10 Days Central Tibet Culture and Spiritual Tour

Trip Itinerary

Day 01. Arrival in Lhasa airport,drive to Tsedang,Tsedang hotel or Yurlung hotel( Alt is 3560 meters)
When you arrive at Lhasa airport, your guide and drive will greet you welcome to Tibet, after we will drive to Tsedang city for 90 km and one and half hours driving along the Yurlung Tsangpo river valley, the altitude of Tsedang is 3570 meters above sea level, check-in hotel and rest for the high altitude acclimatizing

Day 02. Drive from Tsedang to Samya monastery
Today first we will visit Yumbhulhakang palace and Trandruk monastery before we drive to Samya monastery,
Yumbhulhakang palace: the oldest and first palace on the high land built over two thousand years ago for the first Tibetan king Nyatri Tsenpo, although thoroughly extension, the palace gradually became a Buddhist monastery

Trandruk monastery: this monastery was founded by Tibetan 33rd king Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century, it is also one of Tibet’s Edmonds subduing temples.in order to build the monastery here, Songtsen Gampo had first to take the form of a hawk in order to overcome a local dragon, a miracle that is commemorated in the monastery’s name. Trandruk monastery was significantly enlarged in the 14th century and again under the auspices of the 5th and 7th Dalai Lama.
The principal chapel, to the rear center, holds a statue of Tara known as Drolma Sheshema, next to the 5th Dhyani buddha. the Tuija looking to the right has statues of Chenresig, Inside The monastery, you can see the famous thangka of Chenrezig made up of 29,000 pearls as well as an ancient appliqué Thangka showing Sakyamuni,
After we will finish sightseeing these two-place then we leave to drive to Samya monastery, it will take one and half hours to get there, check-in hotel and go to have lunch,
after lunch, we will visit Samya monastery and hike up to Hipori hill,
Samya Monastery: Monastery was founded in the 8th century by Padmasambhava and Triton Detsen, it is the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet that had tonsured monks, The first complete with the three Buddhist jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. the central chapel is a three-story building with Tibetan-style rooms on the ground floor, Han-style rooms on the second floor, and Indian-style rooms on the third floor. Many statues and mural paintings are well kept in the monastery,

Day 03. Drive from Samya to Lhasa, Yak hotel or similar rate hotel( Alt is 3650meters)
Today we will drive to Lhasa city along the yurlung Tsangpo river valley and the Lhasa River valley, on the way we will visit Dorje Drak monastery, then arrive at Lhasa city,(Lhasa means place of God), your guide will transfer you to the hotel and help you to check-in,afternoon you are free time to walking around the Barkhor street and the Potala palace square for taking photos of local pilgrimage and the Potala and Holy Jokhang temple,

Day 04. Lhasa city sightseeing tour: Drepung monastery and Sera monastery
Today we are going to visit the Drepung monastery and Sera monastery
Drepung monastery was founded in 1416 by the Jamyang Chogyi Tashi Palden ,one of the famous disciples of Tsongkhapa, this is the largest Buddhist monastery in Tibet and one of the three famous monasteries of Gelugpa school or Yellow hat, inside the monastery you can visit Ganden palace, Main assembly hall, and colleges, in the history once a time this monastery have more than 6000 to 7000 monks and lamas,
Sera monastery was founded by Jamchen Choji Sakya Yashi in 1419, this monastery is the second largest monastery in Tibet and belongs to the Gelugpa school( yellow hat), inside the monastery you can see the colors and made the mandala and one hot attraction to see by local pilgrimage and tourist is monks debate on Tibetan Buddhism and the philosophical and the theological in the debating courtyard,

Day 05. Lhasa city sightseeing tour: Potala Palace and Jokhang temple with Barkhor street
Today we are going by walk to Potala palace,
Potala palace was founded by Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century on the Red hill and during the 17th century the great 5th Dalai Lama reconstructed the palace for modern size, that Potala palace is known as the winter palace of the Dalai lamas and the become to the main center of spiritual and government place,
Also, Potala is divided into two palaces, Red palace, and White palace,
The red palace is the main center of the spiritual and White palace is the main center of government place,inside the palace, you can see the tomb stupa of the former Dalai Lamas, the meditation cave of king Songtsen Gampo during the 7th century, and the thousands of Buddha statues and old painting murals,
In history. Potala Palace has 13-floor buildings and one thousand rooms,

Jokhang Temple was founded in the 7th century by Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo with two princesses from China and Nepal, the temple is located in central Lhasa, The main image statue inside the Jokhang temple is present buddha( Sakyamuni buddha) at age of twelve . Temple has been a major pilgrimage destination for thousand years and is always busy with pilgrims walking around and prostrating in front of the temple,

