet you there and drive for another one hour to Gyirong town. You will be arriving in Gyirong early afternoon and staying overnight there before heading for Tingri via EBC the next day.
Our guests passed through Gyirong border
You can have a relaxing rest of the day enjoying the Paba Temple. Within walking distance of your Gyirong hotel, it is a Nepali style monastery built at the proposal of the Nepali wife of the Tibetan King Songtsan Gambo.
Paba Temple in Gyirong Town
This one day in Gyirong is very important. According to our experience, it would be better for our clients to acclimatize to the altitude in Gyirong before ascending to 5,200-meter-high Everest Base Camp and then Tingri (4,348m). Examples of suffering have been heard on the internet from other tourists joining 7-day Kathmandu to Lhasa tour from other tour operators.
Conclusion
Crossing the Gyirong border between China and Nepal may be kinda puzzling for tourists but our value-added service will ensure you a safe, hassle-free and comfortable transferring journey. You can join our 7-day Lhasa to Kathmandu tour or 8 Days Kathmandu to Lhasa tour to have an amazing overland journey experiencing two exotic culture.
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