Tibet trekking tour with Tibet Shambhala Adventure: An authentic and unique experience
The plateau of Tibet occupies an extensive area of land that is approximately four times the entire area of France. The country is situated at an average elevation over 14,800 ft or 4,500 m which makes it to have referred as the “Third Pole” of the world due to the reference of the volume of ice and glaciers which lies in the Himalayas.
The Tibetan weather in the morning and night is much colder and drier as compared to the weather conditions of the countries in the lower altitude or near the sea because of the elevation. The dry cold weather is also due to the blocking of the moisture due of the tropical monsoon by the Himalayas from reaching the north part of the country. Tibet is a paradise for the trekkers. You can avail to enjoy various trekking programs in Tibet which are described below:
1) Mount Kailash Pilgrimage with three days trekking around Mount Kailash
The Mount Kailash is located to the western part of Tibet and it is 1210km distance from Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. The peak of Mount Kailash is situated at a height of 21778ft or 6638m above sea level and is considered as the holy mountain by different religions. The Buddhist religion believe Mount Kailash as the Palace of Samvara or Demchok in Tibetan, The Bon religion believe Mount Kailash as the sacred seat of the Lord Shenrap, Hinduism believe Mount Kailash as the abode of Shiva, Jewish also believe Mount Kailash as a sacred mountain and many other minor religions in the world also believe Mount Kailash as a sacred, miraculous and miserable mountain.
To start Mount Kailash Pilgrimage tour, you can either fly to Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal and take two different options, one of the options is you can fly from Kathmandu to Lhasa which is just one hour flight over the peaks of the Himalayan Mountain peaks including Moutn Everest and another option is to drive to Kyirong border from Kathmandu which takes 8-9 hours eventhough the distance is only 150km because of a bad road condition or fly from Nepal Ganj to Simikot and then 6 days trek to Mount Kailash through Hilsa border which is the closest border to Mount Kailash. From the border to Mount Kailash, it just takes your 3 hours’ drive.
Another way to go to Mount Kailash is you can fly from your country to Chengdu or other cities in mainland China and then fly to Lhasa and gradually travel to Kailash.
Lhasa to Mount Kailash: From Lhasa, you can have two options to go to Mount Kailash, one is overland to Mount Kailash by visiting the most beautiful sites of Tibet including Gyantse, Shigatse, Everest and Mount Kailash and another way to get to Mount Kailash is just to fly to Ali, Ngari in Tibetan which is one of the six prefectures in Tibet and it is bordered to India, Nepal, Ladhak and Xinjiang.
We have a variety of Mount Kailash tour programs from Lhasa according to our different customer’s needs, 14 days Lhasa to Mount Kailash pilgrimage tour, 16 days mount Kailash pilgrimage tour, 18 days Mount Kailash pilgrimage tour with Everest base camp, 20 days Mount Kailash pilgrimage tour with Guge Kingdom and Tholing, 10 days Mount Kailash pilgrimage tour by flight in and out between Ali and Lhasa.
Nepal to Mount Kailash: 11 days Mount Kailash tour from Kyirong to Kailash and back to Kyirong border, 12 days Mount Kailash tour from Kyirong to Kyirong border, 16 days Mount Kailash tour with Guge Kingdom and Tholing from Kyirong border to Kyirong and 18 days Mount Kailash tour with Guge Kingdom, Tholing and Mount Everest. 9 days mount Kailash trekking from Hilsa to Mount Kailash and exit at Kyirong border, 14 days Mount Kailash tour from Hilsa to Kailash with Guge Kingdom so on.
With all those different types of Mount Kailash pilgrimage tours, trekking around Mount Kailash, known as Mount Kailash Kora is the most highlight of doing Kailash pilgrimage tour and it is something that you should not miss. The circuit or the Mount Kailash Kora is 52 km which generally takes around 3 days for completion and some of our clients request to design to have 4 days Kailash Kora with two nights at Dhiraphuk monastery in order to hike closer to the northern face of Mount Kailash and do some meditation in newly built Dhiraphuk monastery. The average daily trekking distance is long but worth all the effort for trekking around and getting very close to the Mount Kailash. To have information about Mount Kailash trek, please visit View all Kailash tours.
2 ) Kartha valley trek or Kangshung face trek

Kangshung face trek can be also started, traveling from Kathmandu to Kyirong border and after two days slowly driving, you will reach Kartha Qu or Kartha village but we recommend to start Kangshung face trek from Lhasa because you will spend at least three nights in Lhasa, visiting around and then slowly moving up to the higher elevation by spending three more nights on the way including Gyantse, Shigatse, Sakya and Kartha Qu which help you gradually getting acclimatized to the altitude.
Kartha qu is the village where you will meet all your cooking team and camping equipment. From Kartha Qu, you will leave the vehicles and load all the equipment on the Yak and begin your Himalayan caravan life. As usual, Tibet Shambhala Adventure operates unique and custom-made Tibet trekking and Kangshung face trek is one of the most beautiful and absolutely unique Tibet trekking tour in the Kangshung valley. Kangshung face trek takes in one of Tibet’s most beautiful and off the beaten trekking areas. The Kangshung valley known as Kangshung face or Kartha which is the home of Tenzin Norgye who is the first ever Everest climber. During your Kangshung face trek, you will pass by beautiful Tenzin Norgye’s village. The people in the villages are farmers and they mainly grow barley. They also rear cattle sheep, Yak. If you are lucky, you can also see some festivals going on in the villages including horse racing.
The Kangshung face trek shows you the most magnificent and very close scenery of Mount Everest (8844m) with it’s lovely glaciers from Pethang Ringmo, and the closest views of Lhotse (7790m), Makalu (8475m) as well as beautiful forested landscapes with many small lakes, pastureland, and Tibetan nomad camps. The Kangshung face trek is started from the altitude of 3600m to the highest point of 5250m when you cross Langmala pass. This Tibet trekking tour needs between 17-20 days in general which include nine full days trekking. The average daily trekking hours is between 5-7 hours. The Kangshung face trek is rated as one of the world’s most beautiful treks by many of our clients in so we highly recommend this most beautiful Tibet trek to those who are not only physically fit in walking but also those who really like being in nature, walking off the beaten trails, enjoying the most beautiful view of the great Himalayan snow peaks, including Mount Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Chisha Bangma etc. On clear days the view to the south is outstanding. Makalu is the impressive peak to the southwest dwarfing all of the other summits from this angle, including Everest. Jomo Lhotse is the closer, north peak of Makalu. Pethang Ringmo is the lone bullet-shaped summit a little farther to the right and the big trio at the far west end of the Kangshung valley, from left to right, are Lhotse Shar, Lhotse and Mount Everest and it’s huge east glacier.

