Nyingchi travel to Tibet tips

In this Tibet road trip article, we are going to share some important Nyingchi travel tips and give you a detailed information of  how to make a 4 Day Lhasa Nyingchi Shannan self-driving loop tour.

Day 1: Lhasa-Darksum lake-Nyingchi, 2900mts/482km/6 hours drive. Meilin International hotel

After around 9.Am, we gathered In front of the intercontinental hotel in Lhasa, started our first day destination of 4 Day Lhasa Nyingchi Shannan self-driving loop tour and we drove through one of the most beautiful highways in Tibet and pass by Medro Gongkar county where the Ganden monastery is located and Rutok hot spring.

On the way, we enjoyed a great view of the autumn scenery of yellow tree leaves, yellow grasslands, beautiful Tibetan houses and different kinds of cattle and sheep were being grazed on the fields. Before Passing Barla mountain pass tunnel, we also saw a beautiful view of the snow capped mountain and Yak on the pasture land just next to the snow mountain. Today’s most important scenic spot is the Darksum lake which is recognized as one of the best 5***** scenic spots in China. The driving distance from Lhasa to Darksum lake is around 4 hours drive. Here we are also going to give you about Nyingchi travel tips whether you had a greater time if you could drive into the scenic spot with your cars instead of the scenic spot buses with other travelers.

From Lhasa until we reached a village called Bahe, it is a high way and from Bahe village, we had to leave the high way and joined a countryside road to Darksum lake at the distance of around 39Km. Eventhough the road was narrow, the road condition is very good.

In general, all the vehicles have to be stopped at the entry gate of the Darksum lake scenic spot and all the passengers had to take the scenic spot public bus to the Darksum lake at the distance of around 7Km with other travelers  but when you traveled with us for our 4 Day Lhasa Nyingchi Shannan Self-driving loop tour, we requested Nyingchi Tourism Bureau to allow all our travelers that they could directly drive the vehicles to the Darksum lake without changing the scenic spot buses which is a special gift and surprise to all our participants. Everybody felt that they were taken care of in a special way and indeed enjoyed this different, special, and unique self-driving trip with us so it always better to find a right Nyingchi travel tips through a right local Tibetan travel company.

Another special and surprised gift to our customers is that we arranged our picnic lunch at a very unique and quit place at the shore of Darksum lake where other tour groups could not reach. As soon as all the vehicles arrived at this beautiful place, our staff immediately took out the equipment of outdoors including table, chairs, cups and all the packed meals. We also prepared hot water, sweet and butter tea and offered them a great hot picnic lunch. Everybody indeed enjoyed the picnic lunch at this beautiful lake shore and all the members, especially the self-drivers asked us to take group photos in order to keep this beautiful memory by taking photos and videos.

Since we were taking this trip during China National Holiday, the weather is extremely nice and the water of the lake is so blue and green that you could not express yourself how beautiful this Darksum lake was. The island in Darksum lake where the most sacred temple of Guru Rinpoche is located, there were many Tibetan pilgrims and they were visiting the main temple of Guru Rinpoche, offering money, incense, flowers and white scarf and praying for the sake of all sentient beings. It was a great time to walk around the temple in the island as you could really see the most beautiful viewpoints of the Darksum lake and the snow-capped mountain which is located surrounding the Darksum lake.

After we finished the sightseeing around the temple in the island, all the self-driving members gathered at the parking area and drove back to Bahe village. From Bahe village, we took the Lhasa to Nyingchi highway which took us one hour and fifty minutes’ drive. The scenery was still very beautiful and the mountains on both sides of the highway became greener and greener and finally you could see there was densely forest around Nyingchi prefecture so Nyingchi is totally a different landscape place comparing to other prefectures in Tibet and Nyingchi is called the eastern forest region of Tibet as most parts of Tibet are more plateau and desert.  We stayed in Meilin international hotel which is a four-star hotel and the hotel is located in the center of Nyingchi city.

For this first day of our 4 Day Lhasa Nyingchi Shannan Loop tour, we would like to give a couple of Nyingchi travel tips. Firstly, if you are a bigger group, it is better to drive earlier from Lhasa in the morning. Secondly, you must find a right travel agent who can give you some special service such as you can directly drive to the Darksum lake instead of changing vehicles at the Darksum lake scenic spot, instead of eating in the same crowdy restaurant, your company would rather arrange a nice and quit place to enjoy the picnic lunch. Thirdly, Choose the right hotel with a good and safe parking area as it is very important to park your cars safely.

Day 2：Nyingchi-Serkyim La pass-Lulang international forest village, 3700mts/70km/1hrs 50 minutes-Lulang-Milin Hilton, 3600mts/113km/2 hrs 25 minutes

After breakfast, by around 8.30 in the morning, we started our second day of Lhasa-Nyingchi-Shannan loop tour. Began from our hotel to Lulang forest village, the road condition is very good but always had better to drive slowly as the road was quite narrow and there were quite many trucks and cars. The scenery on the way was full of forest on the both side and a couple of Tibetan village. After around one hour and twenty minutes, we reached Serkyim la pass at the elevation of 4728mts above sea level. To give a good Nyingchi travel tips of visiting Namcha Barwa, we recommend you to start the trip early in the morning from Nyingchi city so that you could see the mountain very clearly.

All the members of our group were very lucky because when we arrived on the top of the pass, the weather was extremely nice and the view of the Namcha Barwa snow mountain was tremendously beautiful and clear. We saw the entire view of the snow mountain and saw that hundreds of people were taking photos of the mountain as everybody knew that usually it is very rare to get a chance to see Namcha Barwa snow mountain in such a beautiful and clear weather.

After having a great time on the top of the pass, we drove down to Lulang forest village. Once all our members arrive in the Lulang international forest village, we started riding horses in the beautiful green grassland and played Kongpo Tibetan traditional arrow shooting game which was very interesting. Another very important thing that we experienced was that we had the most famous Chicken hot pot with different kinds of dishes. Chicken hotpot is the most delicious and authentic meal of Lulang International forest village. To give a good Nyingchi travel tips is that it is always better to choose the head quarter of the hotpot restaurant in Lunang as it provided the most clean and tasty hotpot there.

After lunch, we drove back to Nyingchi through Serkyim La pass and continued driving to Milin county along the Niyang river and the Yarlung Tsangpo river. The distance from Lulang forest region to Hilton hotel in Nyingchi is around 120km. The road condition from Nyingchi Bayi to the hotel is very good. It is a highway drive and the scenery was very beautiful.

The Hilton hotel was located in a very beautiful and quit place in Miling county in Nyingchi. The hotel was a great resort where you could take meditation, or taking a walk in the forest or swimming or exercising in the gym. We had a nice afternoon, relaxing, swimming and having a good dinner. We had a Buffet dinner in the hotel and it was quite good but the dinner was pretty expensive so if you were considering on your budget, you could also do order in the Chinese styled restaurant. To give a good Nyingchi travel tips, it is better to avoid the cities and stay in a quite place like Hilton hotel in Miling county in Nyingchi which is a little far away from the county seat.

Day 3：Hilton hotel-Miling county-Kyimdong village, 136km, 2hrs 30 minutes drive-Gagong waterfall gorge, 55km/-Nang county,3550mts/ 60km, 45 minutes drive

We had breakfast by around 9.00 in the morning and started our self-driving journey from Hilton hotel to Nang county. The road condition is very good and the scenery was beautiful and unique. We were driving along the Yarlung Tsangpo river and on the way, we stopped in a village called Kyimdong village which is the junction to go to Yumai village which is a bordered village between India and Tibet China and the direct road to go to Nang county. At Kyimdong village, we visited a small factory of Tibetan traditional paper where they produced Tibetan traditional paper. Kyimdomg was the village where it used to produce all the traditional paper including the Tibetan currency note in the olden days. The paper was made of different local tree leaves and the paper was very unique and environmental.

