7 Days Lhasa Nyingchi Winter Tour

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 their way 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 part of Tibet.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Optional: After finishing the sightseeing, if time allows, you may go with tour guide to visit Tibetan handicraft art 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 visit two important monasteries in Lhasa, the Drepung and the Sera. Drepung Monastery, the largest monastery in Tibet, was founded by Jamyang Choje 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 near Drepung.

After having lunch, you’ll continue to visit the Sera Monastery, which was founded in 1419 by Tsongkhapa's disciple Jamchen Choje. The most interesting thing is to see monks debating in the courtyard at around 3-5 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

Today you will drive from Lhasa to Bayi Town at a distance of 400 km, in Nyingchi, crossing the Mila Mountain Pass along the way at a height of 5,013 meters. You will visit Taizhao Ancient City, which used to be an important military transport center for those who enter into Tibet.

You will continue your drive to Basum Tso Lake. The lake sits at an elevation of 3,500 meters and starts in the foothills of Nyching Tangha Mountain. At only twelve kilometers long, it is not a big lake, by Tibetan standards, but it has several small islands which all have Lamaist temples built on them. The lake is surrounded by high mountains, icy glaciers, and alpine forests, which can be seen reflected in the lake’s surface.

After the stop by the lake, you will drive along the Nyiyang River route to Bayi Town.

Stay overnight in Baiyi Town

The first stop of today is the great Cypress Nature Reserve, around 15km south of Bayi Town. The reserve is home to the Giant Cypress trees, most of which are around 40 meters tall. However, there is one great Giant Cypress tree which has grown to just over 50 meters, and is known as the King Cypress. Known by the locals as “the god of tree”, the cypress is thousands of years old, and has seen the birth of Bon, one of the world’s oldest religions.

The tour continues on from there to Sekyim La Pass, where you can enjoy the views of the great mountain, Mt.Namjia Bawa, in the distance. The mountain sits at 7,700 meters, and is the highest mountain in the area.

Continuing the drive you will head to Lunang Forest, at an elevation of 3,700 meters. The forest covers both sides of the Castle Peak, and sits above a lush highland meadow with an abundance of wild animals that graze there. The scenery is typically alpine, with wispy clouds drifting in the clear blue sky, snow-capped mountains, and an endless forest of pines.

You will then drive back to Baiyi Town and stay overnight there

Built in the 7^th century, Buchu Monastery is the most ancient Buddhist structure in the eastern Tibetan region of Kongpoand one of the four border taming temples built by King Songtsan Gampo. The two-storied monastery has a striking golden roof which can be seen from afar and was created as one of the eight "demoness-subduing" temples.

After lunch, we will continue to Lamaling Monastery. The colourful Lamaling Temple is a rare example of the Zangtok Pelri style of building. This style, which imitates the 'Glorious Copper Mountain Paradise' of Guru Rinpoche with a three-storey pagoda-like temple, is unique to the Nyingma order. As with all such temples, the ground floor has a statue of Guru Rinpoche, the second Chenresig (Avalokiteshvara), while the top chapel is for Sakyamuni.

Stay overnight in Nyingchi

The distance from Bayi Town to Nyingchi Mainling Airport is around 70 km which will take you about 1.5 hours to get there.