Lhasa Nyingtri Tsetang Tour

This is the first day in Tibet. Your guide will greet you at Lhasa Gonggar Airport/Railway Station and transfer you to your hotel. It usually takes around 1.5 hours to drive from Lhasa Airport to downtown Lhasa and takes about 20mins from Lhasa Railway Station. Tourists could have a look at the Yarlung Tsangpo River, the largest and longest river in Tibet on their way to the hotel. After check-in, you can have a good rest first. And if you feel like going out, you can wander around the city. But just remember that don't take too much stuff, try to go with a light pack. Meanwhile, drink some more water, do not move strenuously. It’s really useful to get acclimatized to the high altitude.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

In the morning our guide will meet you at the hotel and first take you to visit the famous Potala Palace, the cardinal landmark of Tibet and the masterpiece of Tibetan architecture. It was first built by the 33rd King - Songtsen Gangpo in the 7th century and rebuilt later by the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century. Now it's a museum and world heritage site. 

In the afternoon, we will go to visit Jokhang Temple in the center of the Lhasa old town. Jokhang Temple is one of the most sacred temples all over Tibet and it is always bustling with earnest local pilgrims since the early days. After that, you will take a walk around the Barkhor Street - one of the most devotional circuit as well as a crowded central market of Lhasa. 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‘s also a must-see place for visitors.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

• Attraction:
• Potala Palace
• Jokhang Temple
• Barkhor Street

In the morning, we will go to visit Norbulingka. Norbulingka park is considered the premier park of all such horticultural parks in similar ethnic settings in Tibet. During the summer and autumn months, the parks in Tibet including the Norbulingka, become hubs of entertainment with dancing, singing, music, and festivities. The park is where the annual Sho Dun or 'Yoghurt Festival' is held.

In the afternoon, you are heading to Drepung Monastery, which means Monastery of Rice Heap in the Tibetan language. The entire monastery is large in scale and the white buildings cluster and covers the hillsides. They look like huge rice heaps in the distance, so it is called Drepung. Drepung monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery, also the highest-ranking monastery in the Gelug Sect.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

• Attraction:
• Drepung Monastery
• Norbulingka

Today we will depart from Lhasa via the G318 national highway, pass Dagze and Mozhugongka county, cross over the Mira Snow Mountain at an altitude of 5020-meter, and then continue eastward into the Niyang River Valley. We will soon arrive at the famous attraction Draksumtso Lake, which means "green water" in Tibetan. The lake is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, and there are Tibetan-style temples on the islands in the lake. It is a famous sacred lake and holy place of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.

After visiting Basongcuo, continue to Bayi Town (Nyingchi), an altitude of only 2500 meters. You can enjoy the Southern Niyang River Valley along the way.

• Attraction:
• Draksum-tso Lake

Lulang means “Loong King Valley” in the Tibetan language, or “a place that will make you forget your home”. It is located about 80km from Nyingchi.

In the afternoon, we will drive 2km from Lulang to Tashigang Village, which a gorgeous tiny rural village at the foot of Lulang forest. Here the cattle and sheep graze freely and walk by you calmly. Some people say that this is probably China's Switzerland!

• Attraction:
• Lulang Forest
• Tashigang

After breakfast, we will start from Tashigang village to Tsedang, known as the "Birthplace of Tibetan Culture", All the way, the beautiful scenery on both sides of the Niyang River is accompanied. The distance is 533 kilometers and the estimated travel time is 8 hours or so.

• Attraction:
• Niyang River

Visit the major sights of Yarlung Valley in Tsetang today, which is considered the cradle of Tibetan civilization. We will go to Trandruk Monastery in the early morning. It's also one of the earliest Monasteries in Tibet. The Pearl Thangka is the highlight of this visit. Then we will head to Yumbulagang Palace, which was the first palace in Tibetan history. The scale of the temple is small, but it's very spectacular as it's towering over the hill and condescending on the top.

It was from the Yarlung River Valley that the early Tibetan kings unified Tibet in the 7th century and their massive burial mounds still dominate the area around Chongye. 

• Attraction:
• Trandruk Monastery
• Yumbulagang Palace
• Chongye Burial Mounds

Tsetang is the fourth-largest city in Tibet and the capital of the huge Shannan (Lhoka) prefecture. Samye Monastery is located about 30km from Tsetang. It was built around the middle of the 8th century AD, during the Songtsan Gampo period. It was also the most magnificent building in the Tubo Kingdom. Samye Monastery is the first monastery in the history of Tibetan Buddhism with Triratna "Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha", so it is known as the "first monastery in Tibet". You can experience three different styles of architecture in Tibet, Khan and India together when visiting this monastery.

• Attraction:
• Samye Monastery

Transfer to Lhasa Airport from Tsetang for your next destination, which is almost the same mileage from Lhasa.