According to our Nyingchi travel tips, it is better not to drive to Gyatsa or Tsetang directly from Miling county or Hilton hotel, instead you could spend a night i Nang county as there are many things to see in Nang county such as the birth place of the thirteenth Dalai Lama, Pal Choede Gon, the largest monastery in Nyingchi, the 2500 years old walnut tree, Gagong waterfall gorge, Lei tombs, Bobolang glacier etc.

After visiting Kyimdong Tibetan traditional paper producing factory, we drove to Lieshan ancient tomb, located on the southern slope of Lie mountain, about 1.5 kilometers northeast of Lie village and there are more than 180 tombs. They seemed to have longer history than Tubo Dynasty in Tibet but sadly most of the tombs were already empty.

After visiting the tombs, we drove to Gagong water fall gorge at the distance of around 55km. The scenery along the Yarlung Tsangpo river was beautiful and there were some beautiful villages too. Just before reaching Nang county at the distance of around 25km, we crossed the Yarlung Tsangpo river and drove to Gagong water fall gorge. On the way, we saw a group of monkeys, playing in the fields but since they were not very familiar to the strangers, even if we gave them fruit, they slowly ran away. However it was very interesting to see such a big group of monkeys in a very remote area.

The Gagong waterfall gorge is 150 meters long, 7-8 meters wide, and has a minimum flow of 0.8 cubic meters per second. Seeing the Gagong waterfall, you will deeply understand the peculiar beauty of “flying down three thousand feet, suspected to be the Milky Way down ” The majestic momentum of “a waterfall in the sky for a long time, the sound falls to the world”. “Flowers reflect the shore of the new forest, and the clouds open waterfall springs.” The beautiful face. We took a short break in the mountain and ate snacks and drank sweet tea while we were taking photos of this beautiful waterfall.

After enjoying a great scenery, we drove back to the main road at the distance of around 7km and continued to Nang county. Nang county was a very important place in the Tibetan history as it was the birth place of the 13^th Dalai Lama and it was also the place where it used to have some historical activities more than a thousand years ago as we could see lots of tombs in Lei mountain.

With our Nyingchi travel tips, we put more information about Nang county since most of the guide books or online information, there was lack of Nang county information. It really interesting to spend one to two nights in Nang county to see beautiful natural landscape, snow mountain, glacier,, lakes, waterfall gorge, natural dense forest, historical places and the religious sites.

Day 4: Nang county- Pal Choede Monastery-Chongkang Manor-Gyatsa County-Sangri county-Tsetang city-Lhasa, 3650m/368km/7 hours drive.

After having breakfast, we set off to Pal Choede monastery, the largest monastery in entire Nyingchi region. The monastery was built in 1195 by a reincarnated Lama called Sonam Senge. The monastery is a Gelukpa monastery and there were some relics of the monastery including some of the sacred statues.

After visiting Pal Choede monastery, we continued driving to Chongkang manor which is the birth place of the 13^th Dalai Lama. The manor has been renovated pretty well and we could visit some chapels, the chamber, living and sleeping rooms of the 13^th Dalai Lama. You could also see the store room, kitchen, and the audience hall etc. The opposite of the Chongkang Manor is the thousand years history of the Walnut tree. One of the Walnut tree is 2500 years history and in 2012, this walnut tree used to give 2 Duns of walnuts which is history record.

After visiting those two important scenic spots, we continued our journey towards Lhasa. On the way, we had a simple lunch in a normal Chinese restaurant and continued to Lhasa via Gyatsa county, Sangri county along the Yarlung Tsangpo river. The scenery was beautiful and the villages along the way were also very beautiful. It was a great self-driving journey and all our members indeed enjoyed the trip very much and they wanted us to plan the next trip for them before we finished this trip.

With our Nyingchi travel tips of 4 Day Lhasa Nyingchi Shannan loop tour, you could find the most important and useful information of a loop tour between Lhasa and Shannan through Nyingchi city and it’s surroundings. This trip is a unique and very beautiful Tibet trip. It is even more interesting to make a self driving tour around this region.

 

 

Everest Kangshung Face Trek – Tibet Trekking

Everest Kangshung face trek is one of the most beautiful treks in Tibet and if you are planning a trek in Tibet, Kangshung face trek is the ideal to choose.

Before telling about Everest Kangshung face trek directly, I would like to explain a little bit of Tibetan history and it’s geography so that you will get more clear reason why you plan a trek to Tibet and why you like to travel to Tibet.

According to Tibetan history, Tibet lay under a great ocean of water after the universe was first created. Then, by the blessing of Chenrezik, the God of compassion, the waters slowly receded and from the depths rose Tibet, a land surrounded by vast chains of mountains, within a world comprised of four major and eight minor continents.

The geologic history of Tibet and Himalaya presently being pieced together by geologists has fascinating similarities to the ancient account. The Tibetan plateau is actually an accretion of separate continental fragments that collided with the Asian continental over a period of some 200 million years.

A succession of large and small seas, collectively known as the Tethys Sea, was created and eventually drained as each fragment merged with the mainland. The most recent of these bodies of water existed until about 50 million years ago and extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, between Africa and Europe and between India and the rest of Asia. In the hills to the south of Dingri, near Mount Everest, it is possible to find shell fossils from this ancient ocean alongside the trails.  Even the rock on the summit of Mount Everest was once submerged, although that body of water pre-dates the formation of these Tethys Seas; climbers have found fossils of small marine animals called crinoids imbedded in the layers of limestone near the top.

Tibet is the largest and highest plateau in the world, averaging nearly 4500mts above sea level. Even more spectacular was this collision’s role in the creation of the 3100km-long, chain of Himalayan peaks that span sought and central Asia, boasting ten of the world’s fourteen highest summits including the Mount Everest.

There are many different kinds of nice and beautiful trekking routes in Tibet but if you want us to recommend you the best and the most beautiful trekking routes in Tibet, then Kangshung face trek is the one that you can choose for your travel plan.

The Kangshung face basecamp trek is a 17 days tour in Tibet, starting from Lhasa, visiting the most beautiful world’s heritage sites of the Potala Palace and Jokang temple, the two largest Buddhist monasteries of the world, including Drepung and Sera, one of the four largest lakes in Tibet, called Yamdrok lake, Palchoe monastery and Kubum Pagoda stupa, the most beautiful and largest stupa in the central part of Tibet with more than six hundred years history, visiting Tashi Lhunpo monastery, the largest monastery in the Tsang region or known as the western part of Tibet, visiting Sakya monastery which has more than 1200 years history and inside the monastery, you can visit the largest Buddhist library in the world.

By acclimatizing to the high altitude and visiting those renowned Buddhist and world’s heritage sites, slowly you will reach Kartha Qu or Katha town which is the starting point of Kangshung face basecamp trek. Kangshung face basecamp trek is a 9 days loop trekking to the secluded Kangshung Face Basecamp of Mount Everest begins at Yulok at the elevation of 3690mts above sea level.

