Day by Day Itinerary
Day 1
ARRIVE IN BEIJING-Most flights arrive in Beijing in the afternoon. Upon arrival we will be greeted by a Geographic Expeditions representative and transferred to our hotel. Regent Hotel
Day 2
BEIJING TO TSEDANG (11,152’)-After an early breakfast we’ll transfer to the airport and board the flight
to Tibet via Chengdu.
Half way between Chengdu and Lhasa we pass the great white citadel of Minya Konka (called Gongga Shan
by the Chinese), at 24,783 feet the highest mountain in China proper. Now we fly over the Hengduan Range and the deep, gloomy valleys of three of Asia's greatest rivers, the Salween, the Mekong, and the Yangtze. As we near the Plateau we’ll likely catch sight of another impressive peak, 25,439-foot Namcha Barwa, the easternmost rampart of the Himalaya. Upon arrival at Gongkar Airport (a lofty 12,129 feet), we’ll be met by our Tibetan guide and driver and transfer to the Holy City. Along the way we'll stop for pictures and scan the huge countryside for the first glimpse of the Potala Palace. Once we arrive in Lhasa we will enjoy a quiet afternoon and evening acclimating to the 12,000-foot altitude. Dekang Hotel (B,L,D)
Day 3-4
EXPLORING LHASA (11,972’)-We have two full days in this fabled city. As we wander Lhasa's streets, we will catch views of Tibet’s spiritual and governmental nexus and the former winter residence of the Dalai Lama, the Potala Palace.We will explore the grandest of its myriad rooms, its audience halls and the immense, jeweled burial chortens of past Dalai We’ll also visit its chamber after chapel after shrine of statuary, frescoes, and paintings. Atop the Palace, overlooking God's Country, we will drop by the apartments of the 13th and 14th Dalai Lamas. We will also visit the Jokhang Monastery, one of Tibet’s most famous and sacred sites. When visiting the Jokhang we may want to join the line of smiling and helpful devotees as it wends through side chapels to the Precious Lord. The Jokhang is circled by the Barkhor, Lhasa's old market.
The Jokhang is circled by the Barkhor, Lhasa's old market. In today's Barkhor, we may bargain good-naturedly for dorjes, phurbas, thangkas, and other religious tools, for Tibetan hats and boots, books, turquoise jewelry, everyday exotica, wall hangings, and maybe even some yak butter. We’ll also visit Tibet's two greatest monasteries, Drepung (due west of Lhasa) and Sera (just north). Drepung Monastery once housed 10,000 monks and Sera almost as many. If we are lucky, we may quietly ease into a dark columned hall to see and hear the lilting, booming chanting of the sutras, or perhaps sit under a willow tree and watch as the monks engage in theatrical debate. Dekang Hotel (B,L,D)
Day 5
LHASA TO GYANTSE (12,956')-After breakfast we head southwest to Gyantse. Our route follows the Kyi Chu River to the Tsangpo. We cross the Tsangpo and begin a hairpin ascent to the 15,700-foot Khampa La. Then it is a thousand feet down to Yamdrok Lake. We usually have a picnic lunch by the lake. We then head westward along the lake, through grand, treeless landscapes, toward a lovely 23,000 foot snow peak with the delightful name Nindingdzonka. After crossing the Karo La (16,432 ft.) we descend to the green farmland of the Nyang Chu Valley and Gyantse, just under 13,000 feet. The remainder of the day is free to stretch our legs with a short walk, or we may simply relax at our hotel. Drive time from Lhasa to Gyantse is approximately five hours. Gyantse Hotel (B,L,D)
Day 6
GYANTSE TO SHIGATSE (12,792')-This morning we visit the Pelkor Chode, home of the Kum Bum stupa. In his marvelous book Secret Tibet, writer and explorer Fosco Maraini, who visited Tibet with
Guissepe Tucci just before the Chinese invasion in the early 1950s, described the Kum Bum as “a sanctuary
not only for the faithful, but for the whole of humanity, for the men of all times and all countries who believe
