Lhasa Arrival

Arrival in Lhasa (3,650 m/11,972ft). Meet and assist by our representative and transfer to the hotel. In the evening walk around Brakhor Square. Lhasa the Capital of Tibet has always remained the cultural, political and economic centre of Tibet. It is the heart and soul of Tibet, the abode of the Dalai Lamas and an object of devout pilgrimage. The places of interest in Lhasa include the Potala palace, Norbulinka palace, Jokhang temple, Sera and Drepung monasteries etc. Barkhor Bazaar/Square: In the evening walk around Barkhor Square/Bazaar that circles Jokhang.The medieval atmosphere of push and shove of crowd, innumerable shops selling ritual objects, and the never ending pilgrims will take you to its spell . It is here that the heart of the Tibet throbs most. Barkhor Street is a very ancient round street surrounding the Jokhang Temple and the locals are always proud of it. As a symbol of Lhasa, it is also a must-see place for visitors. It's said that in 647, the first Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo (617 - 650) built the Jokhang Temple. Due to its magnificence, it quickly attracted thousands of Buddhist pilgrims. As a result, a trodden path appeared. That is the origin of Barkhor Street. Today even still many pilgrims hold the prayer wheels to walk clockwise there from dawn to dark. Also you can see some pilgrims walking or progressing body-lengths by body-lengths along the street. Even some of them are teenagers or have experienced thousands of miles' walk to reach this sacred place. The way they express their piety could make you understand the holiness of religion.

Potala Palace: Potala Palace Potala dominates the Lhasa skyline from every corner. Originally there were buildings from 640 AD but the present Potala palace was built in 17th century by the fifth Dalai Lama. It has served as the residence of the Dalai Lamas. It is 117 m high, 13 storied and has 1000 rooms. Different sections of the palace houses a great wealth of cultural and art objects of Tibet. Many parts of the palace, now turned to a museum is open for the visitors. Sera Monastery: Located at the foot of Tatipu Hill in the northern suburb of Lhasa City, Sera Monastery is one of three famous monasteries in the city along with the Drepung Monastery and the Ganden Monastery. The monastery was named Sera which means wild rose in the Tibetan language, because the hill behind it was covered with wild roses in bloom when it was built. The monastery is magnificent and covers an area of 114,946 square meters (28 acres). Its main buildings are the Coqen Hall, Zhacang (college) and Kamcun (dormitory). Scriptures written in gold powder, fine statues, scent cloth and unparalleled murals can be found in these halls. Norbulingka: Norbulingka Palace, on the west edge of Lhasa city is the biggest manmade garden in Tibet Autonomous Region. Nearby Potala Palace, Norbulingka, in Tibetan, refers to “Park of Treasure” and used to be the summer palace of Dalai Lamas to deal with the government issues and hold religious activities. As one part of the historic Ensemble of the Patala Palace, it was added to World Heritage Sites in 2001. Built from 1755 and under the reconstructions of different Dalai Lamas, Norbulingka expands its scale into over 360,000 square meters and more than 374 rooms, including Dalai Lamas' palaces for 7th to 14th. Dotted with various kinds of precious flowers and plants, it is the genuine “Plateau Oxygen Bar”. With peaceful atmosphere and tranquility, you will easily get yourself relaxed when walking inside this pure land.

Drepung Monastery: Drepung Monastery is known as the most important monastery of Gelugpa in Tibetan Buddhism. It is considered one of the 'Three Great Monasteries' (the other two are the Ganden Monastery and the Sera Monastery. Covering an area of 250,000 square meters (299,007 square yards), it held 7,700 monks in total and possessed 141 fazendas and 540 pastures in its heyday, and is the largest-scale monastery among the ones of the same kind. Seen from afar, its grand, white construction gives the appearance of a heap of rice. As such, it was given the name 'Drepung‘, which, in the Tibetan language, means 'Collecting Rice. Jokhang Temple: About 2 km east of Potala and built in 647 AD , Jokhang is the holiest and the most active of the Buddhist temples in Tibet. Jokhang was built by the greatest of the Tibetan King Shrong Tsong Gompo to house the Buddha image brought from Nepal by his Nepalese wife Bhrikuti . Included on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2000 as part of the Potala Palace , the Jokhang Temple is located in central Lhasa. With an area of 25,100 square meters (about six acres), it is the ultimate pilgrimage destination for Tibetan Pilgrims.

