7 Days Lhasa Tour with Tsedang and Chimpuk Hermitage

When you arrive in Lhasa, your tour guide will hold a board with your name on it at the exit to welcome you. A private car will take you to the reserved hotel. You may view the Yarlung Tsangpo River/Bhamaputra River (the longest and largest river in Tibet) and Lhasa River on the way from airport to Lhasa. 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. You can explore its audience halls, the jeweled and golden burial chortens (stupa tombs) of past Dalai Lamas, and tremendous number of Buddhist frescoes, thangkas, combinations of mandala, etc.

Then tourists 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 holiest statue of Buddha. Around the monastery is the famous Barkhor Street, where you can do the kora with pilgrims and locals. And then we’ll go to explore the old market and you may have chance to see the traditional jewelry trading between people from different parts of Tibet.

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. Situated at the foot of Gebeiwoze Mountain, it was once home to more than 10,000 monks. Here you can see the biggest monastery kitchen inside and then pay a visit to the Buddhist Sculpture Carving Workshop near Drepung.

After having lunch, you’ll continue to visit the 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 pm in the afternoon. Besides, you can also see the colorful Rock Painting of Buddha and the three sand Mandalas and then visit the Tibetan religious text printing house.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Optional:
After finishing the sightseeing, if time allows, you may go with tour guide to visit Tibetan Handicraft Art Center or Tibetan Traditional Medicine Center. Besides, you can also choose to upgrade your tour to enjoy Tibetan Culture Show in the evening (fr. 60USD).

Today, you will enjoy a full day tour in Tsedang, the capital of Shannan Prefecture as well as “the cradle of Tibetan civilization”. You will visit Yungbulakang Palace, the first Palace in Tibet. Since it is situated on the top of a hill, you will reach the palace by walking or a horse ride, and have a panoramic view of the valley there.

Then, you will visit Tradruk Temple. With a history of 1,300 years, this is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Tibet. You can appreciate the valuable Thangka painting made of precious pearls.

Stay overnight in Tsedang.

Today, you will pay a visit to Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet which is built in 8 century. Founded in 775 by King Trisong Detsen, Samye is famed not just for its history but for its unique mandala design: the main temple represents Mt Meru, the center of the Buddhist universe, while the outer temples represent the oceans, continents, subcontinents and other features of the Buddhist cosmology.

Stay overnight at Samye Monastery hotel.

Chim-puk Hermitage is northeast of Samye Monastery. It is a warren of medication caves around the retreat of Guru Rinpoche. There are 108 meditation caves there and you can see many Buddhist doing their practice there. The popular Chim-puk hike takes around 4-5 hours up and 3 hours down. Make sure to bring some water with you.

Stay overnight in Tsedang. 

The guide will transfer you to Lhasa Gonggar Airport or Lhasa Railway Station and help you get on board.