14 Days Beijing Lhasa Namtso Kathmandu Tour with Beijing-Tibet Train

Welcome to Beijing! Upon your arrival in Beijing, your driver will pick you up and take you to your hotel in Beijing in a private car. Then you could have a rest in your hotel or walk around on your own.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Your guided tour starts with a visit to the famous Forbidden City, which used to be the imperial palace from around 1420 to 1912 and now houses the Palace Museum. Then, you will move to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao of Beijing where sacrificial ceremonies were held on the most important festival occasions in honor of the imperial family's ancestors during both the Ming and Qing Dynasties. After that, you will visit Beihai Park, one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved ancient imperial gardens in China. The structures and scenes in the Beihai Park are described as masterpieces of gardening technique that reflects the style and the superb architectural skill and richness of traditional Chinese garden art.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

No tour of China would be complete without a visit to the Great Wall, the largest man-made structure on the planet. After breakfast, you will visit Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Stretching 2,250 meters long and including 22 watchtowers, Mutianyu Great Wall is the longest, fully restored Great Wall section open to tourists.

In the evening, you will be transferred to the Beijing West Railway Station for the overnight train to Lhasa.

Stay overnight on the train.

It takes Beijing-Lhasa train 40:45 hours to ride through as far as 3,757 kilometers to get to Lhasa Railway Station. On the journey, you will cross over 8 provinces and appreciate the various landscapes of China. However, the essential scenery of the train lies in Golmud-Lhasa section.

Stay overnight on the train.

Upon your arrival in Lhasa, your tour guide will hold a board with your name on it at the exit. A private car will take you to the reserved hotel, and the guide will give a brief introduction of the itinerary as well as dos and don'ts in Tibet. Then, you can take a good rest at hotel to acclimatize to Tibetan plateau environment.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today, you’ll pay a visit to the famous Potala Palace, the world culture heritage and the winter palace of Dalai Lama. You can explore its audience halls, the jeweled and golden burial chortens (stupa tombs) of past Dalai Lamas, meditation cave of the 33rd Great King of Tibet, and tremendous number of Buddhist frescoes, thangkas, combinations of mandala, etc.

Then you will head to the holiest temple in Tibet, the Jokhang Temple, built during Songtsen Ganpo's reign by Princess Wencheng of Tang dynasty, 647 A.D. Here you can observe sincere pilgrims making prostration in front of Jokhang Temple. While entering inside the temple, you can see the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni at the age of twelve. On the top of Jokhang Temple, you can enjoy the panorama of old Lhasa City and great vista of Potala Palace.

Then you can do the kora with pilgrims and locals by circling the Barkhor Street around the temple, buy some souvenirs, and taste sweet tea and local snacks in local tea house. Later, you can explore farm products like yak butter in Tromzikhang, the famous farm produce market.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today, you will visit two important monasteries in Lhasa, the Drepung and the Sera. Drepung Monastery, the largest monastery in Tibet, was founded by Jamyang Choeje in 1416 and used to be home to more than 10,000 monks. Hiking along the mountain steps, you can see Buddhist painting on the rock face. During Shoton Festival, locals and pilgrims swarm to Drepung Monastery to celebrate the gigantic Thangka Buddha unveiling ceremony on the Gambo Utse Mountain. Then you will stop by the nearby carpet factory to appreciate the Tibetan artisans make traditional carpets with great skills.

After having lunch, you will visit Sera Monastery, which was founded in 1419 by Tsongkapa's disciple Jamchen Choeje. The most interesting thing is to see monks debating in the courtyard at around 3-5 in the afternoon. By yelling at each other, slapping hands and rolling mala, two monks make a pair to debate on philosophical issues. You can also appreciate the delicately-made Mandala, sanding paintings, and massive Buddhist scriptures inside Sera Monastery.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Take the car ride in the morning to Lake Namtso (4718m), one of the three holy lakes in Tibet as well as the world’s highest saline lake. On the way, you can see Nyenchen Tangula Mountain Range, enchanting villages around Lhasa Valley, and lots of nomads with yaks and sheep grazing in the flourishing grassland (in summer). In addition, you can appreciate the view of Qinghai-Tibet Railway with snow mountain background. Driving over Lagenla Pass (5190m), you can far view Namtso Lake shinning under the sun.