Originally, the Kangshung face Basecamp trek was begun at Kartha Qu or Kath Township because the jeep road only reached to the Kartha Qu by that time but now the jeep road reached to Yulok which is our starting point of Kartha valley trekking. We will drive from Kartha to Yulok which will take us around 30 minutes.

If you don’t choose the right local Tibetan travel agent, they still keep the same trekking program and will start your trek from Kartha Qu instead of Yulok which means you will have to walk on the jeep road for around two hours which is a very boring trekking.

When is the best time to trek to Kangshung face Basecamp trek?

The best time to do Kangshung face basecamp trek is in May and June in spring and in September in fall because during these period of time, usually there is no snow fall, no rain and most of the time, the weather is very clear and you can see the most beautiful view of the entire Himalayan Mountain ranges including the peaks of Mount Everest, Jo Oyu, Lhotse, Makalu and Shisha Bangma as well.

How long do you need to prepare the Kangshung face Basecamp trek in advance?

The best is to confirm your trek in one month advance as you need to send all the documents for your Tibet trekking. What you need to prepare to send is your clear passport, China visa copy and working certificate to your local Tibetan travel agent. At the same time, you need to prepare some more documents that require during the Covid 19. Another thing is your local agent needs enough time to book your accommodation, all the necessary of Kangshung face basecamp trek including all the trekking equipment, an experienced trekking guide, experienced Tibetan cooking team.

Is it important to choose a right local tour company for the Kangshung face trek?

It is very important to find a right local Tibetan travel agent. When we say a right local Tibetan travel agent means first of all, the tour company should be registered under the Tibet Tourism Bureau and must have capability of issuing your Tibet travel and trekking permits on time. Secondly, the local tour company must have experience of how to organize Kangshung face basecamp trek because the Kangshung face basecamp trek is not possible to complete if you don’t have an experienced tour company with an experienced local Tibetan trekking guide and cooking team who know all the spots of the camping very well and the guide must know where you can get the best view of the trek and where you can get clean water for the trek, where you can get the pack Yak and yak men for the trek etc.

What kind of equipment does the local tour company have to provide for the Kangshung face trek?

The local tour company has to provide a very good quality of water and wind proof dome tents, very good quality of kitchen and dining tents, very good quality of toilet tents, very good quality of mattress, very good quality of table and chairs, very good quality of water proof duffel bags for the trekking, big oxygen cylinder, Gamow bag, walkie-talkie, First Aid Kit. The local tour company has to provide two extra dome tents for members just incase the tents’ zip was broken or the tent was broken by any reason. The local tour company has to provide good quality equipment and clothes for the local staff including Tibetan guide and cooking team.

What kind of equipment and personal things that you will have to bring for the Kangshung face trek?

Eventhough the Kangshung face trek is taken during the summer time but, the temperature in the Everest region is very much unpredictable. It can be pretty cold in the early morning and evening time but it can be warm during the day time and sometimes it can be raining or snowing a little bit therefore it is very important to bring both summer and winter clothes for changing according to the different temperature of your daily trekking.

Here are some suggestions of the items in the following which you might need to bring for the Kangshung face trek.

1. Comfortable wind & water proof jacket
2. Comfortable wind & water proof trekking pants
3. Water proof rain coat of shell
4. Comfortable trekking shoes
5. 2-3 pairs of high-quality wool trekking socks
6. pairs of trekking underwear
7. One pair of thermal tops and bottoms
8. Two good quality T-shirts
9. One good winter coat or winter dawn jacket
10. One thick fleece
11. Gloves
12. Sun Hat with a wide brim
13. Skull cap
14. Polarized sunglasses
15. Trekking poles
16. 30-50 Liter trekking backpack
17. Sleeping bag rated between minus 10-15°C
18. Micro spikes (optional) If there is not heavy snow in the Kangshung face trek, not necessary to have
19. Headlamp
20. 1-liter water bottle similar to Nalgene water bottle
21. Personal toiletries such as Sun cream Extreme SPF50+25ml,lip balm, small bottle of perfume, soap for washing hands, wet tissue(optional)
22. Small quick-drying towel
23. Cold medicine
24. Sore-through medicine
25. Headache medicine
26. High altitude medicine
27. Antibiotic
28. Amoxicillin
29. Gauyuan An- very good high-altitude medicine made in Tibet
30. Antibioaxy blister Pads,
31. Under wrap,
32. Wrist brace,
33. Knee brace,

It is very important to choose a unique and up to date Kangshung face basecamp trekking program otherwise your trek will be destroyed completely and will not enjoy the trek so here are our latest Kangshung face trek. You can see day to day programs below.

Days	Trip Outline	Daily Activity	Accommodation	Guide & Driver	Meal
1/May 12/2022	Arrival in Lhasa	Airport and then downtown to Lhasa	Lubhum Tsang Boutique Hotel in Lhasa	Local English	BB
2/May 13/2022	Lhasa Sightseeing	Potala Palace, Jokang, Bharkor	Lubhum Tsang Boutique Hotel in Lhasa	Local English	BB
3/May 14/2022	Lhasa Sightseeing	Drepung & Sera monasteries	Lubhum Tsang Boutique Hotel in Lhasa	Local English	BB
4/May 15/2022	Lhasa-Gyantse	Yamdrok lake-Karola glacier-Palchoe	Yuthok Hotel in Gyantse	Local English	BB
5/May 16/2022	Gyantse-Shiagtse-Sakya	Tashi Lhunpo & Sakya	Yuanfu Hotel in Shigatse	Local English	BB
6/May 17/2022	Sakya-Kartha-Yulok	Mountain pass & Himalayan view	Camp	Local English	BLD
7/May 18/2022	Trek Yulok-Dhampu	Farmers, Tenzin Norgye village	Camp	Local English	BLD
8/May 19/2022	Trek Shaotso-Metok Sechen	Shao pass-Makalu view-Shao lake	Camp	Local English	BLD
9/May 20/2022	Trek Zoksham-Tsonak-Thangsum	Nomad camp-Lhotse-Makalu view	Camp	Local English	BLD
10/May 21/2022	Trek Thangsum-Pethang	Closer view of Lhotse-Makalu-Everest	Camp	Local English	BLD
11/May 22/2022	Trek Pethang Ringmo	East Everest Base Camp glacier	Camp	Local English	BLD
12/May 23/2022	Explore Everest Base Camp glacierEverest Base Camp glacier	Everest Base Camp glacier	Camp	Local English	BLD
13/May 24/2022	Trek Tso Shurima	Khartapuri mountain view	Camp	Local English	BLD
14/May 25/2022	Trek Langma la-Shomaling-Rongbuk	Langma pass-Lhotse-Makalu view	Guest house in Rongbuk	Local English	BLD
15/May 26/2022	Rongbuk-Lhatse-Shigatse	Rongbuk monastery-Everest view-Shigatse	Gesar Hotel or similar	Local English	BL
16/May 27/2022	Drive-Shigatse-Lhasa	Shitse-Yarlung river	Lubhum Tsang Boutique Hotel in Lhasa	Local English	Local English
17/May 28/2022	Drive to Gongkar airport	Yarlung river-Gonagkar village	End the Tibet trek

TRIP LAND COST:

25768RMB PER PERSON ON LAND COST

SINGLE SUPPLEMENT=1899RMB

INCLUSIVE

• Accommodation as mentioned in the program on twin sharing basis,
• All necessary Tibet entry and road permits,
• 1 Local Tibetan English speaking guide,
• Transportation by good conditioned mini van or bus according to the group size and one support truck
• All entry fees to the sites and monasteries,
• Everest conservation fee for all members, guide and vehicle,
• Everest base camp conservation fee for all members and guide
• Kartha valley conservation fee
• BB inside the hotel and full board during the camp,
• All camping equipment’s except sleeping bags,
• All camping fees,
• Cook and assistant with all utensils,
• Different kinds of snack like biscuit, cheese, dried and fresh fruit during the camp,
• Pack Yak and Yak men for the trek
• Oxygen in the vehicle and during the trek incase needed.

