Compare Mysterious Tibet: From Lhasa to Lake Nam Tso by Myths and Mountains

Day 1: Arrive Chengdu

Accommodation: Buddha Zen Or Tibet Hotel

Arriving in Chengdu, you will finish arrival formalities. Exiting with your baggage, you will be met by our China operator, holding your names on a sign. He will transfer you to your hotel. At the same time, he will get your signatures on the relevant documents, process your Tibet permit, and return it to you at the hotel.

Day 2: Tour Chengdu

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Buddha Zen Or Tibet Hotel

This morning you can do some touring in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, and its administrative, cultural and educational center. The city is also a major industrial base and the economic, social and political heart and soul of Southwest China.

You will begin your day with a visit to Wenshu Yuan, the largest and best preserved Buddhist temple in the city. Wenshu dates back to the Tang Dynasty, and was renamed in the 17th century after a Buddhist monk who had made the monastery his home. The monastery is extremely active and constantly filled with worshippers. The alley nearby the monastery is also a “happening”, with teahouses, vendors, fortune tellers, and all sorts of other things and people.

After the monastery, you will visit the Panda Breeding Center to see the adult and baby pandas.

Finally, in the afternoon, if you feel like it, your guide can take you to the Sichuan Opera School to see how the children are taught this ancient art of Chinese opera.

Day 3: Fly Lhasa. Walk The Barkhor

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Dekhang Hotel Or Shangrila

This morning, you will be picked up at your hotel and transferred to the airport, this time for your morning flight to Tibet. Flight times are erratic, so you will be notified about the pick up when you are there.

Arriving in Lhasa, you will be met and driven to the Yabshiphukhang. When you are unpacked and more accustomed to the thin air, you can take the rest of the afternoon to explore the fabulous market or Barkhor that surrounds the Jokhang

Day 4: Tour Lhasa

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Dekhang Hotel Or Shangrila

Rising early you will grab a quick breakfast. Around 7:30am you head back to the Barkhor and the Jokhang, spiritual center of Tibet and destination of millions of Tibetan Pilgrims. The Jokhang, built in 767AD by Tibet's first Buddhist King, Songtsen Gampo, is the heart of this Buddhist world. You walk the kora or pilgrim route, around the Barkhor with the early morning pilgrims. After the outside kora you enter the temple and walk the nangkhor, or inside of the temple. On the roof of the Jokhang, you can take beautiful pictures of the market and pilgrims below, and the Potala on the hill across the square. From the Jokhang, you will head to the Potala, the former winter palace of the Dalai Lama, built on the escarpments of Red Hill and rising more than 1000' above the valley floor. You must be sure to enter through the pilgrim entrance, up the long path, rather than through the tourist entrance. Your visit to the Potala complete, you can have lunch in one of the restaurants outside.

After lunch, you will visit the Norbulinka, once named Jewel Park and now People's Park. The Norbulinka was the former summer palace of successive Dalai Lamas from 1755, and suffered extensive damage during the Cultural Revolution. Much has been rebuilt, and it is fascinating to see how the Dalai Lama actually lived. Painted on one of the walls is a picture of the 14th Dalai Lama and his family – the only one still prominent in Tibet.

Later in the day, if you are not exhausted, you can visit the Lukhang, set in the middle of a lake. At one time, one would take a boat across the lake. Now the area is a Chinese theme park, and it is fun to see how the people use the area. The temple is one of the gems of Lhasa, and contains artwork related to Tibetan medical practices.

Day 5: Visit Phabonkha And Sera

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Dekhang Hotel Or Shangrila

Today you travel to the suburbs of Lhasa to visit two of the most interesting of the Buddhist monasteries. The first, Phabonkha, served as a meditation site during the time of Songtsen Gampo, and contains a plaque commemorating the first Tibetan script. The monastery also serves as a sky burial site, and if we are early enough, we can still see the great Himalayan Vultures circling overhead, waiting for their dinner. In the last part of the 8th century, the very first seven Tibetan monks stayed here, after receiving their ordination from the Indian Shankarakshita.

From here, you will have a simple lunch in a local restaurant, and then head to Sera, in time for the 3pm debates. Sera, is a 15th century Gelugpa monastery, founded by one of Tsong Khapa's disciples, and is famous for its Tantric teachings. The name Sera means "Merciful Hail." Years ago, a rivalry existed between Sera and Drepung (means "Rice Heap"). The monks from Sera thought their hail would destroy Drepung's rice, while Sera boasted the "dob-dobs," an elite corps of warrior monks, much feared by other Buddhist leaders.