in beauty and bow before the mystery of inspiration.” In the afternoon we depart Gyantse and follow the Nyang Chu northwest for a few hours, past spangled plowyaks and waving kids, to Shigatse. Shigatse's immense Tashilunpo monastery is the seat of Tibet's second highest incarnation, the Panchen Lama. We'll check into Shigatse's large, modern hotel before visiting the
walled monastery complex, a rambling warren of chapels, shrines, and halls linked by mysterious alleyways and steep staircases. After visiting Tashilunpo, we walk back to the hotel through the somewhat modern town of Shigatse, stopping for some interesting shopping in its old market. Manasarovar Hotel (B,L,D)
Day 7
SHIGATSE TO SHEKAR (14,268’)-Leaving Shigatse, we drive due west through spectacularly twisted landscapes, cross the Lakpa La (17,121 ft.), and at the end of a long day we arrive in the small town of Shekar. During the 1920's, the first expeditions to nearby Mount Everest stopped at Shekar. Shekar's hotel is rustic yet serviceable. But the fantastic monastery, battlements climbing to the top of an arrow-head peak, is an archetypal Tibetan aerie. Most of its buildings have been destroyed in the Chinese Revolution, but its battered and proud walls remain. If time and energy permit, some of us will make our way out of the Chinese-built modern town, through a charming old village, and up to the Crystal Monastery's lovingly rebuilt temple. Qomolangma Hotel (B,L,D)
Day 8
SHEKAR TO KHARTA (12,500’)-From Shekar the road turns south and crosses the 17,000-foot Pang La. If the weather is good, this is one of the finest mountain vistas on earth. Spread out in front of us is the long crest of the Himalaya, from Makalu (27,817 ft.) to Everest (29,128 ft.) and Lhotse (27,916 ft.), to Gyachung Kang (25,980 ft.), to Cho Oyu (26,714 ft.), and to the west, Shisha Pangma (26,286 ft.). The road snakes down to the Zakar River Valley and branches off to the southwest to the Rongbuk Valley, and then southeast to the village of Kharta. We head through alpine desert country, past some stunning sharp peaks, to the village headquarters at Kharta. There we finalize our arrangements for yaks and yak drivers, and then drive a short way up the Kharta Valley to our riverside camp. The altitude here is a mere 12,500 feet. The air is moister than it has been on the high plateau, as warm air is being sucked upward through the nearby valleys that lead into Nepal. One of those valleys is that of the Arun River, one of Nepal'sgreat watercourses.
In Kharta we meet our Sherpas, who have come up from Nepal to accompany us on trek. The Sherpas will bring tents, pots, pans, stoves, utensils, food, essentially everything we will need on trek. Our trekking staff will set up and break camp, do all the cooking and washing up, and provide us with the friendly and genteel service that veterans of treks in Nepal remember with great affection. Camp (B,L,D)
Day 9-19
ON TREK-Our days on trek begin with Sherpa tea in our tents, followed by breakfast. We usually set off on
the trail before our yak-train gets going (the rumbling yaks will carry everything but what we put into a pack
for use during the day). After a few hours of hiking, we stop for lunch. Then it’s a couple of more hours to
camp, stupendous views, dinner, and bed. This is the daily routine for most trek days. We have picked the best time of year for this trek. Since the beginning of our operations of this trip in
1983, we have encountered mostly excellent weather. However, past trips have encountered heavy rain and one trip had a significant snowstorm. Be prepared for mountain weather! Camp (B,L,D)
Day 20
KHARTA TO RONGBUK (16,450’)-We bid farewell to our Yak drivers and depart right after breakfast for Rongbuk Monastery and Everest's North Face Base Camp environs. We can spend one or two nights at Rongbuk or Tingri, depending on how we used our extra days on trek. We'll drive north, then veer west just
before the Pang La. The Dza-rong monastery (to give it its little-known correct name) was largely destroyed during the madness of the Cultural Revolution (or perhaps before), but a small nunnery and temple is being built on the site and prayer flags again fly in the shadow of Chomolungma, Goddess Mother of the World. Camp (B,L,D)