EXCLUSIVE

• Travel insurance including trip cancellation and emergency evacuation
• Expenses of a personal nature (alcoholic beverages, laundry, phone call, etc.);
• International and domestic flight/train tickets.
• Lunch and Dinner in the hotels,
• Sleeping bags,
• Tips for the guide and driver,
• Any extra cost in the event of landslides or any other personal nature expenses that are not mentioned above
• (Note: We can help you to book your flight or train tickets, especially domestic ones);

 

Tibet tour-Nyingtri

Two days trip to Nang county, known as Langxian in Chinese . It is the time to take two days trip to Nang county (langxian ) from Lhasa after the train between Lhasa and Nyingtri has been operated since 1^st July 2021. It is a great news to share with all our friends around the world that around more than 400km distance of Sichuan Tibet highway train has already been finished and for the tourists from around the world will have more choices of their traveling schedule in Tibet. In around 5-6 years, the train between Lhasa and Chengdu will be completed and the traveling time from Chengdu to Lhasa is around 13 hours so it will make very easy to travel to Lhasa by then.

Prior to the train between Lhasa and Nyingtri, the only option to travel to Nang county is that either you take a car from Lhasa to Nyingtri and then a loop tour to Nang county or driving from Nyingtri to Nang county but now it is much easier than before and it will only take around 2 hours train ride from Lhasa to Nang county and the scenery from the train is very beautiful.

The train station of Nang county is only around 1Km distance from the county seat and the road condition is very good. The elevation of the Nang county seat is around 3200mts above sea level which is much lower than Lhasa. Since the county seat is located at the bank of Bramaputra river and surrounded by many forest, glaciers, lakes and grasslands so there is full of oxygen in the county seat.

In the olden days, Nang county was one of the most important and sacred place for Tibetans as the great thirteenth Dalai Lama was born in Nang county. The family of the thirteenth Dalai Lama was called Tahkpo Langdun which is located to southwest of the present county seat at the distance of around 25km. The road condition is very good and after around half an hour drive along the Bramaputra river, you will reach the birth place of the thirteenth the Dalai Lama.

The place where the thirteenth Dalai Lama was born is called Trungkang in Tibetan which means, the birth home of the 13th Dalai Lama or Trungkang Manor. Nowadays, you can still see the main building of the Trungkang manor such as the reception rooms, family chapels, assembly halls, store rooms, kitchens, guest rooms etc. There are also many relics inside the Trungkang manor that has more than hundred years of history.

Near by the Trungkang manor, there are several huge wall nut trees and most of them have more than a thousand years history. Among them, one of the walnut tree has more than 2000 years history and in 2012, this walnut tree used to have 2000Kg of walnut which is a record in the history.

The place where the Trungkang manor is extremely beautiful as it is surrounded by a beautiful village, located nearby the Bramaputra river, it is full of beautiful walnut tree and the mountain. The Trungkang manor is said to be located on an elephant trunk like a mountain. The people in the villages are very friendly and there is one old man who is 78 years old this year. He is a relative to the thirteenth Dalai Lama and he used to save all the antiques during the cultural revolution and offered them to the manor for free which we can see in the manor today.

Take lunch in the Trungkang manor and then drive back to the Nang county seat. On the way, you will be visiting Parhoede monastery, located in Dolpa village of Nang town and Being on an elephant-trunk-like mountain on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river and it is the largest monastery in Nyingtri region.

From Nang county seat, you will drive to Bobo Nang glacier at the distance of 51km. You will drive around 35km from Nang county towards Miling county and then drive in the narrow and dense forest gorge at the distance of 16km. Eventhough the road condition is not good, the scenery is extremely beautiful. You will be driving through the primeval forest and beautiful water full, later a beautiful landscape of the pasture land surrounded by Yak and nomads. After around one hour drive, you will finally reach Bobo Nang glacier which is extremely beautiful and besides, the water fall of the glacier and the small lake in front of the glacier is tremendously beautiful. Eventhough the base camp of the glacier is above 4600mts but your body works and feel better than you are in the high altitude of over 3000mts as it is full of oxygen nearby the glacier. The group must be very happy to see the glacier and the water fall. You can do around half an hour trek from the car parking to the waterfall of the glacier and if you had more time, you can even hike on the rocky hill near by the water fall in order to step on the ice of the glacier which might take an hour to hike up but it will be a challenging and interesting hike. Continue your two days trip to Nang county and drive back to Nang county after the glacier.

The next day after the breakfast, you can continue the two days trip to Nang county and drive from Nang county to Renpuk holy water and Takpo Sherig snow mountain which is at the distance of around 90km distance. You will drive from Nang county towards Miling county at the distance of around 55km until you reach Jindong township and from Jindong township, you will take the national 219 highway. From there, you will drive around 14km until you leave the 219 National highway. From the junction to the Renpuk holy water is 41km distance. On the way, you will see some beautiful Tibetan villages and most of those villages live on little bit of farming, Nomading and depending on herbal medicine that they can sell.

The Renpuk holy water comes from the glacier of Takpo Sherig snow mountain and the local people told us that on 15th of the fifth Lunar month of the Tibetan calendar, the water becomes into milk color and it is very sweat and soft if you drink so the local people consider it as a very holy water. There is a small beautiful lake that also comes from the glacier of the Takpo Sherig snow mountain. When the weather is nice, the scenery is extremely beautiful.

After visiting Takpo Sherig snow mountain and Renpuk holy water, you will be driving back to Nang county.

If you had time enough, you can continue two days trip to Nang county and drive to Gagong gorge which is at the distance of around 35km from Nang county. The gorge is very beautiful with it’s primeval forest, beautiful pasture land, nomad camp, snow mountains and gorges waterfall. You can spend around half day in Gagong gorge and enjoy your day in the beautiful nature.

A day trip to Chubzang nunnery – Tibet hiking-Tibet trekking

If you had more days to stay in Lhasa, a day trip to Chubzang nunnery is a great choice of your day trip. Chubzang nunnery is located to the north side of Lhasa city between Pabongka temple and Sera monastery. Chubsang nunnery has a long history dates back to the time of the 5^th Dalai Lama in the 17^th century.

Chubzang nunnery was built in 17^th century by Trinlei Gyatso who was one of the most important students of the fifth Dalai Lama. The nunnery was originally built as a hermitage and Trinlei Gyatso also invited the fifth Dalai Lama to bless the hermitage. When the fifth Dalai Lama came to Chubzang nunnery, the site was completely blessed and treasured by the fifth Dalai Lama and discovered a self-risen stone image of the Buddha and you can even see this image in Chubzang nunnery today.

There is very important relics that you can see during a day trip to Chubzang nunnery is that the self-risen stone image of the Buddha is the most important relics of Chubzang nunnery and Tibetans from thousand miles come to visit Chubzang nunnery because of this sacred image. People believe that they will fulfill their praying and wishes if you go to visit and pray to this sacred image. Chubzang hermitage was originally built for 8 monks and later it was expended to 18 monks who came originally from Sera monastery. Chubzang nunnery was converted into exclusive nunnery since 1984 and nowadays, there are more than hundred nuns. They are all practicing Gelukpa sect religion.

