16 Days Kailash Guge kingdom Tour

Trip Itinerary

Day 01. Arrive in Lhasa
When you arrive in Lhasa either by flight or Train, our Tibetan guide and driver will greet you welcome wishing of the white scarf and take you to your hotel, Lhasa means land of gods,
Those who come from the Airport you can see the view of Yurlung Tsangpo valley river ( Brahmaputra) and Lhasa river on the way to Lhasa,
Arriving in Lhasa, your guide can help to check-in the hotel after you can take a rest to get acclimatized to high altitude and need to drink a lot of water if you are ok at altitude. feel to go out, you can go around to Barkhor street, where you will enjoy local pilgrims and nice photos,
Those first time in Tibet, the best thing is to get well acclimatized to high altitude and having a good rest in your hotel is the best option,
Stay overnight in Lhasa(3-star hotel)

Day 02. Lhasa city sightseeing tour: Drepung monastery and Sera monastery
Today’s first tour will visit the Drepung monastery, we chose these two monasteries for the first day, rather than first day visiting Potala palace, the clients have got to more acclimatization of the high altitude,
Drepung monastery was founded by Jamyang Choje Tashi Palden in 1416.
Which is the largest Buddhist monastery of Tibet and one of the great three Gelugpa monasteries in Tibet, you can visit Ganden palace, the main assembly hall, the biggest monastery kitchen, and Dratsangs,
Afternoon, we will visit the Sera monastery, which is the second-largest Buddhist monastery of Tibet and one of the great three monasteries of Tibetan, this sera monastery was founded by Jamyang Choji Sakya Yeshi in 1419. One of the Tsongkhapa’s main disciples.
The main hot attraction to see is the monks’ debate in the debating courtyard from 3 pm to 5 pm, you can tour the main assembly hall, three sand mandalas, and religious scripture printing house,
Stay overnight at Lhasa(3-star hotel)

Day 03: Lhasa city sightseeing tour: Potala Palace and Jokhang temple with Barkhor street,
Morning, you are going to visit the Potala Palace, the Potala Palace was built by the 33rd great Tibetan King Songtsen Gompo of Tibet, later in the 17th century, the great 5th Dalai Lama reconstructed of Potala palace of the present complex.it has divided into two different kinds of the palace, Red palace and white palace, the 13 stories and one thousand rooms,
After that Potala palace is the main residence and the winter palace of the successive Dalai lamas,
The most valuable you can see in Potala has the gold tomb stupas of past Dalai lamas and the 7th century time meditation cave of King Songtsen Gompo and many different sizes of chapels and old printing murals, etc
Afternoon, we will visit the Jokhang temple, Jokhang temple was built in the 7th century by the 33rd great king Songtsen Gompo of Tibet, it is situated at the center of Lhasa, in order to promote the Buddhist religion. this is the holiest Buddhist temple of Tibet, you can see the holy statue of Buddha Sakyamuni( present Buddha) at age of twelve, and many other statues of the Buddha’s and Buddhist masters, the old printing murals around the wall, outside. you can see many pilgrims doing prostrating in front of the temple and the pilgrimages walking clockwise of the temple,( a Buddhist always circumambulating clockwise of buildings and holy mountains and holy lakes), where you can do kora together with pilgrims, and explore the Barkhor street.
Overnight stay in Lhasa(3-star hotel)

Day 04: Drive from Lhasa to Shigatse,360 km approx 8 to 9 hours
Morning, we drive from Lhasa to Shigatse via Gampha- la pass 4790 m, Yamdruk yumtso lake, Karo-la pass 5039 m, Karo- la glacier, on the way drive overpass.
From the top of the pass, you will get the first intermittently view of the turquoise color lake Yamdruk tso and in the distance, you have a spectacular view of Mount. Nyenchenkangsar 7191 m above sea level.
After you will drive pass and enjoy the Karo la pass 5039 m, Karo la glacier, Nanak dam lake and simi la pass 4430m, you have to hang on pray flag at top of the pass, then continue drive to Gyantse town, you will visit the famous Kumbum stupa and Pelchuk monastery and enjoy the view of Gyantse fortress.
After the sightseeing, we will drive two hours to Shigatse city. The second-largest city of Tibet, and the biggest city of the Shigatse prefecture,
Overnight at Shigatse ( Manasarovar hotel 3 star)

Day 05: Drive from Shigatse to Saga,450 km approx 9 to 10 hours( altitude of the saga is 4500m above sea level)
Today, we will spend the day driving straight to saga through the scenic valley of Yurlung Tsangpo river and the mountain passes, the nomads place , recently been reconstructed with a paved road to the saga, the journey should be very comfortable and smooth,
Overnight at Saga( Norling Tibetan family hotel)

Day 06: Drive from Saga to Chiwu gonpa/ lake Manasarovar, 520 km approx 10 to 11 hours) the altitude of Chiwu village is 4560m above sea level)
Morning, we will drive to a few mountain passes and have stunning views of the great Himalayan to the south and the trans-Himalaya to the north as drive across the vast nomad plain. This region is home of nomads whose whole lifestyle remains, a wide spectrum of plateau wildlife, during this thrilling journey we will pass by sand dunes mountain pass and sandstone valleys before you reach the holy lake Manasarovar/ Chiwu gonpa in the late afternoon,
The lake is one of three holy lakes of Tibet and receives thousands of pilgrims from Tibetan and tourists every year,
Overnight at Chiwu village( guesthouse)

