12 Days Tibet Tour From Chengdu

The journey with Himalayan Trekkers starts with your arrival in Chengdu. The guide will meet you at the airport and will take you to your hotel. The first day is for you to rest.

China has an exclusive panda population and you can get a glimpse of that in Chengdu. Firstly, there is a Panda Research Center in Chengdu where you will be taken to in the morning. You will see the sweetest pandas, both babies, and adults, feeding of fresh bamboo in the morning.

The afternoon will have you drive for about 2 hours into Leshan.

The Lingyun Temple in Lehsan has the biggest sculpture of sitting Buddha. It took 90 years to construct this astounding site and was finally put up in 803 by the Tang Dynasty. The sculpture reaches a height of 71m and you can see the top after a steady hike or after cruising for some time.

On the third day of your stay in Chengdu, you will be boarding the train in the evening to go to Tibet. Thus you can explore through the alleyways in this city throughout the day. There are many tourist spots in the city such as Jinli Street, Jinsha Museum, and Wuhou Temple among others.

Once you get on the train you will be transcended to a different world. The naturally occurring scenic beauty will appear as if you are traveling through heaven. This is the highest train route in the world and the highest elevation you will reach is 5068m. the average elevation throughout the journey would be about 4300m. Today, you will be spending the night on the train.

As you will are traveling into the Roof of the World by passing through the Qinghai-Tibet plateau you will be gifted with unforgettable views. Snow-capped mountains such as Mt. Yuzhufeng followed by pristine, shocking blue lakes like Cuona Lake; green slopes with sparse population followed by barren lands interspersed with the occasional rare wild animals in Kekexili Natural Reserve are what you will be witnessed throughout the day.

This is one of the best train journeys in the entire world and you would be sorry if you miss it!

It is a long journey and you will be spending this night on the train too!

You will arrive in Lhasa in the morning after two nights on the train. The clear blue sky, rugged mountains, and the Potala Palace will welcome you into the largest Tibetan city from a distance. The main city is about 25 km from the train station and you will be taking a pleasant ride along the Brahmaputra River with our guide to entering the city.

Once you have come to this city, you need some time to get used to high altitude weather and sparse atmospheric conditions. Thus, on the first day, you should take some rest and take things slowly while your body gets acclimatized.

The winter palace of the Dalai Lama, the Potala Palace is a UNESCO world heritage site. It is a magnificent structure built at an elevation of 12,139 feet from the sea. There are 13 storeyed is this building and there are more than 1000 rooms in this immense monument.

Jokhang Temple is one of the holiest places among Buddhists and this place attracts Buddhist pilgrims from all around the world, all year round! It is in the heart of the old Lhasa city and is surrounded by Barkhor Street which is filled with pilgrims and old shops selling traditional Tibetan wares. You will be taking a walk through history in this amazing place.

Both Sera and Drepung Monastery are very important sites in Tibet. These are two of the “Three Great” monasteries built according to the Gelug sect of Buddhism. Both of these monasteries were built in the early 15th century and features exquisite and elaborate architectural features. Drepung Monastery is a gigantic structure built in the breathtaking barren plateau while Sera Monastery houses a philosophical discourse among the monks regularly between 3:00-5:00 PM.

The journey to Namtso lake will be started early in the morning as it is about 220km away from the city and will take considerable time. It is situated at an altitude of 4200m and you will get an excellent view of the Nyenchen Tanggula Range on the way. You will also come across many nomadic tribes who live along the slopes of the high mountains during the summer season.

Once you have traversed through the Lagen La, a high mountain pass at 5190m, you will be gifted with the pristine, clear view of the electrifying Namtso Lake. Once you have reached the shores, you can go on a light trek along Tashi Island. You will also see the great expanse of the Milky Way at nights because of the extremely clear sky.

There are Tent Guesthouses at Namtso where you will be spending the night.

After a fascinating night at Namtso Lake, it is time to get back to Lhasa. We will start on our journey back after witnessing the amazing sunrise by the lake.

Shigatse is the second-largest city in Tibet after Lhasa. The drive to Shigatse will take you through some amazing high mountain passes and you will get to see some immensely breathtaking sites. You can look into the Yamdrok-Tso (4400m) from the amazing Gampa La (4790m). The holy Mt. Nyenchen Khangsar (7191m) is one of the many snow-covered peaks that surround this lake. It is also the highest mountain peak near Lhasa.

En route, you will pass through Gyangtse which is the third-largest city of Tibet. Gyangtse has the Pelkor Monastery to welcome you along with the Gyangtse Kumbum which is an exclusive golden burial stupa. A little way away from Gyangtse you will enter Shigatse!

The Tashilunpo Monastery in Shigatse is worth the visit. It is huge, covering an area of 70,000 m2 and is the grandest religious institution of Tibet. The monastery can house over 10,000 monks on any given day. There is also a huge statue of the Future Buddha which happens to be the largest gilded statue in the entire world. We will take the route through Yalong Valley to drive back to Lhasa city. 

The excellent tour through Tibet comes to an end on the 12th day and our guide will see you off at the airport. It will take you only 2 hours to fly to Chengdu from Lhasa from where you can avail connecting flights to anywhere in the world.