Taking a day trip to Chubzang nunnery is very much recommended, especially if you like to take a short hiking around Lhasa city during your Tibet and the most important thing is if you like to talk with nuns by sharing their daily lives experience. You can start the trip from your hotel by around 9.30, slowly driving to Pabongka temple which takes around 20 minutes drive. You will be visiting Pabongka temple. Pabongka temple was built by the 33^rd King of Tibet called Songtsan Gampo who was one of the most important kings of Tibet who built the Jokang temple, Ramoche temple, created Tibetan own writing, invited two very sacred images of Buddha Shakyamuni, the one which is inside the Jokang temple today and another one is in Ramoche temple.

Pabongka was originally a hermitage for the Tibetan King Songtsan Gampo and later it was converted into small temple where it has some small chapels, dedicated to some of the sacred images of Buddha, Tibetan King Songtsan Gampo. There are around 20 monks nowadays and Pabongka is the branch monastery of Sera monastery. After spending around one hour visit in Pabongka temple, you will trek down to Chubzang nunnery which takes you around 30 minutes. Visit the main assembly hall of Chubzang nunnery and the small temple where the most sacred sel-risen stone Buddha image. After visiting those two most important temples, you can take a rest in Chubzang nunnery’s restaurant and have some tea.

After having tea, continue a day trip to Chubzang nunnery and you can visit one of the nun’s rooms, exchange the live experience of the Tibetan nuns, how they study the Tibetan Buddhism and how they spend their daily lives in the nunnery. While you are visiting the nun’s room, you are recommended to offer some fruit to the nuns as it is kind of Tibetan tradition. Of course the nuns will pray for the peace of the world and for the well-beings of your family. Visiting nuns and talking with them is one of the most authentic experience during your Tibet trip.

You will have lunch in the nunnery’s restaurant for a day trip to Chubzang nunnery. They have menu of fried rice, noodle soup, Tibetan momo, both veg and meat momo, rice with different vegetables.

Continue a day trip to Chubzang nunnery and trek to Sera monastery which takes 40 minutes to reach Sera monastery. You will visit the main assembly hall of Sera monastery and the most important thing that you can see in Sera monastery is the monks debating. You can go into the courtyard of the debating area and listen to the monks while they are debating. You can also ask your guide the meaning of the monks’ debating which is very interesting.

After visiting the Sera monastery, continue your day trip to Chubzang nunnery and drive back to your hotel. If you had more time stay in Lhasa during your Tibet tour, we can arrange you different kinds of unique Tibet day tours around Lhasa with some authentic experience of your Tibetan trip.

Lhasa private Tibet tours

Since Tibet was opened to the foreign tourists who live in mainland China after the pandemic, there are more and more tourists who are requesting Lhasa private tour. Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet and it is the head quarter of Tibet Autonomous Region where the most important government offices of Tibet Autonomous Region are located. Lhasa is also called a sunny city as Lhasa city shines the sun very brightly in most period of the time of the year.

Lhasa is located in the center of the Tibetan high plateau and the Northside of the Himalayan Mountain at the elevation of 3650mts above sea level. The present city is located at the shore of the Kyichu river is one of the biggest tributary of Brahmaputra river, known as Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan which starts from Mt Kailash in the western part of Tibet, flows through the western plateau of Ngari and Shigatse regions, through the Yarlung valley, Nyingtri, the eastern forest region of Tibet and finally it goes into India.

Originally, Lhasa was a small city with the Potala Palace to the west end gate of the city and Jokang temple to the center of the city and the Mosque next to the Jokang temple was located to the east end gate of the city but nowadays, the city was expended to a larger size of around 20km distance to the east side and around 20Km distance to the west side as well as around 10Km distance wider to the north side and around 8km distance wider to the south side so there are many more things to see during your Lhasa private tour.

The Lhasa private tour can take you to visit the Potala Palace, one of the seven wonders of the world and it is the most important religious center of Tibetan people. From point of the tourists, no matter domestic or foreign tourists, the Potala Palace is a must visit site when they take Lhasa private tour. Another most important place that you can visit during your Lhasa private tour is the Jokang temple which is registered as the UNESCO world heritage site and it is believed to be one of the most sacred temple in Tibet as there is a very holy statue of Buddha Shakya Muni who was the founder of the Buddhism. The statue is believed to be built according to the 12 years old of the Buddha when the Buddha was alive with more than 2500 years history so the Jokang temple is a must visit site no matter whether you are a domestic or foreign tourists. Walking around the Bharkor Bazzar is another very interesting place to go as you see many Tibetans walking around the temple, prostrating around the temple by wearing different kinds of colorful Tibetan traditional clothes. Bharkor Bazzar is also the right place to buy the souvenir from Tibet.

If you are interested in learning more about Tibetan Buddhism, then you can visit Drepung and Sera monasteries, the largest monasteries in the olden days, Ramoche temple and other small monasteries around Lhasa including Muru Nyingpa monastery, Kundeling monastery, thousand Buddha caves, Pabongka temple etc. When you take Lhasa private tour, if you like to visit more modern cities of Lhasa, then you can go to visit the Liwu newly developed city which is located to the south bank of Lhasa River, Tsochokling also located to the south bank of Lhasa city, dominated by the live show theater of the Princess Wencheng of the Tang court which is directly facing towards the Potala Palace. You can also visit a very sacred and historical monastery called Tsechokling monastery and if you want to visit the schools in Lhasa, then you can go to newly developed city, dominated by all the schools and education bureau which is located to the eastern part of the Lhasa city.

Apart from seeing temples, monasteries during your Lhasa private tour, you can also have a day trip to some of the villages around Lhasa city. During the summer time, Tibetans like to go out of Lhasa city and find a nice meadow or small grassland where there is water to have picnic so there are many places around Lhasa city that you can have picnic. One of the recommended places to go to have picnic with local people is the Taktse Painam valley which is located to the east of Lhasa city at the distance of around 25km from Lhasa city. The road condition is very good and the scenery on the way is very beautiful. You will pass by many beautiful Tibetan villages, trees, beautiful barley field, stream water flow, Tibetan Yak, nomad camp and some of the wild lives. It is very interesting to go to have picnic with local Tibetan people. Once you reach there, you can talk with Tibetan people, you can share the live experience with Tibetan people, you can share the food with Tibetan people, you can play dice in the tent with local Tibetan so it is an authentic Tibetan experience during your Lhasa private tour.

If you like a short hiking and trekking during your Lhasa private tour, what you can do is to plan a day trip to Taktse Painam valley as there is a very beautiful nomadic valley, dominated by beautiful green grassland, stream water fall, beautiful Tibetan prayer flags and the black Tibetan nomad tent. Once you reach the nomadic camp, you can do around 4 hours hiking in the valley near the stream which is extremely beautiful. On the way, you can see Tibetan Yak, Sheep, and wild animals if you are lucky enough. In the nomadic area, you can experience the Tibetan nomad lives such as how to milk the Yak, how to make Yogurt, how to make butter etc, how to ride Yak, how to ride horse etc. It is another extremely beautiful authentic experience.

If you want to take a longer day excursion around Lhasa city during your Lhasa private tour, you can take a day trip to Ganden monastery which is the mother monastery of Yellow hat school and it has more than 600 hundred years history. On the way, you can visit Dark Yerpa cave that has more than 1300 year’s history. Another day trip that you can take is a day trip to Tsurphu monastery at the distance of around 60km from Lhasa, Tsurphu monastery is the mother monastery of Kagyupa sect in Tibetan Buddhism and it is also the seat of Karmapa, the first reincarnation of the Tibetan Lama.