Drive to Tsedang gateway to the ancient Yarlung Kingdom. Samye is at a distance of 50 km from Tsedang town; it is one of very large town in Tibet and is located in the Yarlung Valley. Tsedang has been the capital of Yarlung since ancient times and was the seat of the ancient kings of Tibet. It is situated near the flank of Mount Gongbori (3,400m) and is home to many ancient ruins. It is known as the cradle of Tibetan's civilization. Samye Monastery: Samye Monastery is thought to be Tibet’s 1st monastery and its 1st university. It has been deconstructed and reconstructed a number of times. The monastery is thought to have been founded in the 8th century by King Trisong Detsen, in consultation with Indian sage Padmasambhava. The temple was destroyed during civil war in the 11th century, by fire in the 11th and 17th centuries, by earthquake in the 18th century. Today, only a fraction of its original 108 buildings survive or have been reconstructed.

Yambulakhang: Yambulakhang: is considered the oldest building in Tibet. Most of what can be seen today dates from 1982. It is still a remarkably impressive sight, with a lovely setting. The founding of Yambulakhang stretches back into legend and myth. The standard line is that is was built for King Nyentri Tsenpo, a historic figure who has long since blurred into mythology. Legend has him descending from the heavens and being received as a king by the people of hte Yarlung Tsangpo Valley. More than 400 Buddhist holy texts are said to have fallen from the heavens at Yambulakhang: in the 5th century. Murals at Yambulakhang: depict the magical arrival of the texts. There has been no conclusive dating of the original Yambulakhang:, although some accounts indicate that the foundations may have been laid more than 2000 years ago. It is more likely that is dates from the 7th century, when Tibet first came under the rule of Songtsen Gampo. Tradruk Monastery: Tradruk Monastery is one of the earliest Buddhist temples in Tibet. Tradruk is said to have been the second of Tibet's earliest great geomantric temples after the Jokhang, and some sources even place it earlier. Under the rule of Trisong Detsen (755–797) and Mune Tsenpo, Tradruk was one of the three royal monasteries. It is said that the Tradruk Monastery was built by King Songtsan Gampo and later became the winter palace of the King and Princess Wencheng in Tsedang. Tradruk Monastery contains the precious relics the Pear Tangkha, which, 2 meters in length, 1.2 meters in breadth, is made of 29,026 pearls and different precious stones by Naidong during the reign of Pamodrupa Kingdom. The most important treasure of Tradruk is a Tangka embroidered with thousands of pearls, which is said to have been made by princess Wen Cheng herself. It depicts Wen Cheng as White Tara. The Tangka is kept in the central chapel on the upper floor. It is one of only three Tangkas made by Wen Cheng. The two other ones are in the reliquary stupa of the 5th Dalai Lama in the Potala in Lhasa and in Shigatse. There is a famous "talking" statue of Padmasambhava at the age of eight years in the same room in Tradruk. The Tombs of Ancient King: The Tombs of the Tibetan Kings actually include Tsampos, their wives and officials. The groups of tombs varying in size cover a total area of 3 million square meters. Looking from afar, one will catch an amazing view of a dozen giant tombs lining from north to south in the valley. The rammed earth on the tombs has become hills melting into the natural hilly scenery. According to Tibetan documents, there are 21 tombs here, in 1989, the Cultural Relics Administration Committee of Tibet Autonomous Region conducted a joint survey with the Archaeology Institute under the Sichuan University. The experts found 11 tombs. The tombs are flat on top and piled with earth and rock. The layers of rammed earth are exposed to daylight, with each layer about 15-20 cm thick. Originally built like cubic, the tombs have become round beaten with centuries of rain and wind. Looking like small hills, it still takes over 40 minutes to climb onto the highest tomb.