Day 06: Visit Drigung Monastery

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Camping Tent

After a 3-4 hour morning drive, you arrive in the valley of Drigung Monastery, founded by the Kagyupas, descendants of Milarepa. Cut by the Kyichu, this spectacular valley boasts not only the monastery, but a nunnery and some wonderful hot springs in this cold land. Drigung Til was rebuilt in 1983, and boasts a large Assembly Hall with Drigung Kyapgon's footprint, his personal conch and trumpet. On the right side of the altar are images of Apchi, the protectress of the temple. Drigung, and the nunnery are primarily meditation monasteries. Drigung Dundro, up the hill along the monastery kora, is a power place for sky burials, and is considered identical to Sitavana, one of the most famous of the Eight Indian Charnel Grounds near Bodhgaya. Legend has it a rainbow connects Sitavana and Drigung Dundro. Early in the morning, watch for people climbing up the hill with a body. Perhaps you will be lucky and witness a sky burial. Tonight you will camp in the valley below the monastery.

Day 7: Visit Drigung Monastery And Terdrum Nunnery

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Camping Tent

This morning, you can climb up to Drigung and visit the monastery. If you are lucky, you might catch sky burial on the site. Whether you do or not, though, it is worth while to do the kora around the monastery and enjoy the scenery.

After you descend, a short drive to Terdrum takes you to the nunnery or "ani" gompa with its hot springs attended by residences of the goddess Apchi. According to legend, below the lakes is a limestone ridge that once contained a poisonous lake with fumes so strong they killed the birds in the sky. Guru Rimpoche, the teacher who brought Buddhism to Tibet, threw his dorje, or thunderbolt, at the ridge and drained the lake. The nuns see the shape of his dorje protruding from the rocks below the opening of the tunnel. After bathing in the springs, you can visit the nunnery or climb to the Guru Rimpoche cave on the hill. You will camp near the nunnery.

Day 8: Drive Reteng And Tour

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Camping Tent

Leaving Drigung, you travel to Reteng, a Kadampa gompa founded in the 11th century by Dromton, the chief disciple of Atisha. The juniper trees around the monastery were said to have grown from the hairs of Dromton. Despite reconstruction, the monastery, with its extraordinary view of the Rong Chu valley, will never be the small city it once was. Inside the lhakhang (God House) are important relics, such as the statue of Jowa Jampa Dorje or the Talking Drolma. You will camp near the monastery.

Day 9: Cross The Nyanchhan Thangla Mountains To Lake Nam Tso

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Camping Tent

Today you cross the Nyanchhan Thangla Mountains, a range that parallels the Himalayas and is the home of the God of the North. Your destination is Tibet’s second largest salt-water Lake Nam Tso and a wonderful cave monastery of Tashiy Do. Tonight is spent camping on the shore of the lake.

Day 10: Explore Namtso And Tashiy Do

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Accommodation: Camping Tent

Few hermitages can rival the power and grandeur of the pre-Buddhist site of Tashiy Do, built into the red limestone cliffs and overlooking Lake Nam Tso. In reality, Tashiy Do consists of two separate hills with caves built within the rock walls – Tashiy Do Thuuije (“Merciful Lucky Rock”) and Tashiy Do Chhungchhung (“Little Lucky Rock”).

Today you have time to explore the area and Nam Tso, Tibet’s second largest salt lake. Because the lake lies on the migratory route across Asia, you are likely to see many flocks of birds – bar-headed geese, black-necked cranes and others – congregating along the shores of the bay. Also common are small members of the rabbit family, the black-lipped pikas that have dotted the ground with their burrows.

Day 11: Return To Lhasa

Accommodation: Dekhang Hotel Or Shangrila

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

When you are ready, you head back across the mountains and drive on to Lhasa. The rest of the day free to wander Lhasa with your guide, and a car is available for your needs. Tonight there will be a farewell dinner.

Day 12: Depart Lhasa

Meals: Breakfast

At the appropriate time, you will transfer to the airport for your flight to Chengdu or Beijing. On arrival, you can connect with your flight out or overnight.