If you want to visit some natural scenic spots, we recommend you to take a day trip to Yamdrok lake which is at the distance of around 100km from Lhasa and on the way, you can see beautiful Tibetan villages, Tibetan farmers life experience, the most beautiful Yamdrok lake with around eleven different kinds of arms. One of the most beautiful arms of the Yamdrok lake is located to the eastern part of Yamdrok lake where you can directly drive to the lake from Gongkar airport through a pass called Tsayul la pass. This is a newly built road, finished in 2020 and the scenery from the top of the pass is extremely different than the scenery of the Yamdrok lake that you can see from the top of Kampala pass where all the tourists go. The beautiful lake, dominated by the snow capped mountain around the Yamdrok lake including Kurla Gangri Snow Mountain which is the border between China Tibet and Bhutan. Another longer distant day trip is to Namtso lake which is at the distance of 250km from Lhasa. Namtso lake is one of the four largest lakes in Tibet and it is another very beautiful lake in Tibet. The road condition from Lhasa to Namtso lake is good and on the way, you can see beautiful view of Nyenchen Thangla mountain range and some of the most beautiful landscape of Tibetan nomad camp and their Yak and Sheep.

Tibet travel permit & China visa

After one and half year’s closure, Tibet officially has been opened to the foreigners who live in mainland China so now you can apply for the Tibet travel permit and China visa through the local Tibetan travel agent which has been officially recognized by the China National Tourism Bureau and Tibet Tourism Bureau so make sure that you will find the right Tibetan travel agent to get all your necessary Tibet travel permits and arrange the best Tibet trip.
Since the pandemic has begun around the world, Tibet has remained close to the foreign tourists for more than year and half even though Tibet does not have a single case of the Covid 19 from the local community. The reason Tibet has remained close is because the Tibet Autonomous Region wanted to have the best security and safety for the Tibetan people during this bad pandemic. Through a great effort and hard work of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet indeed has gained a great result of avoiding from the Covid 19 and all the people in Tibet can move around in a normal way like before the pandemic and enjoying the lives as before.
At the same time, the Chinese government could control the Covid 19 in a very short period of time and last year from around the beginning of June, Tibet has started receiving domestic tourists and there was not a single case happened in Tibet from the domestic tourists since June 2020 so through this good result, Tibet recently has officially opened to foreigners who work or live in mainland China or the foreigners who stayed in mainland China for more than 28 days but as usual, you always need Tibet travel permit and China visa to enter Tibet.
To travel to Tibet, first of all, you need China visa that can be a China tourist visa, working visa or a business visa, all those three types of visa are fine to visit Tibet. Mostly, the foreigners who live in mainland China might be a business man or an employer in a company so to make Tibet travel permit, you need a China working or business visa and with this, you also need to prepare an introduction letter from your company or work unit that includes a short introduction of yourself such as how long you have been working in China, your position in the company, what profession you are working for etc with the stamp of a company and signature of the company head officer.
Up on above those two documents, you also need to provide nucleic acid and QR test report. Once your local Tibetan travel agent get those three documents, they will start applying for your Tibet travel permit. To make Tibet travel permit, it takes around two weeks but it also depends on where you are traveling in Tibet. If you travel to the central part of Tibet, you will only need around two weeks of applying for your Tibet travel permits. If you are traveling to the western or the eastern forest region of Tibet, then it takes around three weeks to finish the Tibet travel permit.
When you enter Tibet, not matter from which parts of the cities you enter Tibet, you always need Tibet travel permit and China visa to show. The security at the airport or train station always ask you to show the Tibet travel permit and China visa when you board the flight or train. Make sure that you will have the original Tibet travel permit and China visa otherwise the copy of the Tibet travel permit or China visa does not work so it is very important to tell your Tibetan travel agent to send you the original Tibet travel permit to you before you start coming to Tibet.
Another important thing is that you also need to ask your Tibetan travel agent to help you book your flight tickets because usually, without the original Tibet travel permit and China visa, you cannot book the flight ticket or train ticket to Tibet. Once you arrive in Tibet, what you need to do is you will give your Tibet travel permit to your local Tibetan guide who will take care of your Tibet travel permit and if you are traveling outside of Lhasa, you need to give your Tibet travel permit and China visa to your local Tibetan travel agent to make another travel permit called Aliens permit. Without this permit, you can not travel to the restricted area of Tibet.
Can you take train in Tibet?
Recently, we were also asked by some of our customers whether they can travel on the train once they are in Tibet. Our answer to this question is that you can travel on train in Tibet but sofar, we only have one train from Lhasa to Shigatse and to board the train from Lhasa to Shigatse, you need a tour guide to accompany with you. In the near future, there will be train from Lhasa to Nyingtri, the eastern forest region of Tibet and it will be a beautiful train ride from Lhasa to Nyingtri.
Can you travel to Everest Base Camp?
Many tourists are still in doubt whether they can travel to Mt Everest base camp, they are thinking there might have a new rule and regulation on traveling to Mt Everest basecamp? As long as you get Tibet travel permit and China visa, the rule and regulation to visit Everest Base Camp is still the same and you can easily travel to Everest base camp. The only the change is that the Everest base camp is a little longer distance than before from Rongbuk monastery since you can not walk all the way to the old Everest Base Camp but you can still go to the new Everest Base Camp and still get the best view of the Mt Everest from the new Everest base camp.
Can you go to Mt Kailash?
As long as you had Tibet travel permit and China visa, you can go to Mt Kailash as usual which means once you arrive in Lhasa, you are required to get another permit for Mt Kailash with your original passport. Once you get this new permit, you can travel to Mt Kailash easily with your Tibetan tour guide. If you go to Mt Kailash, the most important thing is to book the hotel in advance as most of the hotels or guest houses in Dharchen were completely destroyed and there is a huge construction undertaking so you need to make sure with your local Tibetan travel agent to book the hotel in advance as there is only one hotel available at the moment.
Can you travel to Nepal border?
Since the situation of the Covid 19 is getting worse in Nepal, at the moment, you are not recommended to travel to Kyirong border as it is a very close place to Nepal and it has become one of the most important place to be watched and controlled in order to make sure that the Covid 19 will not enter from Nepal.
How can a tourist from Maccau or Hongkong travel to Tibet?
If you are staying in Maccau or Hongkong now and planning to travel to Tibet, you need to stay at least around 28 days in mainland China so unless you had something to do in mainland China, it is not recommended to plan to travel to Tibet at this period of time because it is a boring time to wait for 28 days in mainland China. If you had something to do in mainland China, no matter whether you are traveling around or working, it is worthy to wait and plan to travel to Tibet. If you are planning to travel to Tibet only through mainland China by this time, we recommend to plan your trip after the Covid 19 is over so that you can directly fly from Maccau or Hongkong to Chengdu and from Chengdu to Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet in one day if you had your Tibet travel permit and China visa.

Things to do in Tibet Tours

There are so many good things to do in Tibet apart from normal Tibet tour packages or Tibet trekking tours. Usually, there are lots of monasteries and temples in your Tibet trip packages when the local Tibetan travel agent offers you a Tibet travel package but many of them missed to create a new Tibet tour programs or offer you some authentic Tibet travel tours.