Then you can take a leisurely trek around Tashi Island and enjoy the stunning Namtso Lake against the snow-capped Mt. Nyenchen Thanglha. Finally, you will head to Damxung or Yampachen and spend the night there. The lower altitude at Damxung and Yampachen shall bring you a sound sleep.

Stay overnight in Dumxung or Yampachen.

The trip back to Lhasa is relaxing both to body and soul. You will make a stopover at Yampachen, where the famous mineral-rich Yampachen Hot Spring will remove your tiredness and get your refreshed. Having enjoyed the joyful time at the outdoor hot spring, you again hit the road to Lhasa. The final leg of the road trip takes you to visit Chimelong Nunnery (Phyirmil Lung Nunnery) and you may have a far view of a sky burial site nearby.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Cultural Tips: Tibetan Buddhists believe that the corpse is nothing but a discarded shell, and offering their bodies to vultures is an offering of generosity back to the earth that gave them life. The master of the sky burial ceremony will perform rituals over the body, summon vultures by burning incense and tsampa, and dispose of the body into pieces. Sky burial is a private and sacred matter, it is not recommended to go to sky burial sites or take pictures.

At first, you will pass over the Gampala Pass (4790m) and have a far view of Yamdrok-tso (4400m) at the viewing platform there. Then at the lake, you can see many snow-capped mountains surrounding it and and have spectacular far view of the holy Mount Nyenchen Khangsar (7191m), the highest mountain near Lhasa. Later, you will stop by the Karola Glacier on the roadside. When arriving at Simila Mountain Pass, you can hang auspicious prayer flags on the mountain pass and view Manak Dam Lake.

Then you’ll go to the heritage Gyantse, Tibet's third largest city after Lhasa and Shigatse. In Gyantse, you can visit Pelkor Monastery and Nepali-style Kumbum Stupa, with nine floors and unique chapels in each tier, this stupa is considered the largest one in Tibet. After about 1.5 hours’ car ride, you will arrive in Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet after Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Shigatse.

In the morning, you will go to the home of Panchen Lama - Tashilunpo Monastery, and visit the golden statue of Future Buddha and assembly hall there. After getting your Alien’s Travel Permit, you will head for Lhatse and have lunch there.

Afterwards, you will pass Tsola Pass (4,600m) and Gyatsola Pass (5,248m). Shortly after entering Mt. Everest National Nature Reserve, you can appreciate the panoramic view of Himalaya at Gawula Pass (5,180m). Keep marching along the new zigzag road to Everest Base Camp, you can get closer view of Mt. Everest peak. After having a full view of the magnificent Mt. Everest, you will visit Rongbuk Monastery, the highest monastery in the world as well as the unique Nyingma Sect monastery where nuns and monks live together. You can also enjoy the sunset of golden Everest peak at the lodging area if time and weather permits.

Stay overnight at tent or Rongbuk Monastery Guesthouse.

In the morning, you can admire the stunning sunrise of Everest peak if weather permits. After having a full view of the magnificent Mt. Everest, you will visit Rongbuk Monastery, the highest monastery in the world as well as the unique Nyingma Sect monastery where nuns and monks live together.

After that, set off from EBC to Gyirong Border. On the way, you can enjoy breathtaking vista of Mt. Shishapangma and the Peikutso Lake. After passing the Ghungtang Lhamo (5236m), you will arrive at Gyirong Town in late afternoon.

Stay overnight in Gyirong Town.

After passing through China Customs with the assistance of you Tibetan guide, you will meet you Nepali guide on the other side of the border and enjoy the jeep transfer service to your hotel in Kathmandu.

Stay overnight in Kathmandu.

Your guide will pick you up from your hotel in a private car, take you to Tribhuvan Airport, and help you with your luggage and checking in for your flight from Nepal.