Tibet to Kashgar Overland Tour

As you arrive in Lhasa. Our tour guide will meet you either at the train station or the airport to meet you and escort you to your hotel. We recommend you to take a rest in your hotel for some time before you go out. Your body needs to adjust to the low oxygen of Tibet. Depending on your arrival time, If you have free time you can explore the Barkhor street around the Jokhang temple.

First, in the morning, you will visit the Jokhang temple. The temple is considered as the holiest of all the Buddhist temples and Monasteries in the Inner Himalaya.  Founded in 7th Century by Tibetan Buddhist King Songtsen Gampo to house the Holiest statue of Lord Buddha. He brought this statue for Dowry of Marrying Chinese Princess wengchen.  There will be thousands of pilgrims Circumambulating, prostrating and visiting the Holy Temple.

In the afternoon, You will visit the Sera Monastery. The monastery is one of the three largest in Lhasa and central Tibet. It is found by the Main disciple of Je Tsongkhapa. It is about 600 years old. The main highlight of the monastery visit is the Monks debating of Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy. The debating courtyard is open for the visitor to observe from 3 pm every weekday. It is fun watch and photography, but inside the Courtyard, only Mobile Phone Photography is allowed.

First, in the morning, the group will visit the Potala palace, It is the most iconic building in Tibet. It has more than 1000 rooms and towering above the Lhasa city. The palace is first built in the seventh century by the King Songtsen Gampo. Later in the 17th Century, the fifth Dalai Lama has rebuilt his resident over the ruins of the old palace. Ever since the palace has served as the winter resident for successive Dalai Lama and Administrative centre for the local Tibetan Government.

In the afternoon, the group will visit the to Drepung Monastery. It is one of the three biggest monasteries in Lhasa and central Tibet. In the early 20th Century, it is the world biggest monastic complex. The circuit around the monastery takes about an hour of spectacular views.

Distance: 263km Drive: 6hr.

It is advised to start the journey a little earlier in the morning. So in most of the cases, we leave Lhasa at 7 in the morning after having breakfast at your hotel. by 11:00 Am you will reach the Kampa-la pass (4700 m). The car will stop here for some time of the beautiful view to Yamdrok Lake below the pass and the mighty mount Mount Nojin Kangsang (7191 meters). After some time at the pass for the picture, we will then drive down to the Lake. It is about a 15 minutes drive and we will descend about 700 meters to the shore. We will stop at the shore and you will have some time to enjoy the beautiful lake from its shore.

After the Lake, we will continue to drive to the Nangartse town for lunch. From Yamdrok lake to Nangartse is 50 km and we will drive along the shore until we divert to the Town. If you are travelling during the winter you can see lots of wild birds on this road. It is advised to bring a binocular if you are the bird lover. Once when we reach the town we will stop here for lunch and after lunch, you can explore this little Tibetan town for sometimes.

You will then continue to Gyantse town. We will stop at the Karola Glacier for some time. You will reach the Gyantse town about the 3:00 pm. We will then check in to our hotel for the night and then we will continue to visit the Gyantse Palchoe monastery and Kumbum Stupa. The Kumbum stupa is the most beautiful Tibetan Buddhist Stupa in Tibet. Visiting the monastery would take about one and a half hours. If you still have some energy, we can visit the Gyantse fort.

Distance: 95kms Drive: 2:30hrs

You will start your journey at about 9:00 am. Once when you drive out of the Gyantse town, we will stop at photography spot outside the town. From there you can see the entire town of Gyantse including its monastery, stupa and the fort. It is one of my favourite places in Tibet to take a picture.

From Gyantse, we will first go to Shalu monastery. Many travel and tour operator in Tibet skips in their itinerary. But to me, it is a must place to visit. The painting inside the monastery is very different. Those are the original Newari style paintings.

After Shalu Monastery we will continue to Shigatse. On arrival at Shigatse, we will first visit the Tashi Lhunpo monastery. Built by the first Dalai Lama and official residence of the Panchen Lama. Then we will drive to the hotel and rest of the day is free for you and the group members. But we will have to go to apply for the permit for Everest base camp.

Distance: 286kms Drive: 7hrs

We will start our day little earlier today to have more time Sakya monastery. We will drive on the friendship road. From the Tibetan town of Lhatse, we will take a detour to Sakya monastery. The monastery is the main principle monastery of the Sakyapa school of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery looks like a medieval fort. This architecture and painting of the Sakya monastery is completely different from any other attraction you will visit in this tour. There are lots of things you can see in the monastery that is why we leave from Shigatse earlier. After the Sakya Monastery, we will continue driving to Tingri and we will stop for the night before going up to Everest basecamp.

Distance: 110kms Drive: 4hrs

If you would like to see the sunshine over the mighty Himalayas and Everest in the morning you will have to start the journey earlier before sunshine. We always recommend all the travellers to leave before the sunshine to see the beautiful sunshine over Everest and its sister’s mountains. Before reaching the Rongbuk Monastery, we will have to change the vehicle into Eco Electric bus. Once when we reach the Rongbuk monastery. We will take some time in our Rongbuk Monastery Guesthouse and then we will go ahead to Everest Base camp.