Tibet Shambhala Adventure always tries our best to have some authentic activities or excursion during your Tibet trip. Here we have explored the 13 best things to do in Tibet in the following and they are all very interesting to include in your Tibet trips.

Dinner with Tibetan Momo cooking class after the sightseeing tour in Lhasa

After finishing Sera monastery’s sightseeing, you will join the team who is going to learn how to make Tibetan Momo in a typical local Tibetan restaurant called Lubhum Tsang, owned by a Tibetan family. Eventhough you can see Momo in other parts of the Himalayan region such as Nepal, Bhutan, India or even in the western countries but the origin of the Momo comes from Tibet so you should not miss to have authentic taste of the Tibetan Momo in Lhasa during your Tibet trip.

The momo making process starts with preparing the dough that will be used as the cover for the veg or non-veg filling inside. With the dough prepared, you will move on to adding various condiments and sliced vegetables to the minced meat before proceeding to mix them all up with your hand. The next step is perhaps the most challenging and fun part of making momos, you will now have to fold the momos to have it ready for steaming! It doesn’t matter so much if you don’t get the shape right, but you have to take particular note to ensure that the momo is sealed properly from all sides to ensure the flavour stays trapped in.

• Tour to a Tibetan traditional night club, known as Nangma

During one of the nights in Lhasa or Shigatse, we recommend you to try for a Tibetan traditional night club. It is interesting to go to a Tibetan traditional night club called Nangma. Nangma is a different club than other night clubs in Lhasa because in Nangma, from around 9.30-11.30, they perform different kinds of Tibetan traditional dances, Tibetan opera performance, Tibetan cross-talk, Tibetan Yak Dancing etc. They serve different kinds of local beer, such as Lhasa beer, Barley beer, and many other different kinds of beer, mineral water, coke, Pepsi, Sprite, Jasmine tea etc. You can ask local Tibetan people to dance with you just to have an authentic experience of your Tibet trip. This is one of the best things to do in Tibet during you Tibet trip if your fellow members are young and active.

• Visiting Princess Wencheng’s live show

Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty was in the 7^th century when the 33^rd Tibetan King, called Songtsan Gampo, invited the Princess and married her. She came to Tibet with her dowry which is the most sacred statue of Buddha Skakyamuni, housed in the Jokang temple in the present day.

The live show of the Princess Wencheng includes songs of the Tang Dynasty and different kinds of Tibetan traditional dances and Tibetan opera. They also have real Yak Dancing and a huge live show screen. It is the most interesting and largest live show in Tibet. It is located in Tsechokling which is at the south side of Lhasa river, facing directly towards the Potala Palace so you can also enjoy a great view of the Potala Palace in the beautiful light and the night view of the whole Lhasa city in the distance. If you already had Jokang temple and Bharkor Bazzar in your Tibet travel program, it is recommended to include this show as this show describes a very detailed story of how the Image of Buddha Shakyamuni brought to Tibet and how the Jokang temple was built so make sure not to miss one of these things to do in Tibet during your Tibet travel.

• Dinner with Tibetan traditional show

During your Tibet trip, it is worthy to test Tibetan meals. We can arrange you a typical Tibetan restaurant which serves different kinds of Tibetan meals including Tibetan Momo, Tibetan traditional bread, Tibetan traditional soup, different kinds of Tibetan traditional vegetables, fried yak meat, Tsampa which is the most Tibetan traditional meal, made up of Barley which grows entire Tibetan farming regions. You can also try Tibetan butter tea, sweat tea, Tibetan barley beer etc.

After the dinner, the restaurant arranges different kinds of Tibetan traditional dances, songs and Yak dance which gives you a real authentic experience of your Tibet trip.

• A day excursion to Langthang Dewachen and visit a Tibetan family.

One of the most important things to do in Tibet during your Tibet tour is to visit a Tibetan family. Eventhough you can see lots of Tibetan villages and families during your Tibet tour but it is very important to visit a good Tibetan family in a village surrounded by beautiful landscape with a historical cultural back ground.

You take a day excursion to Langthang Dewachen village which is located to the southern part of Lhasa city at the distance of around 90km from Lhasa. This beautiful Tibet day trip takes you from Lhasa to Langthang Dewachen village through Lhasa Gongkar airport and Jideshol village. From Jideshol village, you will take on the right and drive through Namgyelshol village and then to Langthang Dewachen valley.

Langthang Dewachen village has more than thousand years history and the name of the village was given by Atisha who came to Tibet from India in the 11^th century and he restored the Tibetan Buddhism which had been badly destroyed during the second last king of Tibet called Lang Dharma. The valley of Langthang Dewachen is extremely beautiful. It is very green, beautiful fields, beautiful Tibetan villages and their traditional houses with colorful prayer flags, the monastery of Bumthang, also built in the 11^th century but the present shape of the monastery was built after the cultural revolution.  During this Tibet day trip, you will visit three monasteries including Duphoe Choekor monastery, Songropling monastery and Bumthang monastery.

You will visit a Tibetan family in Langthang Dewachen and have lunch in the Tibetan family. It is very interesting to visit a Tibetan family as you can see how Tibetan farmers house is and what kind of furniture they have, how many houses in a family usually have and how do they sleep and what kind of food they usually eat in their family so it is totally an authentic Tibet travel experience that you can try during your Tibet tour.  

• A Day excursion to a nomad camp and back to Lhasa

Nomad is the ancestors of Tibet and it is the historical source of Tibet. Visiting a Tibetan nomad camp and experience their life is one of the best things to do in Tibet during your Tibet travel.

After breakfast, you will be driving to Taktse Penam town at the distance of half an hour drive from Lhasa, you will enjoy a beautiful drive along the villages and their beautiful field where they grow barley, wheat, potatoes, Radish etc. You will be reaching the Penam nomad camp and served tea and snack by our cooking team. Then you will have some activities at the camp site that they will teach you how to print Tibetan prayer flag and will provide you the printing board and cloth for printing for free, after you print the prayer flag, you can either take it as souvenir or use it as prayer flag and raise it in the mountain near the nomad camp.

After that, they will also lend you Tibetan traditional clothes for free and you can take photos in Tibetan traditional clothes if you like to. After that, you will also visit a nomad camp to experience how the Tibetan nomad live in the traditional nomadic camp life and have fresh organic Yogurt from the camp.

You will have lunch at the nomad camp with Tibetan nomad in their traditional black nomad tent After lunch, you will hike for around 2 hours up to the valley where you can meet the trail from Ganden to Samye monastery by trekking. If you like to ride Yak, then there will be extra cost of 55$ per Yak and Yak man for half day. Late afternoon, You will drive back to Lhasa.   

• A day excursion to Namtso Lake

If your trip does not include Namtso lake, you can spend more time in Lhasa and a day excursion to Namtso lake is one of the best things to do in Tibet during your Tibet tour.

After early breakfast, you will start your journey from Lhasa and drive along the Qinghai Tibet highway at the distance of 250km distance. On the way, you will enjoy a beautiful view of Nyenchen Thangla snow mountain which is the highest snow mountain around Lhasa and beautiful nomad camps with their flocks of Yak and sheep, grazing on the beautiful grassland.

Crossing Lagan La pass at the elevation of 5000mt above sea level. From the top of the pass, you can see the east side of the Namtso lake and Tashido Hermitage in the distance in the west. Continue one more hour drive, you will reach Namtso lake and Tashido hermitage. Walk around Tashido hermiate along the lake shore and enjoy the most beautiful part of the Namtso lake and Nyenchen Thangla snow mountain. At the same time, visit some sacred caves and hermitages around Tashido. Afternoon, drive back to Lhasa which takes you around 4 hours with speed limit.