Day 07: Drive from Chiwu gonpa/ lake Manasarovar to Tsedang,250km approx 8 to 9 hours)
In the morning, we will drive 65 km to Tirthapuri monastery. Which is regarded as the third most important Buddhist pilgrimage site in western Tibet, also known as the collar of Mt.kailash.according to folklore, doing kora around Kailash without circumambulating the Tirthapuri monastery is hard to achieve virtue. This monastery is famous for guru Rinpoche’s footprint and hot springs, after continuing to drive to Tsada town for 4 more hours, entering Tsada, you may feel like getting into an earth forest world beyond the earth.
Overnight at Tsada( Hotel)

Day 08: In the morning, you will drive 18 km to the Guge kingdom, the ruins of the Guge Kingdom, located on the bank of the earthen in lengthening Tsangpo river valley, it covers an area of about 180.000 square meters, the building dips divided into the upper, middle, and lower floors,
Which are the palace, the temple, and residence in turn, with a large number of cultural relics left. the setting sun shines on the castle .under the blue sky. the ancient golden castle and the earthen mountains are integrated into one. Its mysterious historical background makes the majestic architecture even more shocking.
Later, return back to Tsada for lunch and have a rest, afternoon we will visit Tholing monastery, which means( hovering in the sky forever); in Tibetan, and this indicates the imposing position occupied by the monastery. built by Ayrshire-O, and outstanding of the Guge kingdom at beginning of the 10th century, it was the oldest Buddhist temple in the region. during its heyday.it was the main center for the translation of Buddhist scriptures and the holding of religious ceremonies. the kingdom’s dominant function in introducing Buddhism to the heart of Tibet also contributed much to this temple.
Which the most worth seeing are the Jiasha hall, Red hall, white hall, and 108 pagodas,
Overnight at Tsada( Hotel)

Day 09: Drive from Tsada to Darchen, 260km approx 4 to 5 hours, altitude is 4600m above sea level,
After breakfast, we will drive back the same road to Darchen, afternoon you will do prepare for the three days Kailash kora,
Overnight at Darchen( Hotel)

Day 10: 1st day Kailash kora from Darchen to Dirraphuk Gompa, 21km approx 8 to 9 hours walking,
From Darchen our trek will follow the small trail in a clockwise circuit around Mt.Kailash at an average altitude of 4700meters. we will walk side by side with local Buddhist pilgrims following the same route pass by Bon pilgrims walking a counterclockwise circuit. After more or less 4 hours trek we will reach to Tamdin tent tea house 4760 m, where we will a simple lunch inside a tent, from there it is only 6 km hike up to Dirraphuk monastery where we will stay at a guesthouse for the night. This 6 km stretch contains some of the best scenery of the entire kora .from there you can see the amazing view of the north face of Mt.Kailash,
Overnight at Diraphuk( local guesthouse)

Day 11: 2nd day Kailash kora from Dirraphuk to Dzulthulphuk gompa,22 km approx 10 to 11 hours walking, altitude is 4800m above sea level,
Today will be our most challenging day of Kailash kora trekking. The Drukpa- la 5000m and Dolma- la pass 5600meters above sea level, the last part of Dolma- la pass to the top will steep, and trekking at such high altitude will be very tiring and slow, Dolma- la means” Tara’s pass” but at the top, you will get a front-row seat of the holy Mt. Kailash.
After a short rest at the top of the pass, we will descend down to the pass along the valley and stop for lunch at Shabjay Dakpo nomadic tent,
Then you will continue walking on the down valley for three to four hours to Dzulthulphuk gompa,
Overnight at Dzulthulphuk ( local guesthouse)

Day 12: last day kora from Dzulthulphuk to Darchen,11 km approx 3 hours walking,
Today is an easy day of trekking to complete the Kailash circuit and our drive will continue will pick up us from Tashi do ( which is also known as Dzongsar), and lunch at Darchen, after that we will continue a short drive to Chiwu gompa / Lake Manasarovar, you may have interested to visit Chiwu gompa monastery and those like a bath at hot spring, good view spot to take the photos of the lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash from Chiwu monastery,
Overnight at Chiwu village( local guesthouse)

Day 13. Drive from Chiwu gompa / lake manasarovar to Saga,
Today we will trace the back to the Saga for late afternoon,

Day 14. Drive from Saga to Shigatse,
Today we will take the same road back to Shigatse, afternoon we will do the monastery and old town kora. with old traditional Tibetan market,

Day 15. Drive from Shigatse to Lhasa,
Morning first visits Tashilhunpo monastery, this monastery was founded by 1st Dalai Lama “Golden Drupa” in 1447, the seat of Tibet’s second highest reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. In this monastery, you can see the well preserved largest gilded statue of Gyalwa Jampa ( future Buddha)26meters high and 16.8meters wide, the gold tomb stupa of the past Panchen Lamas and many old Buddhist scriptures and old printing murals around at wall, main assembly hall,
After finish to visit the monastery, we will drive to Lhasa along the Yurlung Tsangpo river valley and on the way we can stop at the Traditional Tibetan incenses factory and good to bye smell gifts for your friends and family,
Evening you will have Goodbye Tibetan hotpot dinner,

Day 16. Transfer to Airport or Railway station,
After checking out of your hotel, our guide and driver will transfer you to Airport or Railway station for your departure from Tibet, and on to your next destination,