8 Days Nagchu Horse Racing Festival Tour

When you arrive in Lhasa either by train or flight, your guide will greet you and take you to your hotel. Tourists may view the Yarlung Tsangpo River/ Bhamaputra River (the longest and largest river in Tibet) and Lhasa River on their way to Lhasa.

After arriving in Lhasa, you can take a rest and get acclimatized to high altitude. If you feel to go out, then you can go to the Potala Square, where you will enjoy the fountain with different colors and get amazing photos of the Potala and around.

Insider Tips:

For the new-comers of Tibet, to get acclimatized to the high altitude in Tibet, having a good sleep in your hotel is a good option. Don not rush to visit attractions inside Lhasa City.

Stay overnight in Lhasa (3-Star Hotel)

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. Inside you can see the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni at the age of twelve. Outside, you can see pilgrims making prostrating in front of Jokhang Temple. Around the temple is Barkhor street, where you can do kora (a religious circle of a building or mountain) with pilgrims and locals, and explore the old market.

Besides, We can taste Tibetan tea with locals in tea house. The welcome dinner will also be arranged accordingly.

Optional:
With time permitting, you may go with tour guide to visit Tibetan Handicraft Art or Tibetan Traditional Medicine Center. You can upgrade your service to enjoy Tibetan Culture Show in the evening (fr. 60USD)

Stay overnight in Lhasa (3-Star Hotel)

In the morning, you are going to visit Dadong Village, the most beautiful village in Lhasa. Located 25 kilometers southwest of Lhasa downtown, Dadong Village is a well-protected ancient Tibetan village that is surrounded by valleys. After arriving, you will visit the Nyimatang Monastery (built in the 11th century), take a light walk in the village, and see what rural life in Lhasa is like. You will also visit a local Tibetan family and enjoy the lunch offered by the family.

In the afternoon, tourists will visit Sera Monastery which is another one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet. The hot attraction is the Monks Debate at around 3 - 5 in the afternoon. In addition, you can tour the Tibetan religious scripture printing house. Inside the monastery, you can see three Sand Mandalas and colorful Rock Painting of Buddha.

Stay overnight in Lhasa (3-Star Hotel)

In the morning, drive from Lhasa to Lake Namtso, one of the four holy lakes of Tibet and also the highest saline lake in the world. On the way, you can see snow-capped Nyenchen Thanglha Mountain Ranges and lots of nomads and their tents with grazing yak and sheep densely-populated on the flourishing grassland. Besides, you can enjoy the view of Sky-Road Railway with snow mountain background. While standing at the famous Lagenla Pass(5190m), you can view the stunning vista of holy Namtso Lake.

Then you can enjoy our time to do a leisurely trek around Tashi Dor Island and along the lakeshore. We will drive back to Damxung.

Stay overnight in Damxung

Today we will drive northeast for about 250km to Nagqu. As it is the golden time for the plains and prairies of the Changtang Grasslands, you can see the vast emerald-green grasslands, the summer flowers spreading across the meadows, the yaks and sheep grazing leisurely along the way.

After arrival, you can have a rest and explore freely around the hotel.

Stay overnight in Nagqu.

Today you will get to experience the Nagqu Horse Racing Festival, where you can enjoy spectacular horsemanship and have lots of Tibetan delicacy. The very typical festival in Northern Tibet could be traced back to the 8 century when Gar Family was in power ruling Tibet on behalf of the Kings of Tibet Tubo dynasty. The festival includes various activities such as yak races, tugs-of-war, stone raising, long jumping, Buddhist rituals, performances of Tibetan operas and dances, and of course horse races.

Stay overnight in Nagqu.

You can continue to watch the grandest horse racing competition of northern Tibet. Besides the breathtaking competitions, you can browse a variety of Tibetan handicrafts in the open-air fair and see the beautiful traditional attire and accessories people dress during the festival.

After lunch, we will drive back to Lhasa. 

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Hotel to airport/train station transfer, end the tour.