3) Old Dingri to Everest base camp trek
Old Dingri to Everest base camp trek can be started, traveling from Kathmandu to Kyirong border and after spending a night in Kyirong, you can directly drive to old Dingri which is 4 hours drive but we recommend to begin this trek, traveling from Lhasa because you can slowly acclimatize to the altitude by spending three nights in Lhasa, visiting the most highlight of Tibet including the Potala Palace, Jokang temple which are listed in the UNESCO world heritage site. After three days sightseeing in Lhasa, you can slowly drive towards old Dingri, on the way, visit beautiful Yamdrok lake, historical site of old Gyantse town and Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Shigatse, the seat of the Penchen Lama. We propose itineraries of old Dingri to Everest base camp trek between 12-14 days but of course Tibet Shambhala Adventure is always happy to customize your Tibet trekking tour if our number of days trekking does not fit your Tibet travel plan.
The trek to Everest base camp from old Dingri is one of the oldest Tibet trekking routes. When Tibet was introduced to tourism in 1984, Everest basecamp quickly became the most popular trekking destination. In the one hand, there were very few vehicles in Tibet at that time and in the other hand, despite being on a road, one had a feeling of remoteness in grand scenery, making this route an outstanding trek.
The trek to Everest base camp of 3-4 days begins in a desert valley to the south of the friendship highway. For almost 15 years, the trek to Everest base camp is followed in the trail valley of Lungjiang village in Dingri prior to the construction of the road from old Dingri to Everest base camp via Pangla pass. Since there was a bigger road from old Dingri to Everest base camp in 2009, the trek to Everest base camp via Lungjiang valley is not interesting any more but Tibet Shambhala adventure explores a new trekking route from old Dingri to Langkor monastery near Tsamda hot spring which is another right hand valley from Dingri to Everest base camp trek. From Langkor, you will trek to Cho Oyu base camp and from Choyu base camp to the foot of Lamna la pass so with this new trekking route to Everest basecamp, you completely avoid the road and again enjoy a feeling of remoteness and off the beaten trail with a fantastic view of Cho Oyu, Everest in the distance. The average elevation of the trek is between 4300-5000m above sea level.
4) Everest Advanced base camp trek
Everest Advanced Base Camp trek which we have named the world’s highest trek, is an credible journey to advance base camp at camp IIII ( 20500ft,6250m ) and the base of the North Col via the east Rongphu glacier. Nowhere else on this planet can you hike on a trail to such elevations without needing crampons, ice axes, or mountaineering skills. This tributary of the main Rongphu glacier flows through a remarkably flat valley in a great arc around the Changtse massif ( 24878ft, 7583m, marked by a triangular peak symbol on Everest’s North peak. Along the central crest of this glacier a corridor of flat moraine, known to climbers as the Serac highway, winds safely between the towering ice pinnacles all the way up to camp III.
Everest Advanced base camp trek is one of the most adventurous treks in Tibet and it is the highest trek in the world. It would take four days for you to complete the trekking if you already have another trek like four days Everest base camp trek before the Everest advanced trek. If you come to Rongphu monastery without the first trek in Tibet, then , you need to have a track of an additional of 3 days on every side for acclimatization and resting. This serves that purpose of climbing up and down as per the convenience of the trekkers while they acclimatize.
The trek begins after reaching the Rongbuk monastery from where you can have a look at the valley that is directed towards Mount Everest. Trek from Rongphu monastery to Everest base camp takes two hour walking and from Everest base camp, you will have to go with pack Yak and Yak men to carry all your camping equipment and luggage on the Yak. The best period of doing this trek is in April, May, June, September and mid-October. You can also trek to Everest advanced base camp in July & Aug as well with a good conditioned glaciers during this period as well.
Even if you can see that many websites from google up-load Everest advanced base camp trek in their menus but a trek of this nature is best left for a professional and experienced Tibetan trekking company to organize because you need very strong and perfect trekking equipment, professional trekking guides and cooking team with all the best equipped trekking gears. The guides and cooks must have a very good knowledge of the Himalayan region and must have lots of knowledge being in the high altitude and glacier make sure that they know how to choose the best camp site and how to protect you from being headache and sick from altitude. The Tibetan company must have proper equipment of camping including best dome tents, kitchen, dining, toilet, oxygen cylinder and Gamo bag and a very strong relationship in the government to have all the necessary permits from the related offices including China Tibet Mountaineering Association.
5) Tsurphu to Yampachen trek
Tsurphu to Yampachen trek is one of the closet trekking routes from Lhasa. It is just 65km drive from Lhasa. You take Qinghai Tibet highway from Lhasa at the distance of 40km. At the iron bridge with colorful prayer flag, take off the Qinghai Tibet high way and drive through the Gurung village valley. You will pass by some beautiful villages and Tibetan watermill where they grind the barley to have Tsampa. Tsampa is a typical Tibetan food, made up of roasted barley. After 25km drive from the main road, you will reach Tsurphu monastery which is the beginning point of Tsurphu to Yampachen trek.
Tsurphu monastery was founded in 1187 as a meditational retreat circa by Dusum kyenpa, a Lama from Kham or the eastern region of Tibet who received his teachings from a disciple of the ascetic Milarepa. Dusum Kyenpa is now regarded as the first Karmapa, beginning a lineage of Trulkus or reincarnation that continues to this day. During the next five centuries, Tsurphu grew into a great religious center. Today, Tsurphu is the largest monastery of Kagyupa school in Tibetan Buddhism with many monks’ residences, six major temples and Karmapa Labrang. Behind Tsurphu monastery, there is rocky cliff with some small caves where many Tsurphu monastery monks do meditation there.
