- Day 1:Fly to Lijiang -Old town,2400mts
Arrive Lijiang in Yunnan Province (airline route to be confirmed). Stay at Old Town Inn, formerly a manor house in the old part of Lijiangtownship which is the home of the Naxi people of Tibetan descent.
- Day 2: Exploring the old town of Lijiang ,
In and around Lijiang; morning walk through Black Dragon Pool Park to learn about the Dongba shaman culture of the Naxi minority. Lunch in Yuhu village at the foot of Jade Dragon Mountain , visit home of Dr Joseph Rock, 20 th century National Geographic plant collector andNaxi expert. Spend the evening exploring the old town.
- Day 3:Lijiang-Gyalthang-Zhongdian(Shangri la),3200mts,4 hrs drive
Drive up to Gyalthang / Zhongdian (now known as Shangri-La). The route will take you up through Tiger Leaping Gorge where the Yangtze River , running off the Tibetan plateau, suddenly turns north, tumbling through a spectacular very deep and narrow gauge. Continue driving up to the Tibetan plateau, stopping to climb up to the great limestone White Terraces at Baishultai. Overnight at the Songtsam Hotel.
- Day 4: Sightseeing Zhongdian.
In Zhongdian, visit SongtsenlingGompa (built 1679), an important teaching monastery, visit a local Tibetan village. Dinner in the Old Town where the local Tibetans dance every evening in the main square. Day 5:Zhongdian - Dechen, 184Km
Drive up over the pass into the Upper Yangtze gorge and over Mt Baima ( 4250m ) projects to Dechen on the Upper Mekong River .
- Day 5:Zhongdian - Dechen, 184Km
Drive up over the pass into the Upper Yangtze gorge and over Mt Baima ( 4250m ) projects to Dechen on the Upper Mekong River .
- Day 6:Dechen -Markham, 223Km
Leaving Dechen, stop to view the spectacular KhawaKarpo mountain range forming the border with Tibet . Drive up the Mekong Gorge into the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) via Yanjing, stopping en route to visit the salt wells on the river. Continue to Markham ( 223 km ). MARKHAM HOTEL
- Day 7: Markham - Zougong, 158Km
After visiting Markham gompa, drive to Zogong ( 158 km ) along the spectacular dirt road known as the '99 bends' route, through the upper basin of the Mekong River through farming villages, crossing several high passes ( 5,008m ) GUEST HOUSE
- Day 8: Zougong - Rawu 308km
Continue the best Tibet travel and after reaching Pomda in the Yu-chu valley, ascent the Zar Gama La Pass ( 4,618m ), descending through 180 switchbacks to the Upper Salween River and cross NakchuZampa Bridge at Po . Continue through the Pomda Highlands to Pasho. Short drive ( 90 km ) to Rawok-Tso up the Ling-chu valley via Ngajuk La Pass ( 4,468m ) which forms the watershed between the Tsangpo / Brahmaputra and Salween Rivers . From here descend into forested scenery to the beautiful Rawok-Tso Lake with a backdrop of snow mountains and villages.
- Day 9: Rawu lake - Nyingtri, 342Km
A 342 km drive to Nyingtri along the ParlungTsangpo and YilongTsangpo Rivers via Bomi and Tangme. Drive over Serkhyin La Pass ( 5,000m with views of Mt. NamchaBarwa at 7,782m , the world's 8 th highest mountain).
Shambhala hotel
- Day 10: Nyingtri -Darksum lake -Nyingtri,120 *2= 240Km
Explore Nyangtri, the Bönpo place of pilgrimage, including NecheKushuk monastery (famous for its 2000 year old juniper tree sacred to the Bön religion) and Pasum Tso Lake and glaciers. Shambhala hotel
- Day 11: Nyingtri-Minling-Lang county-Gyatsa county 260Km
Start at around 8 Am from your hotel and drive on a narrow road along the YarlungTsangpo river in a rocky forested gorge and visit Buchu SergyiLhakang.