We will spend a night in EBC in the either at the Rongbuk Monastery Guesthouse or tent guest house. It is recommended to stay at the Rongbuk Monastery guest house. The tent could become smoky sometimes. If you think you have an altitude issue, we can return back to Tingri. Please be decisive and decide before everyone sleeps.

Distance: 300kms Elevation: 4500m

Today you will have one more time to close with mighty Everest. Get up early and go there to see the beautiful sunshine over Everest. From Mt. Everest, we will drive passing the Shishapangma and our next destination will be the stunning alpine lake of Pei ku Tso. While driving to the lake, there are terrific views of 7000+ meter Himalayan peaks and the possibility of seeing wildlife. After visiting the lake, you will drive to the town of Saga. Here is Saga, it will be our last good hotel with guaranteed hot running water. From here on all the accommodation and food will be very minimal.

Distance 520kms, Elevation: 5000m

This is the beginning of your true experience of the western wilderness of Tibet. You will surely have a spectacular view of the Tibetan Plateau landscape. We will be driving along the Yarlung Tsangpo river.  Our travelling distance is 520 Kilometers of an awesome landscape.

We will stopover at Manasarovar Lake. This is one of the three holiest lakes in Tibet. Follower of Hindu religion believes taking a bath in this holy lake would wash away sins from much live time.  It is very good to meditate by the lakeshore. After some time at the lake, we will continue to drive to Darchen.  Darchen is the basecamp for trekking around the Mount Kailash. we will take a rest and prepare for tomorrow.

Distance 54kms, Max Elevation: 5630m

The three trekking around the Mt Kailash is the highlight of the tour. We will be trekking along with the Mount for three days. The accommodations and any facilities along the trekking route is minimal. This high elevation trekking is hard and steep in some area. It is a must for the group member to stick together and help each other to make this trekking. Immediately go to bed as you arrive in your room. It helps to regain your energy and save your body heat.

The first day of our trek will take us 20 kilometres from Darchen around Mt. Kailash to Dira Puk Monastery. You will follow this ancient pilgrimage route with Tibetan Buddhist and Indian Hindu pilgrims. You will stay in a small guesthouse near the monastery. The elevation of Dira Puk Monastery is 5080 meters.

The second day of our trek around Kailash will take us up and over the Dolma La Pass, the highest pass on the circuit at 5630 meters. Excellent mountain and glacier views will follow you for most of the day. From the Dolma La Pass, you will descend to Zutul Puk Monastery, elevation 4820 meters. The total trekking distance this day is 18 kilometres

The third and final day of our trek will cover 14 kilometres from Zutul Puk Monastery back to the town of Darchen. After the trek, we will return for one final night along the shores of scenic Lake Manasarovar. There is a hot spring at the Manasarovar Lake, We think it is a very good idea to soak in mineral-rich hot spring and take a very good rest.

Distance 254kms, Max Elevation: 3699m

We will take a five-hour drive from Manasarovar Lake to the Ruins of Guge Kingdom. The kingdom was built by the generation of Tibetan kings after escaping the civil unrest in Lhasa after the death of the Last King of Tibet in Tibetan History. The kingdom lasted for seven-century as the central trading hub along the ancient silk route. Later due to the military campaign of Ladakh and intervention of 5th Dalai Lama’s administration of Lhasa, marks the end of the glory of the Guge Kingdom. Our tour guide will have lots of information about the Kingdom and its history.

We will visit both Tholing Monastery and ruins of the Kingdom. For the night we will be staying at the local hotel with minimal amenities.

Distance: 255Kms Elevation: 4255m

We will first visit the Tholing monastery in Zanda, It is built by the 2nd king of Guge Kingdom in 996. This monastery plays a very important role in rejuvenation of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet. After visiting the Monastery, we will travel 255 Kilometers to Siquanhe.

Distance: 117Kms Elevation: 4260m

Today we will travel 117 kilometres to Rutog. Along the route we will visit the most Beautiful Pangong-Tso lake. It has a world’s highest birds island at an elevation of 4240 above sea Level. After the visit at the Pangong-Tso Lake, we will continue to drive towards Rutog.

Distance: 518Kms Elevation: 4200m

Today we will leave the Tibet Autonomous Region and Enter into Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. We will drive for 518 Kilometerr, through Jieshan Pass to Dahonliutan. The region is also called roof of the World.

Distance: 499Km, Elevation: 1375m

Today we will leave Dahonliutan for Yecheng. There are several high passes including Heika Pass, Kudi Pass and the Maza pass. Along the way we will have magnificiant view of Kunlun Mountain range. We will stop over night at Yecheng.

Distance: 285Kms Elevation: 1278m

We will travel from Yacheng to Kashgar, the distance os 285 Kilometres and we will go through stunning landscape of Gobi Desert’s Sand Dunes.

Distance: 285Kms Elevation: 1278m

We will visit the Apak Hoja Tomb (Xiangfei Mu in Chinese), where we will see and learn about the Uyghur Islamic architecture complex. After this, we will visit Popular Uyghur Bazaar, which is renowned as the biggest market in Central Asia.

After the lunch, we will visit the Kashgar historic old Town and Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China.