Tsurphu to Yampachen trek is an extremely beautiful Tibet trekking tour which is started from Tsurphu monastery. This medium level Tibet trek not only takes you to the beautiful Tibetan Jatang, known as northern plateau of Tibet and a gorgeous natural landscape of Tibet including snowcapped mountain, grassland, nomad camp and holy monastery but also takes you to the most holy city and cultural heart of Tibet including Lhasa city which is the capital city of Tibet. Tibet Shambhala Adventure offers you more unique and authentic Tibet trek that will arrange you a Tibetan family visit and a nomad camp visit during your trekking which gives you a chance to communicate with local Tibetans and get more knowledge about Tibetan culture and it’s people to get more authentic experience.
The average elevation of Tsurphu to Yampachen trek is from 4300-4910m above sea level and it is a three days trekking tour and you can trek from Tsurphu to Yampachen during the entire season in Tibet which is from April till end of October. You will see beautiful Tibetan nomad camp, lots of Yak and Sheep, beautiful grassland, a great view of Nyenchen Thangla snow mountain and the whole valley Yampachen valley. You can also see some wild animals during your trek such as blue sheep, ibex, wolves, foxes, rabbits etc. You can visit a Tibetan nomad family and experience how a Tibetan nomad lives their life.
6) Ganden to Samye trek
Ganden to Samye is a four days trek, started from Ganden monastery. Ganden monastery is one of the three great Gelukpa religious centers in the Lhasa area, about 52km by road from Lhasa city center and ended up at Samye monastery which is the first monastery of Tibet, built in the 8th century which is 140km distance from Lhasa and 50km distance from Tsetang, the cradle of Tibet. On your first day of Ganden to Samye trek, you will visit Ganden monastery and it is very important to walk around Ganden monastery as outer circumambulation of Ganden monastery which takes you two hours walk and gives not only introduction to the life story of Tsongkapa, the founder of Gelukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism but also it can really help you to slowly acclimatize to the altitude. Ganden to Samye monastery is mid ranged level trek and the average elevation of this trek is 4400m-5000m high mountain pass. The total distance of the Ganden to Samye Tibet trek is around 80Km and the average daily walking hour is around 5-6 hours. The most part of the trek is not very difficult except the Shugarla high mountain pass which is over 5000m above sea level. Trekking over Shugarla mountain pass is a difficult walking day because in the one hand, it is not easy to trek in the higher altitude since you have very less oxygen and lose your energy and in the other hand, during summer time, you also have to cross several small streams and rivers from here and there.
This Tibet trekking gives you a feeling of loneliness, remoteness, dominated by a pasture mountain, nomad camp with their remote lonely lives, beautiful small lakes, stream flow surrounded by many Yak and Sheep. You can also see some wild animals including blue sheep, fox, wolves etc., Beautiful and sweet sound mountain birds, the most historical monasteries in Tibet and some of the most sacred meditation caves from which you can get blessing and good will wishes for your life and Yarlung valley with a fertile agricultural land and Brahmaputra river. The best time to do this trek is from May till mid October.
7) Yamdrok lake trek from Langthang Dewachen
,Yamdrok lake trekking is started from Langthang Dewachen, a beautiful village in the southern part of Lhasa at the distance of 125km from Lhasa and 40km from Lhasa Gongkar airport. The Yamdrok lake trek from Langthang Dewachen starts from Lhasa city and drives you to the southern part of Lhasa through Gongkar county. Gongkar county is located on the banks of the Barhmaputra at a point where the river valley is at its widest, which is why Gongkar airport was constructed.
From Gongkar county, you will continue your journey towards eastwards as far as the Dol valley on the south bank of the Brahmaputra, driving through very beautiful and traditional styled Tibetan villages of Jidishol and Namgyel shol surrounded by their beautiful barley fertile lands. When you reach the first campsite at Langthang Dewachen, you will visit a Tibetan family and communicate with local people to get more deeper and authentic experience of your Tibet trek. You will get a chance to communicate with locals to know how they live their daily lives. Two days indeed off the beaten trek to Yamdrok lake from Langthang Dewachen will give you a chance to see the less visited Tibetan villages and towns, remote and isolated monasteries, different wild animals including blue sheep, wolves, foxes, antelope and flocks of Yak and sheep.
Crossing the Jeshul La pass at the elevation of over 5000m is another challenging and exciting day. From the top of the pass, you will have a very beautiful birds eye view of the eastern arm of Yamdrok lake and the Kurla kangri snow covered mountain which is bordered to Tibet and Bhutan at the elevation of over 7000m above sea level. After two hours trek down the small valley of Kangru village, you will reach a small monastery called Kangru, known as Ganden Choeling monastery. Eventhough it is a small monastery, it is worthy to visit as the monks and nuns in the monasteries are very friendly and welcoming. You can communicate with monks and nuns to get more knowledge of the Tibetan monks daily lives and way of their studies.
.After two full days trek to Yamdrok lake with a tremendously beautiful overnight camp at the Yamdrok lake shore, you will take a loop tour from the eastern part of Yamdrok lake all the way to the western part and enjoy the most beautiful view the lake where usual tourists don’t get chance to see it, landscape of beautiful villages, grassland, nomad camp, Noejin Kangsang snow-capped mountain along the way. The average elevation of the trek is 3900-5000m and the best time to do this trek is from May till October but you can trek through the year if you don’t fear to have cold weather and snowy pass in the winter because it does not snow heavily and the mountain pass is always opened.
