10 Days Tibet Mt. Everest Base Camp Tour plus a cultural Tibet

Day 1: Arrival upon Lhasa，drive to Tsedang

Highlights: Arrival & Pick-up & Acclimatization

Schedule today: Arrival at Lhasa at airport or train station, our guide and driver will pick you up and transfer you to Tsedang for acclimatization; you can have a good rest to get used to the altitude, or enjoy your free time hanging out around to get the first impression of Tibet 

Warm Tibetan Style Pickup Service	Warm Tibetan Style Pickup Service

Day 2: Tsetang

Highlights: Yumbu lhakhang, Samye monastery

Schedule today: In the morning,we will pay a visit to Yumbu lhakhang, which is known as Tibet's first palace. It has a very long history of over 2,000 years, and boasts many rare sculptures and paintings from ancient times. Then we will drive to Samye monastery, the Tibet first Buddhist monastery, built in 8 century and the first monastery completed with the three Buddhist jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

Yumbu lhakhang  Palace	Samye Monastery

Day 3: Tsetang- Gyantse

Highlights: Yamdrok Lake,   Pelchor Monastery, Karo Glacier, Gyantse Pelkor

Schedule today: In the morning, drive to the historic town of Gyantse via  Yamdrok Lake  ( video ), according to local mythology, Yamdrok Lake is the transformation of a goddess, on the Gangbala Pass, you will have a clear picture of this Tibetan holy lake in turquoise, in distance you can also see the snowcapped Summit of Ninjingkangsang. In  Gyantse  ( video ) , you will find the largest stupa in Tibet - Kumpa Stupa (Ten-thousand stupa), just next to the Stupa is the  Pelchor Monastery  ( video ). Another important site in Gyantse is Dzong Castle which once was a battle field where Tibetan fought against British invasion.

Yamdrok Lake	Pelchor Monastery

Day 4: Gyantse -Shigatse –Sakya

Highlights: Tashi Lhunpo Monastery,Sakya Monastery

Schedule today: In the morning after breakfast,we will drive to Shigatse,our guide will go to tourism bureau in Shigatse to apply for PSB permit for Mt. Everest, which will take about 1.5 hour. In Shigatse we can visit  Tashilumpo Monastery  ( video ) which is the seat of Panchen Lama, the equally important religious figure in Tibet as Dalai Lama. The monastery was built by the first Dalai Lama in 1447, and inside the Monastery placed the highest statue of Buddha in Tibet which is 26.8 meters high. After obtaining the permit, we will drive to Sakya County and pay a visit to the famous Sakya monastery which was founded in 1073 and it was the principal monastery of the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery	Sakya Monastery

Day5: Sakya-Lhatse-Shegar- EBC

Highlights: Green Bus to EBC, Everest Base Camp

Schedule today: in the morning we will head to Everest Base camp. If the weather is good, on the top of the Gyalpo-la pass you can see 4 of the highest mountains over 8000 meters (Mt. Everest; Mt. Makalu; Mt. Lotse; Mt. Cho Oyu) in the world at the same time, what a great picture.

Mt. Everest Sunset	Mt. Everest Base Camp

Day 6: Everest Base Camp - Shigatse

Highlights: Rongbuk Monastery

Schedule today: In the morning, you can view the very fantastic sunrise over the peak of Mt. Everest. After breakfast, you will have opportunity to hike at the EBC to discover the charm of the highest place you may reach through your life, if you think hiking is too tough, you can just take the green bus to the EBC. Before leaving EBC, you will visit the highest monastery in the world - Rongbuk Monastery , which is also a good position to watch the Everest, the sunrise view ( video ) is fantastic when weather is good. And then we will drive back to Shigatse .

Rongbuk  Monastery	Mt. Everest Sunrise

Day 7: Shigatse-Lhasa

Highlights: the Bhamaputra River

Schedule today: In the morning, we will head to Lhasa through the friendship Highway. It is about 280km and it takes 6 hours along the Yarlung Tsangpo River / Bhamaputra River (the Longest and largest river in Tibet).Enjoy the view on the road.

Tashilumpo Monastery	Brahmaputra River

Day 8: Lhasa city tour

Highlights: Potala Palace, Johkang Temple，Barkhor Street

Schedule today: In the morning, visit the symbol or landmark of Lhasa -  Potala Palace  ( video ), the successive Dalai Lama’s winter residence since the 7th Century by the 33rd great king of Tibet. In the afternoon, visit the center of Tibetan Buddhism -  Johkang Temple  ( video ), where you will come across lots of devoted pilgrimages coming from every corner of Tibet. Both sites are under the list of the world cultural heritages by the UNESCO. Afterwards, free time for you to wander through the Barkhor Street, the busiest street in old Lhasa quarter.

Potala Palace	Johkang Temple

Day 9: Lhasa city tour

Highlights: Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery

Schedule today: In the morning, we will visit Drepung Monastery which is the biggest Tibetan Buddhism College with the biggest number of monks in Tibet. The monastery used to be the winter residence of the Dalai Lama before the 5th Dalai Lama moved his residency to the Potala Palace. And in the afternoon, we will visit another influential Gelugpa Monastery -  Sera Monastery  ( video ), where you can see the largest scale of sutra debating ( video ) among monks is famous all across Tibet.

Drepung Monastery	Sera Monastery

                                                                   

Day 10: Depart from Lhasa

Schedule today: Tour ends, our guide and driver will drop you off at airport in Lhasa. Welcome to Tibet next time.