6 Days Lhasa-Yamdroktso -Tzedang Sightseeing Tour Including Local Tibetan Family Visit

Day-by-day Itinerary

1. Day 1: Lhasa Arrival (No meal)

   Upon your arrival at Lhasa airport/train station, our local English speaking tour guide and driver will pick you up from the exit gate by holding a welcome board with your name and transfer to the downtown hotel for checking-in. Free and easy on your own for rest of the day to acclimate to the high altitude and weather of Lhasa.

   Accommodation: Hotel in Lhasa

2. Day 2: Lhasa (B)
   Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Street

   AM: Meet your Lhasa tour guide at the hotel lobby around 9 am and then start your exploration on this land from the world-famous Potala Palace, the highest palace in the world. The whole architectural complex includes two parts, the White Palace and the Red Palace. The White Palace is the place where the Dalai Lamas lived and handled political affairs, while the Red Palace mainly houses the stupas of the Dalai Lamas. Your tour guide will share a wealth of information with you to help you understand its history and Tibetan Buddhism.

   Noon: Lunch on your own.

   

   PM: Next your tour guide will lead you to explore the holy Jokhang Temple which has a history of over 1300 years. The temple is a mixture of Tibetan, Tang, Nepalese, and Indian architectural styles and has become an example of Tibetan religious architecture. The interior is so impressive with plenty of statues, colorful murals, and rows of butter lamps. It’s not allowed to take photos in most parts, but you will have the opportunity to take some on the rooftop.

   At last, you will finish the day off with the lively Barkhor Street surrounding the Jokhang Temple. You can join the pilgrims to stroll around the temple and totally immerse yourself in it. There are also many interesting shops selling various stuff including clothing, handicrafts, and jewels. You can shop for some souvenirs here.

   Finish the sightseeing, transfer back to your hotel.

   

3. Day 3: Lhasa (B)
   Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery

   AM: Today you will go to explore the more interesting places of Lhasa. After the same pick-up as yesterday, you will come to Drepung Monastery with the tour guide firstly. It is one of the Six Great Monasteries of Gelug (Yellow Hat) in Tibet and shares the fame of the Three Great Monasteries in Lhasa with Sera Monastery and Ganden Monastery. It is located on the south side of Gebeiwoze Mountain, 10km east of the west suburban of Lhasa city. The ordered architectures in white were built against the Gebeiwoze Mountain and fully occupied the hillside, seeming a huge rice dump, hence the name of “Drepung” which means collected rice in Tibetan language and represents the prosperity of Tibetan.

   Noon: Lunch on your own.

   

   PM: The second site today you will visit is the famous Sera Monastery which is the second largest monastery in Tibet. Sera Monastery was built in the Ming Dynasty by the famous Sagya Yeshes who was one of the eight disciples of Zongkapa and given the title of the Great Mercy Dharma by Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty after he had an audience with the Emperor in 1409 and 1414. The debate about the Buddhism of Sera Monastery earns its fame in the Tibetan region, which is always taken a necessary activity to see for travelers from the whole world.

   After visiting the sites, you will go back to your hotel.

   

4. Day 4: Lhasa -Yamdroktso-Tzedang by Car (B)
   Yamdroktso Lake, Karola Glacier, local Tibetan family

   AM: Today you’ll visit one of the most famous lakes in Tibet - Yamdroktso Lake. It is famed as “the Most Beautiful Lake in the World” with the literal meaning as “the above coral twig” and the holy moral in Tibetan’s heart as “the Scattered Kallaite Earrings of Fairy” as it couldn’t be gotten its full perspective by visitors on the ground. Three other lakes are creeping on the earth with Yamdorktso Lake, connecting each other together and consisting of an endless holy lake beyond our horizon—the beautiful body of the lake on this land is more than 130km long. When looking at it from a map or sky, you will be surprised to see the lake embedded in this land, glittering like an earring under the sunshine at different times.

   Noon: Lunch on your own.

   PM: After that, drive to the Karola Glacier with an elevation of 5400 meters above sea level. Getting off the car, the magnificent glacier jumps into your eyes with its shinning body soaked in the gentle sunshine. You are worry-free from people or cars intruding into your shot and disturbing your selfies with the stunning sights as it’s usually off the beaten track.

   On the way to Zedang, you would have a chance to visit a local Tibetan family to experience the real local people’s life.

   Accommodation: Hotel in Tzedang

   

5. Day 5: Tzedang (B)
   Changzhu Monastery, Yongbulakang Monastery, Sangye Monastery

   AM: You’ll start today with Changzhu Monastery, which is built during the reign of Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century. You will have a chance to witness the treasure of this monastery, a 2-meter-long and 1.2-meter-wide Thangka made of 29026 pearls, 1 diamond, 2 rubies, 1 sapphire, 185 turquoise stones, and other precious gems. Looking at the vivid Thangka, you may feel like the Guanyin Buddha is communicating with you.

   Noon: Lunch on your own.

   PM: Then, move on to Yongbulakang Monastery. It’s the first palace in the Tibetan history and was changed to a monastery later. You can wander around appreciating the murals which will tell you the stories of the first king of Tibet, the first building, and the first farmland.

   The last stop is Sangye Monastery. Sangye means “unimaginable” in Tibetan language. This over 1000-year-old monastery has a special architectural style with the bottom of Tibetan style, the middle of the Han style, and the top of Indian style. There are many well-preserved cultural relics from different periods of Tibet.

   Accommodation: Hotel in Tzedang

   

6. Day 6: Lhasa Departure (B)

   Free and easy on your own until the pickup time for departure. Our guide and driver will meet you at the hotel lobby and transfer to Lhasa airport/train station to see you off.