8) Derge to Yilhun Lhatso trek
Derge was a big and important kingdom in Kham region from 15th to 19th century and it was considered as the center of Kham in the olden days with a very large monastery of Derge Gongchen and very popular Derge printing house. Today, Derge is a county seat under the administration of Sihuan Gardze Aotonomous Region and it is located to the northwest of Chengdu via the Tibet Sichuan highway at the distance of around 1032km and to the fareast of Lhasa at the distance of around 1360km.
Dege is one of the most beautiful parts of Kham region to visit with it’s many historical cultural sites of the monasteires such as Derge Gonchen, Derge printing house, Palpung and Dzongsar monastery etc and extremely beautiful natural landscape of green dense pasture land, forested mountain, rocky hiils, snow-capped mountains and lots of small lakes, glaciers and Yilhun Lhatso lake.
How to form the valleys around the Derge county and how important the valleys are: there are five adjacent tributaries of the Dri Chu drain the rugged Trola foothills to the east of Derge: The Pa Chu, Me Chu, Ting Chu, Dzin Chu and Ngu Chu. Each of these valleys has regions where the fertile river plains support fields of barley, wheat, and potatoes. The hillsides are covered in spruce forest, and the upper slopes are home to nomad, known as Drokpa in Tibetan with large herd of Yaks, Sheep and horses. It is within these prosperous valleys that the four great monasteries of Palpung, Dzongsar, kathok and Pelyul were founded.
Derge to Yilhun Lhatso trek is an extremely beautiful and unique Tibet trek in the Kham region. This Tibet trekking tour starts from Chengdu and slowly driving for 4-6 days, exploring around Dartsedo, Lhakang, Lithang, Pelyul. On the way, you will enjoy beautiful green fertile land with beautiful vilalges in the middle of the barley field, exotic culture of the Kham tradition and religion in Kardze and Derge counties to have the extreme authentic experience of the heart of the eastern region of Tibet.
You will go on beautiful 7 days Derge to Yilhun Lhatso trek or vise verse from Yilhun Lhatos to Derge trek which is dominated by snow-capped mountains, beautiful dense forest, pasture land with beautiful nomad camps and lots of their herds including Yak, Sheep and Horses, being grazed on the beautiful pasture land, glacier lakes and gorgous Yilhun Lhatso lake.
The landscape of this 7 days trek is very similar to the scenery in Switzerland and many of our clients often admire that it is even more beautiful landscape than the scenery in Switzerland. In a word, it is the most beautiful trekking in Tibet.
After finishing your trek, you can continue exploring around other parst of Kham such as visiting Yachen hermitage and Serta monastic school or extending your tour to Amdo part, north easern par of Tibet including Amdo Ngapa, Juzhaiguo, Chengdu or you can directly drive back to Chengdu via Lhakang, Dartsedo and Chengdu.
The best time of doing this trek is from May till Mid October and it is always recommend to book the trek with an experienced travel agent make sure to have all the necessary camping equipment and pack Yak or horse to carry your luggage and equipment.
9) Minyak Gangkar trek
Minyak was a small kingdom in the Kham regioin and a lot of famous Tibetan Geshe or master of a metaphysic degree in Drepung and sera monasteries came from Minyak region including the most famous 95th Ganden Throned King which is the lineage of the Gelukpa monasteries highest master ranking since Tsongkapa in 15th Century. Minyak is a very beautiful area in the lower part of the Kham region which is located to the south west of Chengdu at the distance of around 500km distance and to the east of Lhasa at the distance of around 1730km.
14 days Mount Minyak Gangkar trek is started from Chengdu and slowly driving towards Minyak Gangkar region. Chengdu is the largest city in the western China and city has different kinds of ethnic groups including Tibetan, Chinese Muslim, Yi ethnic and the majority are Chinese. Driving to Minyak Gangkar mountain through Yangan and Dartsedo. Passing beautiful Tibetan villages and Xindoqiao junction where you can drive to Kanze county and Serta Buddhist unniversity and the road left side is the way to Minyak Gangkar snow mountain.
Mount Minyak Gangkar snow mountain is the highest mountain in the lower part of Kham region and rom the point of religious people’s faith, Mt Minyak Gangkar is one of the most sacred Snow capped mountain in the Kham region and from the view of the tourists, it is a very attractive and high snow mountain which provides a fantastic Tibet trekking route where you can be in the nature, extremely beauutiful view of snow capped mountain, grassland, The snow peak of Mount Minyak is 7556m high above sea level.
Minyak Gangkar trek is an extremely off the beaten trail and the most least visited parts of Tibet trekking tour.The trek begins at Kangding known as Dartsedo in Tibetan. Dartsedo is the capital city of the Kardze prefecture and a huge Tibetan nomadic area bordered to Sichuan. Nowadays, there are different ethnics of Tibetan, Chinese, Muslim etc . During Minyak Gangkar trek, you will see many Tibetan farmers with their beautiful fertile of agricultural land and their beautiful Tibetan tradional houses, completely built by wood, stones and mud. At the same time, you can visit many remote monasteries, Tibetan family visits and some activities with local Tibetans in order to get more deeper understanding of the local people’s life style and culture of Khampa people which makes this trek more unique and localized.
During your trekking, you will visit Minyak Gangkar monastery and after an hour walk towards Mount Minyark Gangkar, you will get a panoramic view of the whole Minyak Gangkar and beautiful pasture land with Tibetan nomads, dense forested gorge, rocky hills, beautiful glacier lakes and snow-capped mountain. The best time to do this trek is in April and end of September and October but you can do this trek during summer time as well. To get more information, please visit Tibet Trekking.