Buchu SergyiLhakang is the most ancient Buddhist temple in Kongpo and one of four border taming temples ( TadulLhakang ) built by King SongtsanGampo in the seventh century. It was constructed according to geomantic theory on the right elbow of Supine ogress who represented the Tibetan land. Originally the temple was associated with NYingma pa tradition. By the 17th century, BuchuSergyiLhakang was transformed in to Gelukpa, or yellow hat sect tradition. The temple is 2 storey high, dominated by golden roof and an old statue of Padmasambhava and there around 8 monks these days. Continue to Gyatsa county along the Barhmaputra river.
- Day 12: Gyatsa-Chokor Gyel monastery-Lhamo Lhatso-Tsetang, 145Km
After breakfast, start your excursion to Chokor Gyel monastery at the distance of 35km from the main road to the north of the Barhmaputra river. The road is paved with a beautiful valley. Hike to the glacier pass and overlook Lhamo Lhatso from the top of the glacier pass in order to get blessing and vision for your future life. Travel back to Gyatsa county on the same way and continue to Tsetang.
- Day 13: Tsetang-Samye-Lhasa, 160Km
Morning, visit Yumbu Lhakang and Traduk temple in Tsetang. After that drive to Samye monastery at the distance of around 60Km. You will be driving along the Barhmaputra river and the road condition is good. Visit Samye monastery and have lunch at the monastery restaurant and drive to Lhasa through the north side of the Barhmaputra river.
- Day 14: Visit Potala Palace, Jokang temple &Barkhor,
POTALA PALACE the Potala is considered one of the great wonders of the world. It is held sacred by Tibetans as the former residence of successive Dalai Lamas, and is one of Tibet 's most holy pilgrimage sites. A palace was originally built in the 7 th century by King SongtsenGampo, and was believed to have been nine stories high, but around the 9 th century it is believed to have been destroyed by a big fire. The present Potala Palace was constructed by the great fifth Dalai Lama in the 17 th century after he became ruler of Tibet . The Potala Palace is divided into two sections, the White Palace (completed in 1653) and Red palace (completed 1694). It has more than one thousand rooms and is thirteen stories high. The White Palace was secular in nature and mainly used for government administration, whilst the Red palace was mainly used for religious functions and still has numerous chapels, including those containing reliquary stupas of the successive Dalai Lamas which are richly decorated in gold, silver and semi-precious stones.
JOKANG TEMPLE the Jokang is Tibet 's most sacred temple, the main point of pilgrims from the entire Tibetan plateau. Located at the heart of the ancient town of Lhasa , it was built in the 7 th century by the Tibetan King SongtsenGampo's queen Bhrikuti on a site identified by Queen Wencheng according to her geomantic calculation. The temple is 3 stories high and it is constructed with enormous chapels including the most sacred statue of BudhhaShakyamuni, enshrined. It has around 70 monks nowadays.
ANCIENT BHARKOR STREET is the most sacred pilgrimage site in Lhasa and it is full of pilgrims from down till dusk. There are four huge prayer flags situated in Bhakor street which surrounds the Jokang, known respectively as GadhenDharchen in the northeast, JuyakDharchen in the west, KelsangDharchen in the southwest and SharKyaringDharchen in the southeast. The Bharkor street is the most active market in all Tibet and it is possible to purchase traditional Tibetan artifacts, religious implements, antiques, modern goods, books, music, clothing, spices, fresh meat and vegetable. Hotel
- Day 15:VisitDrepung& Sera monasteries
DREPUNG MONASTERY is the largest monastery in Tibet , built in the 15 th century by JamyangChoeje who is one of Tsongkapa's foremost disciple. The monastery is beautifully located up in a hill at the distance of 7 Km from the old section of the city and it is the biggest monastery in Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery has four main colleges with numerous small chapels and house chapels, known as Khangtsen in Tibetan. There are around six hundred monks nowadays.
SERA MONASTERY was founded in around 15th century by JamchenChoeje who is another famous disciple of Tsongka pa and it is the second largest monastery of Tibet . There are three big colleges with numerous chapels and house chapels. The most attraction to visit this monastery is to see the monks debating which hold from 3-5Pm everyday apart from Sunday. Hotel
- Day 16: Lhasa -Gongkar airport, 60Km
Say good bye to the most famous Palace in the world, Potala and ancient city of Lhasa . Drive along the Lhasa river which is the biggest tributary of Bharmaputra, emptied in to the bay of Bengal in India