Budget Tibet Tour

Tibet tour Reviews: "Dear Sino Tour, my brother and I would like to thank you for the perfect arrangements for our Tibet trip and the travel to and from there. Everything went fine without any trouble at all.
We were very happy with our Tibetan lady tour guide who introduced us in a perfect way to the special Tibetan culture. Our private driver was the best driver we ever had, always alert and cautious, but also very humourous.
We liked the travel itinery a lot, a good mix of cultural relics and natural beauty. The extra day we added and which brought us to the Gamden Monastery was especially worthwhile, off the beaten tourist routes.
In short, we have been very happy with all the arrangement by SinoTour.com.cn and we will not fail to promote your agency to any party interested to travel to Tibet.
Kindest Regards,
Prabhpreet-UK. April.2010 "

Itinerary

Day 01 Arrive Lhasa

Arrive at Lhasa airport, meet your guide and driver, and then transfer to Lhasa city. On the way, you can enjoy the heart-beating highland view along the Yearlong Tsangpo river (the longest river in Tibet with highest elevation in the world).After check in hotel, the rest time is free for relax and Acclimatize to the High Altitude.

Day 02 Lhasa group tour ( B )

Today's highlights are Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Street. Potala Palace:This ancient architectural complex is considered a model of Tibetan architecture. Located on the Red Hill in Lhasa. The stone-and-wood-structured Potala Palace consists of the White Palace and Red Palace. The White Palace, comprising halls, temples and courtyards, serves as the living quarters of the Dalai Lama. The Red Palace includes various chambers for worshipping Buddha and chambers housing the eight stupa that contain the remains of fifth through thirteenth Dalai Lama. All the stupas are covered with gold foil. The most magnificent stupa belongs to the fifth Dalai Lama. It is 14.85 meters tall and inlaid with pearl and jade. The palace also collected a large number of sculptures, murals, scripture and other valuable cultural relics.
Sera Monastery:it is at the foot of Tatipu Hill, located in the northern suburb of Lhasa City. It is one of three famous monasteries in Lhasa along with the Drepung Monastery and the Ganden Monastery. The Gelugpa or Yellow Hat Sect of Tibetan Buddhism studies Buddhist doctrines using a step-by-step process. As a part of their study, lamas must participate in debates to further their comprehension and proceed to more advanced levels of study. The debating traditions in the Sera Monastery are unique among the three famous monasteries in Lhasa. Debates are conducted by the lamas in the monastery every day beginning at 3.a.m. In a battle of words, they supplement their efforts by using a variety of gestures including clapping their hands, pushing their partners for an answer, or plucking their prayer beads to win the virtue of the Buddha. For a clear view of this unique event, an early arrival is recommended.

Day 03 Lhasa group tour ( B )

Drak Yerpa is a place that has deep meanings in the Tibetan spiritual culture. There is a saying goes like this: "Lhasa is the shrine of Tibet, Drak Yerpa is the shrine of Lhasa. Not seeing Drak Yerpa in Lhasa is just like making a dress without the collar." The entrance to the Yerpa Valley is about 16 km northeast of Lhasa on the northern bank of the Kyichu River. From there, it is another 10 km to the famous ancient meditation caves. Jokhang Temple: one of the spiritual center of Tibet,It lies at the center of the old Lhasa, Every Day pilgrims from every corner of Tibet trek a long distance to the temple,Some of them even progress prostrate by body length to the threshold of the temple.The temple keeps many invaluable cultural relics. The most famous and valuable one is the Sakyamuni statue aged 12, which is devout Tibetans by thousands of pilgrims day and night. After then, stroll around the around the temple is the Barkhor Street, the oldest street in a very traditional city in Tibet.

Day 04 Lhasa-Yamdrok Lake-Naiqinkangsang Snow Mountain-Karo-la Glacier- Gyantse[4040m] -Pala Manor-Shigatse [3836m],360KM 5hrs drive ( B )

It will take you about 1.5 hours to drive up to Kambala pass[4794m high] from Lhasa, you will have a glimpse of Yamdrok Lake there, which is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet.
Then drive about 1.5 hours and arrive at the foot of Naiqinkangsang Snow Mountain. It is one of the holy mountains of Tibet. If you look up to the Snow Mountain you'll see the beautiful "flag cloud"(the creature of the wind and the snow) floating and shining in the air.
20 minutes' drive later, Karo-la Glacier will be in your eyes. It has a good fame of "Ice Queen" on the roof of the world. It is about 5,600 meters north of the main peak of Karo-la Mountain. You'll have a long-distance of this masterpiece of nature. You'll arrive at a valley and see Manlha Water Control Project from a distance later on. It is located in Gyantse County. It consists of a dam, flood water discharge tunnels and a power station. The power station's installed capacity reaches 20,000 kilowatts. The project will provide irrigation for more than 43,000 hectares of farmland.
After lunch in Gyantse, drive to Pala Manor. Pala Manor is the best-preserved manor in Tibet. It's about ten minutes' driving from Gyantse downtown. It will show you the lifestyle of the previous wealth owners' family. The Pala Manor we see today still has 57 houses on an estate of 5000 square meters. The maze of rooms is richly decorated with exquisitely carved beams and painted rafters. You can feel how extremely luxurious life they had then. However, by contrast to the luxury of the lairds, the whips, ankle-irons and punishment cells that were used for controlling and persecuting the poor slaves and their low, narrow, wet and dark rooms will deeply astound you forever. Late afternoon drive to Shigatse.

Day 05 Shigatse-Tashilump Monastery-Dolma Lhakhang temple( optional)- Lhasa 300KM, 4.5hrs drive

Visit Tashilump Monastery in the morning. Tashilunpo Monastery was Built in1447 by the first Dalai Lama. Have lunch in Shigatse.
Enjoy the desert scenery and the scenery along the Brahmaputra on the way back to Lhasa. You can also see devout Christians prostrating and measuring their pilgrimage route with their flesh and blood on Tibetan Plateau if you're lucky.
Visit Dolma Lhakhang temple on your own expense on the way to Lhasa if you would like to. It is located in Nyethang (approx. 30 kilometers southwest of Lhasa) district, Chushu County. Late afternoon drive back to Lhasa

Day 06 Budget Tibet tour end( B )

After your breakfast, drive to the airport for departure. End of our memorable budget Tibet group tour.

Notes:
1. Prices are per person, double occupancy basis and breakfast.
2. Solo occupancy: CNY425 to CNY2090 per person due to different seasons or hotel categories.
3. The difference of different tour categories is because of the different hotel rates.
4. FREE transfer service from airport-Lhasa at 3:20 pm and railway station-Lhasa at 20:00 pm ONLY.