Tibet Group Tour Programs are one of our most popular Tibet travel tours and for more than 17 years, we have been exploring every corner of Tibet in a small group tour, featuring some of the fascinating destinations in Tibet. From Tibetan homestays to an overland tour to Nepal, we have the widest range of Tibet Group Tour Programs for you to choose from. And the good news is that all of them have Guaranteed Departure!

So, have you already planned your 2018 vacation? Don’t miss to get enrolled in one of our favorite Tibet Group Tour programs. They are designed to have perfect and well-planned itinerary including major highlights in Tibet like Potala Palace which has thousand years of history, Mt. Everest exploration, Kailash Kora etc. plus the flexibility, these programs are designs to let you enjoy enough spare time to go ahead with your own stuff. Tibet Shambhala Adventure is equipped with talented professional group tour guides who are not only ready to provide the best possible services but also in giving a true Tibet flavor to our clients.

Reasons to choose our Tibet Group Tour program:

1. Travelers from across the globe

From the South Pole to the North, Tibet Shambhala Adventure’s group tour programs are designed to include tourists from major English speaking countries to make it more international. It often ends up with binding a special bond with one another

2. Unique and Authentic Tibet experiences:

Our Tibet Group Tour programs are designed to bring about unique and authentic Tibet experiences. We have Tibetan Homestay group tour to give you a true Tibetan Flavor. Giving the travelers a chance to interact with local Tibetan people and also encouraging them to learn to cook Tibetan momos during their homestay.

3.Professional Tour Guide

We are possessed with most professional group tour Guide who are skilled and well trained in planning your day to day programs which needs to be carried out on daily basis. Their English is fluent and knowledge on the sightseeing are vast. You would love to listen to the stories that tour guides are sharing with you during the tour.

4.Enjoy your spare time:

You love shopping? Or would like to have a time of your own during your Tibet Tour? Our Group Tours are designed to include as plenty of time as possible to make the tour more flexible for you. You will have enough of you spare time to go ahead with you own stuff.

5.Our Group Tours are Cheap and affordable:

Our Tibet Groa budget travelers cheap and affordable. Our starting prices is just $599 however if it is a private tour with same itinerary the rate will go beyond. If you are a budget travelers, Tibet Group Tour Programs are always recommended for you.

6.Widest Range of Group Tour Itinerary to choose from; Group Tour Cum Overland Tour;

Unlike others, Tibet Shambhala Adventure introducing the widest range of Tibet Group Tour programs which not only covers the key highlights of Tibet but travelers also can enjoy a Tibet-Nepal or Nepal-Tibet Overland Tour in Group. It is a Group Tour cum overland Tour. To have more detailed information, please visit our Tibet Group Tour programs for 2018.

How to book Tibet train tour?  It surely offers an unparralled and top up your Tibet tour Experience.

For tourists, visiting Tibet  from Mainland China, if you have enough time, Tibet Shambhala Adventure  recommends you to take Tibet train tour. You can take train to Tibet from several famous cities of mainland China which we have made a detailed list of the cities and train schedules. The best way to take train to Tibet is from Xining. Xining is one of the closest cities to Tibet from mainland China and it is the capital city of Qinghai province where there are lots of Tibetans who live in Xining and the places around Xining,  known as Amdo Tibetan and they are both farmers and nomads.

Amdo in Tibetan is a region that is located in the north eastern part of Tibet and you will see a lot of monasteries, temples, nomad camps and growing barley in Amdo area like you can see here in the central Tibet. The high light of the Tibet train tour is from Xining to Lhasa because after around forty minutes train board from Xining, you will see Qinghai lake or Tso Ngonpo in Tibetan and Kokonor lake in Mongolian. It is one of the largest salt lakes in Tibet and it is the largets lake in the Qinghai Tibetan area. Next to Kokonor lake, you can see beautiful grassland, nomad camp, Kunlun mountain range, Keke Xiling no man land which has been occupied by a big group of Tibetan antelop, wild donkey, wild Yak, wolfs, blue sheep etc. Thangko la pass which is over 5000m above sea level and Siling tso which is the larget lake in the northen Tibetan area located at the altitude of over 4500m above sea level. You will pass by Damshong county which is the county seat under Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. From Damshong county to Lhasa is 200km distance. On the way, you will have a great view of Nyenchen Thangla snow nountain which is the largest snow mountain near Lhasa at the elevation of over 7000m So the landscape from Xining to Lhasa is extremely rich and it is tremendously beautiful. You can not only enjoy this unique and tremendous beauty of the landscape during your Tibet train tour but also you can slowly acclimatize to the altitude while you are crossing high mountain passes through train which can make sure that you won’t get altitude problem during your Tibet tour. .

 How comfortable the beds and seats of Qinghai Tibet train:

There are three different classes of the seats and beds that you can book for the Qinghai Tibet train tour. They have first class train ticket or known as soft sleeper. The first class is train ticket is that there are four comfortable beds in one compartment, two beds on the top and two beds are on the ground.There is alo a nice place to put your luggage and there is also small TV if you like. The scond class train tickit, known as hard sleeper. The second class ticket is that there are 6 comfortable beds in one compartment and when there are six beds in one compartment, the space of the compartment makes smaller and less comfortable than the first class tickets. It also has the same place to keep your luggage. The third one is the normal seat that there are many seats in one big hall and two seats are facing to each other and the space between the seats and tables are also not that big so we don’t recommend to take seat ticket from Xining to Lhasa as it is very difficult.

 If you can get food on the Qinghai Tibet train?

There is a pretty clean restaurant on the train and they serve all three meals during your train tour to Tibet. Usually, they serve lunch by around 13.00-14-30, Dinner by around 18.30-20.00 and 08-09.30 Beijing time. Usually, they announce lunch, dinner and breakfast time on the train both in English and Chinese so you can pay attention approximately the time that we have given to you. If you are with your Tibetan guide it is easy for you as your Tibetan guide can order food for you from the restaurant but most of the groups are coming on their own so you can go to the restaurant and choose the vegetable from the menu if you like to order by your self or you can also buy the set rice and veg dish that the waters pass by your compartment and sell the dish.. The person in charge of the restaurant speaks a little English.