Day 21
RONGBUK TO TINGRI PLAIN (14,265’)-Today we continue on to the Tingri Plain and back down towards the main road. We arrive at the beautiful Tingri Plain in the afternoon and the views from here are
spectacular. To the southeast is Everest. From here it appears as "a prodigious white fang excrescent from the very jaws of the earth," as George Mallory, who died near its summit in 1924, called it. Then Gyachung Kang, connected by a long ridge - probably the highest on earth - to the beneficent mass of Cho Oyu, followed by the Nangpa La gap, Menlungtse, and Gaurishankar, Nepal's holy mountain. Camp (B,L,D)
Day 22
TINGRI TO ZHANGMU (12,303’)-Most great journeys have a dramatic flourish near the end. Our drive from Tingri to Zhangmu and then into Kathmandu is ours. It is a heart-stirring drive from Central to South Asia, through the greatest mountains on earth. Past Old Tingri we dive between 26,289-foot Shisha Pangma and Mount Labchi (24,170 ft.). There is a sudden connection here with Nepal, as the peaks we can now see are the great peaks one sees from the Kathmandu Valley. Atop Lalung La (16,725 ft.), the views are breathtaking. After Nylam, the road begins to drop – quickly. We loop downward, following a trickle of melt-water, gradually ennobled by runoff from the peaks we are squeezing through. Utter barrenness gives way to scrub vegetation, low bushes. Soon we see trees, the first in days. The melt-water trickle is a torrent now; the
Nepalese below call it the Bhotia Khosi, the Tibetan River. It cuts a deep slash through the Himalaya (like
the great rivers we flew over on the way to Lhasa, it predates the range, and eroded through it as the
mountains were rising). Cai Yuan Hotel (B,L,D)
Day 23
ZHANGMU TO KATHMANDU-Our border crossing is at Zhangmu, a town that presents a unique conglomeration of Tibet, China, and Nepal. It is an amazing, dirty, hustling, and colorful border town perched insouciantly on the side of a profound gorge. Greeting the Tibetans with “Tashi Delek!,” and
“Namaste!” for the Nepalese, we will
pass through customs in the midmorning.
Porters will then carry our baggage down through a leafy no-man's land to the Nepal border. Road conditions permitting, we will
drive to the “Friendship Bridge.” If the
road is closed, be prepared to walk to
the bridge. At the bridge we show our
passports to the People's Liberation
Army, walk a dozen yards, and enter
Nepal. In Nepal we meet our local staff
and drive to Kathmandu. Along our drive we pass through the magnificent
terraces and sweet villages of the
Nepalese foothills. The drive takes three to four hours under good conditions, and if we're lucky, we'll get a view back to the frosty, towering Langtang Himal. Gradually we notice the traffic getting more intense, the
villages become towns, and the temple spires higher. We enter the Kathmandu Valley, passing through Bhaktapur into the city and to our luxurious hotel. Dwarika’s Hotel (B,L,D)
Day 24
KATHMANDU-Nepal's capital is a delight to the senses and the imagination. For centuries Kathmandu was forbidden to outsiders, and since it opened to the world in the early 1950s, it has been one of the world's most eagerly sought travel destinations. In the morning we'll visit Kathmandu's old and current heart, Durbar Square and Hanuman Dhoka – a beguiling complex of buildings, temples, and courtyards, thronged with street merchants, wandering holy men, polynational birds of passage, pilgrims, wide-eyed rustics in from the hills, and businessmen worshipping at any of a score of little shrines. Later in the day we head up to the 2,500 year-old shrine at Swayambhunath, a pacific and fascinating mixture of Hindu and Buddhist piety. Dwarika’s Hotel (B,L,D)
Day 25
DEPART KATHMANDU-The morning is spent at your leisure for one last excursion to the bazaars of Kathmandu. Late morning we transfer to the airport for our outbound flight to Bangkok. Geographic Expeditions tour arrangements end upon arrival in Bangkok.
