12 Days Hongkong to Tibet Travel through Chengdu and Nyingchi

Take a flight from Hongkong to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. Upon you arrival, our Chengdu guide will welcome you at the airport and transfer you to hotel by private car.

Stay overnight in Chengdu.

Today, you will take a half-hour car ride to visit the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base and spend about 2.5 hours there to watch these lovely pandas. Then, drive about 2 hours to visit Leshan Giant Buddha, the tallest stone Buddha statue in the world. It was carved out of a cliff facing the river. You can take a little walk on the hill leading you very close to the Giant Buddha, you can also take the boat to enjoy the breathtaking whole view of Buddha. Drive back to your hotel in Chengdu in the afternoon.

Stay overnight in Chengdu.

Take a flight from Chengdu to Nyingtri at 07:30am and getting there around 09:15am. Then head forward to the Giant Cypress Nature Reserve, you can see the over-50-meter-tall and about-2500-year-old King Cypress there. Then take car ride to Sekyim La Pass (4720m) and enjoy the great view of Mt. Namjia Bawa (7,700m) in the distance.

Continue your trip to Lulang Forest (3700m). Lulang Forest is a typical highland meadow strip with dense bushes, spruce trees, and pines. You can appreciate the distant clouds and the snow-capped mountains, the endless pines and the quiet pastoral scene there. After that, head for Bomi and stay overnight there.

Stay overnight in Bomi.

Rawok Lake is the largest body of water in the east of the Tibet Autonomous Region and is the main source of the Yarlung Zangbo River, also known as the Brahmaputra. Besides the lake, you can see the famous Laigu Glacier extending to the north lakeside. Laigu Glacier is the largest and widest “frozen river” in Tibet, and is the third largest glacier in the world. It provides an inexhaustible water source for the lake.

Stay overnight in Ranwu.

Get up early to enjoy the splendid sunrise of Ranwu Lake, then head for Midui Glacier combined by two world-class waterfalls. During this trip, you can see boundless forests, spiral lanneret, snow-capped mountains, lakes, farmland, hamlet, especially the beautiful rurality of the Midui Village.

Stay overnight in Pomi.

Today you will go to the conjunction of Niyang River and Yarlung Tsangpo River to appreciate the spectacular of the flowing water. Then, you will pass through the charming and gentle Niyang Riverside, head for the dock to ride the barge. You can see aboriginal forests, continuous snow mountains and overlook the cradle of the Benjiao - Benri Holy Mountain. You can also enjoy Qujiaowu Temple, Fozhang dene, the lake pine tree before arriving at the Yarlun Tsangpu Valley Rukoupai Town, the starting point of the special trekking tour heading for one of the best touring sites in Mt. Nanjiabawa -Daduka. You can have a look of the famous Mt. Nanjiabawa if weather permits (buy the Niyang touring site entrance by yourself).

Stay overnight in Bayi.

In the morning, visit the Guangdong - Tibet Aided Base, enjoy the Southeast Pontlevis Valley and the Small Switzerland in Tibet - Darksum-tso. Darksum-tso, also known as Basum Tso Lake, looks like one crescent inlayed in the valley, it is about 12km long and hundreds of kilometers wide. This is one of the only Lakes in Tibet surrounded by snow mountains and green forest with lower altitude as compared to many lakes in Tibet, the altitude of the Lake is 3, 700 m. After enjoying the beauty, drive to Lhasa.

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).

In the morning, we’ll drive from Lhasa to Lake Namtso, one of the three holy lakes in Tibet. On the way, you can see Nyenchen Tangula Mountain Range and lots of nomads with yaks and sheep grazing in the flourishing grassland (in summer). In addition, you can also appreciate the view of Sky-Road Railway with snow mountain background. Driving over Lagenla Mountain Pass (5190m), tourists can far view Namtso Lake shinning under the sun.

Then you can take a leisurely trek around Tashi Island and enjoy the stunning sunset of Namtso Lake. Finally, we will head to Damxung (or Yampachen) and spend the night there (since the accommodation facilities around Namtso Lake were closed by the government in late 2018). 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 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: Sky burial is a funeral practice commonly seen in Tibet. The corpse will be disposed of and later devoured by vultures. In Tibetan Buddhism, sky burial is believed to represent their wishes to go to heaven. Only family members of the dead can attend the funeral.

Stay overnight in Shigatse.

The driver will take you to airport or train station.

Service end.