We highly recommend you to buy some coffee, biscuit, fruit or even a bowl of instant noodle in Xining before you board the train because on the train, you don’t get those items. They have drinking hot water tank next to each apartment of the train and you can have hot water any time.  It is also a good idea to buy some mineral water before you board the train because the mineral water which sells on the train is quite expensive.

If you can get Oxygen on the Qinghai Tibet train?

The train itself provides oxygen in each compartment and if you are feeling very difficult symptom of having headache, vomiting, difficult to breathe, then we recommend you to use some oxygen but it is very rare to happen this kind of symptom and we don’t recommend you to use oxygen on the train when you have slightly headh ache or dizzy because this is very usual and this symptom will slowly disappeay after your couple of days stay in Tibet.

What documents and how you can book your Qinghai Tibet train ticket?

To book train tickets, you need a valid passport and China visa copy. Usually the Qinghai Tibet Rail Way company requires to book ticket for Tibet train tour in 60 days advance but this can be changed sometimes and it is very important to ask your Tibet travel agent to have the most up-to date information about the tickets. You can try to book the train tickets through the official website of China Train Company (www.huoche.com or www.ctrip.com  ) but it is tremendously difficult to get a chance to be able to catch tickets online, especially first and second class during the high and peak season as there are lots of tourist who travel to Tibet by train and at the same time, many government officials  do also travel to Tibet by train so the best is to ask your Tibet travel agent who is arranging your Tibet train tour to help you book the train tickets. There will be some service charge for booking but if you find a right Tibetan travel agent like Tibet Shambhala Adventure, they can guarantee you to get first class train ticket once you book the trip with them.

Can you board the train to Tibet without Tibet permit?

It is compulsory to have Tibet permit or known as Tibet entry permit. All the train stations in mailand China except the train station in Xining requires you to show original Tibet permit. At the train station in Xining, it is fine to board the train with a colored copy of the Tibet permit. It is very important to book your Tibet train tour in 20-30 days advance as your Tibet travel agent needs to go through a very long process for your Tibet permit application and it takes between 15-25 days by depending on what kind of Tibet trips you take. Once they finish all your Tibet permit application, the Tibet travel agent has to send your Tibet permit to the city from which you are going to take train to Tibet. Sending permit to mainland China usually takes 3-5 working days by EMS. It is very important to give your exact hotel address and contact number to your Tibet agent to deliver your Tibet permit if you spend a night in the city from which you are going to train to Tibet. It is also possible to deliver your Tibet train ticket and Tibet permit at the train station if you don’t spend a night in the city.

Although the recommended city to take train to Tibet from Mainland China is Xining however you don’t necessarily have to fly to Xining to start your Tibet Train Tour. You can also take train to Tibet from other major cities of mainland China. Currently we have the train shchedules to Tibet below;

-Beijing to Lhasa

-Shanghai to Lhasa

-Chendu to Lhasa

-Xining to Lhasa

-Xian to Lhasa

-Guangzhou-Lhasa

-Chongqing to Lhasa

-Lanzhou to Lhasa

-Hongkong to Lhasa

With hike in the no of foreign tourists making train reservation to Tibet, it resulted in lots of FAQ about train schedules, price  and how to make train reservation to Tibet. The below information can mostly answer about all the FAQ. Please note that the train ticket cost below are for reference. These can be subject to change.

.,Beijing to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Shanghai to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Chengdu to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Guangzhou to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Xining to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Chongqing to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Lanzhou to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Xi’an to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Golmud to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose.

Hongkong to Lhasa Train Book via Guangzhou ( Canton )

To have more information, please visit Tibet Train Tour.

A Gorgeous trip to Tibet with Tibetan Travel Agency

Tibet is a beautiful and sacred place that is located in the Himalayas with its unique traditions, culture and a lineage of history Surrounded by sprawling big mountains. Tibet is one of the amazing destinations to hook up for your next vacation. The mountains are the haven for trekkers and trekkers from around the world reach here to try their hands on the trekking trails here. If you are also the one looking for a different holiday this time, visit your nearest Tibetan travel agency and confirm the dates of booking.

The places worth a visit in Tibet are Jokhang Temple, Tibetan Monasteries, Potala Palace, and many more. As Tibet is an autonomous region, you are required to have Tibet entry permit for entering Tibet but applying for Tibet entry permits is very simple if you choose a right Tibetan travel agency who is officially registered under the China National Tourism and Tibet Tourism Bureau . Once you confirm your trip to Tibet, you need to apply for China visa to the Chinese embassy in your own country and you can use China visa for your trip to Tibet as Tibet is an Autonomous Region within China. The China visa application may take from 3-7 working days which depend on where you are from.

When you choose the right Tibetan travel agency, it is very important to know by yourself that there are thousands of websites that tell you that they are local owned Tibetan travel agencies and they can organize tours and trips to Tibet. They can also tell you that they have been operating Tibet tours for many years so in this case, it is very important to ask them to send their official license with the stamp of Tibet Tourism Bureau or China National Tourism Bureau on their own so called agent name which means the company license name holder should be the same as the name that they are holding in their website so if the name on the company license and on their website is the same, then should you feel confident and trust to do booking with this company because this company is officially registered and you can trust them.

If the company’s name does not match the same on the website and on their company license and they may say that they are the branch of another company which is on the company license, then you need to be very careful because it is hundred percent sure that they are not officially registered and they are just a website who are selling Tibet tours on line. Once you confirm the trip with them, they might either sell your confirmed tour to another agent who is officially registered and has authorization to organize Tibet tours or they might buy the permits from another company that they are sending certificate license to you so if you book your Tibet tour with these kind of websites, it is very risky to book the trip with these kind of agents as they are not sure if they can get permits or not because they are not officially authorized so there is always chance that you might not be able to travel to Tibet in the last minute if you book your Tibet trip with just a website without an officially registered Tibetan travel agency because to travel to Tibet, you always need Tibet travel permit and to make Tibet travel permit, you need a very strong officially registered Tibetan travel agent who can deal directly with Tibet Tourism Bureau’s permit department.