Day 06. day trip to Ganden
Today we are going to visit Ganden monastery and Drakyurpa monastery, the total distance is 90 km, first, we will drive to Ganden monastery for one and half hours along the Lhasa river valley, visit the inside of monastery and nice to do monastery kora,
Ganden monastery is located on the Wangbur mountain, Ganden monastery was founded in 1409 by Ji Tsongkhapa, it stands at an altitude of 3800 meters above sea level, it is one of the earliest and largest Buddhist monasteries in Tibet, and stands atop of the six famous temples of Gelugpa a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, this school or sect also become known as the Yellow hat school, as its disciples were always wearing yellow hats, this order went on to become the biggest school in Tibetan Buddhism, inside the monastery you can see the main assembly hall, The Tomb stupa chapel of Tsongkhapa, other colleges and the Buddhas chapel, after that we will do the monastery kora, the amazing small-scaled kora, we can assure you that the magnificent on the sights are surprisingly breathtaking than you have ever imagined and if you are stunned unprepared by what you have explored, don’t forget to take a free position photo as a souvenir,
Follow the high – lights listed below to know more about Ganden Kora
. Enjoy the Magnificent of Ganden monastery building complex on the kora mountain
. Burning the aromatic plains along the kora road or on the mountain top
. Get the full view of the stunning braided Lhasa river(Kyichu valley)
. Do the Ganden kora by climbing the mountains with prayer flags hung from the monastery straight to the mountaintop

Day 07. Drive from Lhasa to Gyantse, Gyantse hotel or Yeti hotel( Alt is 3980 meters)270km approx 7 to 8 hours
In the morning, drive from Lhasa to Gyantse, on the way we will reach the first mountain pass called Gampa-la pass 4790meters above sea level. Top of the pass you can see the amazing turquoise color lake of Yamdruk Yumtso, one of the four holy lakes in Tibet, and in the distance, you can have surrounded by many snow-capped mountains, the highest is Mount. Nyenchen Kangsar 7191meters above sea level, after we will drive descend along the lakeside and stop again in near the lake, you can short walk to the lakeside to have an touch the water and the nice photo shots of the lake with snow mountains, then we will drive to lunch place for half an hour, a place called Ngargatse town, after that we will pass and enjoy the Karo-la pass 5039 meters above sea level and the Mount. Niche Kangsar and the Karo-la glacier, continue to drive to Simi-la pass 4430 meters above sea level, on there you can see the small lake which is called men made lake because the government built a dam .then, we will arrive in Gyantse, Check in the hotel and free time to explore the city, historically Tibet’s third-largest city, In Gyantse, we will visit the famous Pelkor Monastery and Kumbum stupa,

Day 08. Drive from Gyantse to Shigatse ,Manasarovar hotel / Sakya palace hotel( Alt is 3860 meters)
In the morning, first, we will visit Pelkor Chode monastery and Kumbum stupa,
The Pelkor Chode Monastery was founded by the first Panchen Lama and the prince Rabten kalasng in 1418, Pelkor Chode (means Auspicious wheel joy monastery),
The monastery is also unique in Tibet in that it houses three separate schools of Tibet Buddhism under its roofs Sakya, Gelugpa, and Kadam. inside the monastery, you can see the images statue of three periods of Buddha(Pass Buddha, Present Buddha, and future Buddha ), sand mandala, old printing murals, and the sutra textbooks,
lying around 90 kilometers to the southeast of Shigatse city, the monastery has aspects of Tibetan, Chinese Han, Nepali architecture,

Kumbum stupa was built in 1418 and finished up in 1425, this stupa standing 32 meters from the ground, the Kumbum pagoda or stupa is the tallest and biggest stupa in Tibet, with nine tiers, each of which has its own unique chapels, the 108 doors, the 77 chapels and the 100000 images of statues and Painting Buddha’s in-wall,
After we will finished the monastery sightseeing, we can short walk around to the old traditional Tibetan town, then we will drive to Shigatse for one and half hours, the second-largest city in Tibet and the biggest city in Shigatse prefecture, as well as the home city of the Panchen Lamas, we will arrive at noontime in Shigatse, first, we go to have lunch and then to the hotel, afternoon we will visit Tashilhunpo monastery and old Tibetan Bazzer( old Market)

Day 09. Drive from Shigatse to Lhasa, Same hotel,280 km approx 6 hours
Today, we will drive back to Lhasa by following Yurlung Tsangpo river valley. you can stand on the viewing platform and view the vast Yurlung river bed. finally, the guide will transfer to your hotel and free time to explore the city, Evening you have a goodbye Tibetan hot pot dinner by the guide,

Day 10. Transfer to Lhasa airport or Train station
The guide and driver will transfer you to airport or train station, the guide will help you onboard, The Tibet tour Ends