The distance from Tsedang to Gyasntse is approximately 310 km, taking about 5/6 hours including break for lunch at one of the villages’ en-route. The drive passes over two spectacular high passes – the Kampa La at 4750m and Karo La at 5050m, over, and along the beautiful deep blue green Lake called Yamdrok Lake or Turquoise Lake. The landscape of the Tibetan Plateau is truly unusual and spectacular. We will arrive in Gyantse an old Tibetan Town against a backdrop of magnificent 14th-15th century fortresses and temples. Here we will visit Pelkhor Chode Temple, which served the Gelug Sakya and Buluk orders. Here the Kumbum Stupa is an architectural masterpiece built in the style of 108-sided Mandela. It is the most revered stupa in Tibet and houses 112 chapels of which only 23 are open to the public. Kumbum Stupa : The main sight of Gyantse is the immense chorten, or Kumbum (outsized chorten, or pagoda of 100,000 images). The Kumbum Monastery was built in the 15th century. It is situated in the west of Gyantse Town. With mountains enclosing from the east, west and north-3 sides,its uniqueness is that its three Sects of Buddhism- Shaja, Ningma and Guolu are living harmoniously under one roof. Each sect has 6-7 courtyards in the monastery. There are various kinds of thangkas, a huge bronze statue of jiangba,the jainrese of a Thousand Hands and a Thousand Eyes in the monastery. There is a hall made during the Ming Dynasty. The arhats are so vivid that they look very much alive. Besides the monastrey, is the world famous 9-storey 10,000. Palkor Monastery: The Palkor Monastery means lucky and happy temple in Tibetan, is founded in 1427 and completed 10 years later. It is the only monastery in Tibet that housed monks from different sects in harmony. As a fusion of Han, Tibetan and Nepali architecture, this monastery is a three-storey flattop building complex, consisting of Temples, Stupas, Zhacangs, Fort walls, Wheel-prayer cloister and more religious sites. Cuoqin Hall of over 500 years’ history, is the main building and center of this monastery for the monk assembly and other Buddhism issues. By combined the three sects, the Buddha statues here has a different style from other temples here. In history, Palkor Monastery had gone through twice enormous destructions (British invasion in 1904 & Cultural Revolution in 1959). After survived from those damages, it was reconstructed for several times and some of the treasures are still well kept todays, like the murals.

After breakfast 2 hours, 90km straight drive to Shigatse the second largest town in Tibet. Shigatse was one of the first towns to be visited by westerners due to close distance with the Indian border. Here, Tashilumpo Palace is the place to visit. His Holiness the Panchen Lama (great scholar), the second highest spiritual figure in Tibet after His Holiness The Dalai Lama. The Fifth Dalai Lama built this artistic Palace. There are about 39 amazing chapels inside the Palace including the huge Maitreya Chapel coated with gold, its workmanship certainly impresses everyone, Tushita Chapel containing one thousand small statues of Tsongkhapa founder of Geluk order. Victory Chapel, which is concerted into a school for study and inside the chapel there is a huge gold image of Tsokapa and his two disciples and also the Tomb of the Tenth Panchen Lama just to name a few. Tashilhunpo Monastery: Tashilhunpo Monastery is one of the six big monasteries in Tibet. It is the seat of the Panchen Lama, the second ranking person in the Gelugpa Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, after the Dalai Lama. The monastery houses the tombs of Panchen Lamas and a 22.4-meter statue of Maitreya Buddha. Tashilhunpo remains popular among the Tibetans, as they carry on coming here on pilgrimage. Standing on the entrance of Tashilhunpo, you can see the grand buildings with golden roofs and white walls. The remarkable Tangka wall which is nine-floor high, displays the images of Buddha on the 14th, 15th and 16th of May every year following the Tibetan Lunar Calendar. Besides the grand palace and gigantic statues, the Tashilhunpo also treasures characteristic wall paintings. Because of the variety of shapes, resplendent colors and exquisite painting, the murals are considered to be another masterpiece of Buddhist art. Rare sutras, tangka, china and glass service of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are also invaluable asserts found in the monastery

The distance while driving from Lhasa to Shigatse via Northern route is approximately 270 KM and it takes around 5 – 6 hours. This is the shortest road between Lhasa and Shigatse. Highway offer spectacular view of Tibetan Plateau and drive along the famous river “Yurlung Zhangpo”

Drive about 60 km eastward to Ganden Monastery, which ranks the first among the six largest monasteries of Gelugpa (Yellow hat sect). In addition to its magnificent architecture and religious importance, there is a extremely fabulous view on top of the Ganden Wangpo Hill, and Kichu valley is behind Ganden monastery, it is strongly suggested to hiking around the monastery and take a bird's-eye view of the valley.