Tibet is a huge plateau that you can’t finish traveling to every corner of Tibet during one time visit. You won’t finish exploring Tibet even if you do ten times trip to Tibet so it means it is very important to choose the best and most experienced local Tibetan travel agency who can provide you the most popular and beautiful Tibet tours during your first time Tibet trip. You can trip to Tibet by flight or overland to Tibet from Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. You can also hook on to a railway tour, which will provide an exclusive opportunity to observe the beautiful landscape of the high Tibetan plateau and help you to acclimatized to the high altitude slowly and gradually.

You can start your Tibet journey from the city of Lhasa, which is the capital city of Tibet and one of the highlighted destinations when you travel to Tibet. Lhasa is popular to it’s rich cultural back ground which are the UNESCO World Heritage site and Drepung and Sera monasteries are the largest Tibetan monasteries. You can hike around Lhasas city and have 4-7 days trekking around Lhasa such as Ganden to Samye trekking, Langthang Dewachen to Yamdrok lake trekking, Tsurphu to Yampachen trekking etc.
The Best Time to Visit Tibet

Off late, Tibet has come up as one of the most traveled destinations in the world. As we are in the era of sustainable tourism, Tibet is also supporting the world by providing all possible amenities to the travelers. From the popular snow peaks to the warm monasteries, Tibet is worth a visit at least once in your lifetime.
The best time to visit Tibet is from April to October and the best time to climb small peak and adventure trekking is in April, May, June, September and October respectively.

Visiting Tibet in winter is also very highly recommended where you will see the most beautiful land scape of the Himalayan mountain range including Mount Everest, Jo Oyu, Shisha Pangma, Lhotse, Makalu etc as the sky is always blue and the sun is shining very brightly all the time. There are more religious events and activities are going on and more local Tibetan people are around Bharkor and Jokang. You can see hundreds of Tibetans, prostrating in front of Jokang temple, paying homage to the statue of Buddha Shakyamuni. You will get 50% discount from the normal peak season price of the land cost and 30-50% discount on the flight ticket cost.

During your Tibet tour, you can also catch the marvelous sights of snow panda, snow leopard, snow frog and mouse hares. These are the rare species of animals that can only exist in extreme cold temperatures and are not found everywhere in the world. Visit Tibet during their festivities to observe the colorful and vibrant celebrations. One of the best ways to travel to Tibet is that you can choose our Tibet Group Tour because you will get much cheaper price and if you book the trip two months in advance, you will get 5% discount.

What is Tibet Permit and Simple Guidelines how to prepare your Tibet permit?

If your passport valid for at least 6 months and you have already bucket listed Tibet as your top travel destination in 2018, you must have googled about Tibet and the related information you required to prepare for your Tibet Trip. While googling about Tibet, Tibet Travel Permit or Tibet Permit is something new to you and it is indispensable that you need to get All the details about what is Tibet Permit and the process involved in applying for Tibet Permit.

Tibet Travel Permit or Tibet Permit is a document which supports your entry into Tibet. It is issued by the Tibet Tourism Bureau. The approval on your China Visa doesn’t really mean that you can get entry into Tibet. There are only two ways getting into Tibet. One from Kathmandu and another from the mainland China. For those who are making their Tibet Trip from Mainland China, it is required to send across a copy of your visa and passport to your travel agent in Lhasa to apply for the Tibet Permit which usually takes about 15-20 business days to process.

Once it is approved, your travel agent in Lhasa will send the original Tibet permit to your temporary mailing address in China apart from the city of Xining in Qinghai province in mainland China where a colored-copy of the Tibet Permit is ok to board your train to Lhasa. Therefore as a tourist coming into Tibet from Mainland China, it is essential to note that you have to inform your travel agent in Lhasa about your flight details, whether it is a direct flight or a connecting flight because if it is a direct flight, your Tibet Permit carry the name of the city where you are flying directly into Tibet. If it is a connecting flight, your Tibet Permit should carry the name of the connecting city to Tibet and not the original city

For instance, when a tourist is coming to Tibet from mainland China by flight on the same day and if she or he is taking a connecting flight, for example from Beijing to Chengdu and from Chengdu to Lhasa on the same day, your Tibet Permit should carry the name of the connecting city i.e. Chengdu in the above example and not Beijing . The security check in Beijing airport will not ask you to show your Tibet Permit but the security check in Chengdu airport will definitely ask you to show your Tibet Permit because it is where you are entering into Tibet and that’s why it is also called Tibet Entry Permit. Same rule applies to the train journey as well.

Many tourists and unprofessional local travel agents make very often mistakes about this issue that the tourists just inform the local agents that I am coming from Beijing to Tibet but then the tourist takes a connecting flight, not a direct flight from Beijing to Lhasa or Shanghai to Lhasa. They take a connecting flight but then those of unprofessional local travel agents completely think that their tourist is coming from Beijing and they write Beijing to enter Tibet instead of Chengdu as they did not think about connecting flight so when the tourist is in Chengdu airport for a transit flight, the security check in Chengdu finds that Chengdu is not written in their permits and they stop tourist to board the flight so this part of information is very important as Tibet Shambhala Adventure as an experienced and officially registered local Tibetan owned travel agent, it is always our pleasure to share our valuable information, knowledge and experiences.

If you are making the journey to Tibet via Kathmandu, Remember to note that you don’t have to apply for the China Visa from your origin country in order to get into Tibet. You will have to send your passport copy to your local Tibetan travel agent in Lhasa and your local travel agent will apply for your visa invitation letter to the Tibet Tourism Bureau in Lhasa and once it is approved by Tibet Tourism Bureau, your local Tibetan travel agent will send the visa invitation letter to your Kathmandu representative who will assist you to apply for the China Visa which takes three working days. It is also referred as a Group Visa, given on A 4 paper, not on your visa. Therefore it is important to allow 3 business days in Kathmandu to complete your China Group Visa application and plan your itinerary accordingly. The good thing is that new business working days of Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu is from Monday till Friday where they used to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. If you have applied the China Group Visa on Monday, it will granted and deliver to you latest by Wednesday.

When you are coming to Tibet from Kathmandu, you are not required to have your Tibet entry and road permits with you from Kathmandu. You can board your flight from Kathmandu with your China visa to Tibet and your Tibetan tour guide at the airport will take care of all the necessary Tibet entry and road permits and help you to clear China custom.

We can apply Tibet permit for all the tourists except someone who are diplomats, journalists and government officials. People who are diplomats, journalists and government officials should go through Foreign Affairs Office of China based in Lhasa.

Tibet trek with Tibetan Yak is an essential relationship between the trekkers and Yak.
Yaks known as “Yak ‘’ in Tibetan and English and it is a very special and unique animal of Tibet. Yak can also considered as the brand of Tibet. Tibetan domesticated yak and yak raised Tibetan. There is a Tibetan proverb which says: Where there are Yaks, there are Tibetans which describes such an interdependent and inseparable relationship between Yaks and Tibetans. Animals are the most important friends of mankind, and yaks are the most important friends of Tibetans.

There are two very large wild Yak skulls that were found in Maqu county of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Region in Gansu province. After the scientist testing, it shows that the skulls fossils has over 45,000 years history which proves that the wild Yaks survived on the Tibetan plateau earlier than the humans.
Tibetan people domesticate the Yaks for their needs and it has more than 4500 years history. The wild Yaks are always bigger size and much more aggressive, angry and dangerous while the domesticated Yaks are smaller size and more loyal and friendly to the people.

For thousands of years, the Tibetan people have been living with Yaks and they used Yaks for almost everything, especially in the olden days. The Tibetans used Yaks for clothing, food, shelter, transportation, farming, war, entertainment, Medical item and religious tools so on.

Tibet trek with Tibetan Yak was very popular in the olden days that when the Tibetan people traveled from one place to another, they used Yaks for their transportation for goods and also for the older Tibetan people, they also used Yaks for riding when they could not walk for a long distant travel. Yaks as a means of transportation on Tibetan high plateau dates back to at least 2000 years ago. We can also find Yak’s pack saddle in Shangshong in Ali prefecture in the western Tibet and some of them have a thousand years of history as well.
Today, since there are more and more roads and vehicles developed, there are less and less Tibetan people who use Yaks for their transportation unless a very few Tibetan nomadic areas but the way of Yaks as using for transportation is changing and nowadays, Yaks again become very important for another type of transportation for tourists in Tibet and Tibet trek with Tibetan Yaks become very essential and inseparable relationship with travelers from all over the world and Tibetan Yak.

Tibet trek with Tibetan Yak is very unique and authentic and there are treks around Mount Everest base camp, Tibet trek from old Dingri to Everest base camp at the elevation of 4000-6500mts with Yaks and Everest base camp to Everest Advanced Base Camp, Kangshung valley trekking from the east Everest side, Mount Kailash trekking etc.
Why Yaks are very famous for the transportation in Tibet is because Yaks are said that they never get lost when they traveled from one place to another and Yaks do not have to sleep, they can travel from day till night. They can remember their geographical position very well from the starting to the starts.

For domesticated Yaks, there are two different types of Yaks, one is the male Yak and another one is the female Yak but in Tibet, we call Yaks for the male one and Dri for the female one. We don’t call Yaks for the female one. Most of the western guide books, they still did not divide this very well and many western tourists always say that I like Yak butter tea or Yak butter etc. For Tibetans, it is very strange when you say Yak butter or Yak butter tea because Yak is the male one from which you can not get milk or butter but it becomes kind of common in the touristic cities or towns in Tibet.
In the domesticated Yaks, Tibetans use male Yaks for transportation, plaughing fileds and female Yaks, known as Dri for milk and butter.

Yak meat, yak milk with high protein, low fat characteristics, is the main source of nutrition in the Tibetan high plateau and in the olden days, the Tibetan nomads, they completely live on Yak meat, Dri butter and milk as there were no vegetables in the nomadic area and people very less travelled to the longer distance like Lhasa where they grew vegetables.

Tibet trek with Tibetan Yak in the Tibetan nomadic area is something that you can not miss when you trek in Tibet. You can see how important Yaks are for Tibetan people in their daily lives.
Tibetan nomads use Yak hair or Yak wool use for weaving their big nomad tents which was their home for entire life in the olden days but nowadays, they used it only during summer time in most of the Tibetan nomadic area as they have small houses in the lower altitude place in the winter time. Yak wool made tents has a very special characters that it does not get very hot when it is very sunny and it does not get cold when it is windy as it is a wind and water proof. During the sunny day, the Yak wool tent automatically shrinks and reveals small dense holes which can give very comfortable fresh air and sun inside the tents and when it is raining, the tent itself automatically tighten to each other and blocks itself the hole and it becomes a complete water and wind proof.

Yak skin is a good leather raw materials, was made into various kinds of daily necessities. Yaks leather is used for boat to cross the river, jacket, shoes, dram etc.
Yak horn can be used for Tibetan medicine, snuff box, decoration, milking containers, religious tools, butter containers, handicrafts etc.

In the life of people on the Tibetan high plateau, yaks are everywhere. Yak known as the “Plateau treasure” Domesticated yak is honest and simple, loyal in nature, feelings of compassion, strength and courage. A Tibetan scholar wrote: “For the plateau humans, the yak is an ancestor forever, a grandparent, a brother and sister, a child, a friend and friend, a neighbor and relative ”

In the thousands of years, the Tibetan and yak get along. The yak is not only a material phenomenon and a lifestyle, but also Yak gradually enters the spiritual world and becomes a yak culture. This not only includes both historical culture, animal husbandry culture, artifact culture, funeral culture, ecological culture, but also includes the plateau Tibetan literature, art, music, dance and other aesthetic culture which also involves religious and philosophical culture.