NAMTSO LAKE is at (4,700Meters) is one of the biggest lakes in Tibet and is 70Km long and 30Km wide. The landscape is dominated by the snow peak of Nyenchen Thangla to the south west of the lake. Tashi Do hermitage stands on a promontory with more than 50 small caves including some small chapels. Pilgrims do a half hour walk (kora) around Tashi Do hermitage.

A day excursion to Yamdrok lake

Yamdrok lake is huge and it has 11 different arms that goes around entire Yamdrok region of the southern part of Tibet, starting from the border Tsome county located to the east of Yamdrok lake and ending from the border nearby Bhutan in the west so a day excursion to Yamdrok lake is one of the best things to do in Tibet during your Tibet travel.

Usually, all the tourists visit one of the arms of the Yamdrok lake which is located to the foot of Kampala pass nearby the road to Gyantse and Shigatse but Tibet Shambhala Adventure explored a new day excursion route to Yamdrok lake that is the eastern arm of Yamdrok lake. The distance from Lhasa to the eastern Yamdrok lake is around 120Km distance only and the road condition is very good so it will only take you around 2 hours drive by traveling through Tsayul La pass at the elevation of around 5000m. From the top of the pass, you will see the entire eastern part of Yamdrok lake that is extremely beautiful.

You will travel to Yamdrok lake differently where there are beautiful Tibetan villages, monastery in the island, beautiful grassland nearby the lake, flock of Yak and sheep, grazing on the beautiful grassland along the lake. You can see beautiful Tibetan villages and hardly see other tourists with you around the lake. The people in the villages nearby the lake are very friendly and very traditional. They are very keen and happy to see foreign tourists since they have never seen different looking people before.

Two hours walk along the Yamdrok lake is very beautiful and very interesting. You will walk along the lake and enjoy walking along the shore of beautiful Yamdrok lake, having a great view of Noejing Kangsang snow mountain and wild lives on the mountains connecting to the lake.

• Visiting a Tibetan Thangka art Gallery

One of the best things to do in Tibet is to visit a Tibetan Thangka art Gallery. During your Lhasa sightseeing tour, instead of visiting a lot of monasteries, one afternoon, is recommend to visit a Thangka art Gallery in Bharkor Bazzar of the old section of the Lhasa city. Thangka is a very important cultural relics of Tibetan people which not only shows the art and culture of Tibet but also tells the history of Tibet.

Thangka (Thang-ga) is also called Tangga. It is a transliteration of Tibetan. It refers to religious scroll paintings that are mounted on colored satin and hung for worship. Thangka is a unique painting art form in Tibetan culture which involves Tibetan history, politics, culture, and social life. Most of the handed down thangkas are works of Tibetan Buddhism.

Thangka is a unique painting art form in Tibetan culture with distinctive national characteristics, strong religious colors and unique artistic styles, it uses bright colors to depict the world of the sacred Buddha; traditionally all the paints are in gold, silver, pearls, agate, coral, turquoise, malachite, and cinnabar. Such precious mineral gems and plants as saffron, rhubarb, and blue indigo are used as pigments to show their sacredness to build Thangka of a Buddha image. These natural raw materials ensure that the painted Thangka is bright and dazzling, even though it has been painted for hundreds of years, it is still bright. Therefore, it is known as the treasure of Tibetan painting art.

Tibetan traditional Thangka drawing has strict requirements and extremely complicated procedures. It must be carried out in accordance with the rituals in the scriptures and the instruction of the Guru, including pre-painting rituals, canvas making, composition drafting, coloring and dyeing, line drawing, laying gold and silver, opening eyes of the image etc. It takes half a year to complete a good Thangka or even more than ten years to make a long one.

Visiting a day excursion to Nyenmo county to see how the Tibetan incense is made of

Visiting a Tibetan incense factory is one of the best things to do in Tibet during your Tibet trip. Nyenmo county is located to the west of Lhasa city at the distance of around 100km. Nyenmo county is a very famous place which is the birth place of Tonmi Sambota, one of the most famous ministers of the 33^rd king of Tibet called Songtsan Gampo. Sambota was born in the 7^th century and went to India to study Sanskrit. He created Tibetan script based on Sanskrit and it is also believed that Sambota created incense and offered them to the images of Buddha Shakyamuni that were brought to Tibet in the 7^th century. The Ton village is the birth place of Sambota in Nyenmo county and there is a very historical incense factory in Ton village.

You can visit the Incense factory in the Ton village and interact with the staffs of the factory and learn how to make the incense. They will teach you how to make a Tibetan incense and finally you can make a Tibetan incense by yourself and take them with you to your home so it will be a very interesting day trip and it is completely an authentic experience of your Tibet tour.

Tibetan incense is mostly used for Buddhist sacrificial activities, and a small amount of it is used to ward off evil spirits. The process of producing incense contains the essence of Tibetan culture and the main ingredients are saffron, snow lotus, musk, Tibetan kou and so on.

The Tibetan incense is also produced under the guidance of Tibetan medicine, that Sambota meticulously developed the art of making incense by hand water milling and it also has a great function of preventing infectious disease. In 2004, Tibetan incense was widely used in the whole China during Sars to prevent from spreading disease since then Tibetan incense has become more popular than before. The above 10 best things to do in Tibet are available if you consult with Tibet Shambhala Adventure.

 

Yunnan to Lhasa overland tour – Shangrila to Lhasa overland tour

Yunnan to Tibet overland tour via taking two different kinds of National Highways and for how many National Highways we can get Tibet permits?

There are three main National Highways that the foreign tourists can get Tibet permits to drive through which are G214, G318 and Qinghai Tibetan Highways. There is a good news that Tibet Autonomous Region is going to open G219 National Highway to foreign tourists soon which has another extremely beautiful scenery and the landscape. 

So-far the best Tibet overland tour is Yunnan to Tibet overland tour which starts in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan province which has lots of different ethnic groups of China including a pretty large numbers of Tibetans in Shangrila.

Is it allowed for foreign tourists to drive to Tibet from Yunnan via taking G214 and G318 National Highway?

Yunnan to Tibet overland tour is a long journey overland tour via G214 and G318 National Highway. Since 2019, this beautiful Tibet overland tour was opened to foreign tourists again and this beautiful Tibet overland tour can be started from Kunming which has lots of international flights or you can fly to Kunming and from Kunming continue connecting a flight to Dali or Shangrila and from there you can start your self-driving tour in Tibet or you can ask your local Tibetan tour operator to arrange vehicle for you waiting in Shangrila or Dali.

If you like to see more ethnic groups during your self-driving tour in Tibet, it is recommended to start the trip to Tibet from Kunming by following G214 until you reach Deqin county, one of the biggest and most famous counties in Shangrila city of Yunnan province because of Kawa Karpo snow mountain, located in Deqin county.

From where G318 National Highway is started and where it is ended and what is the total distance of G318?

From Deqin county, you will meet G318 high way. The starting point of G318 National Highway is People’s Square in Huangpu Du District, Shanghai and the ending point is the Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge in Dzangmu border, Nyalam county of Shigatse city. The total distance of G318 National Highway is 5476Km distance. If you start the self-driving tour from Shanghai all the way to Dzangmu border in Tibet, you will pass by the administrative districts during your 318 National Highway self-driving tour which are mainly Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou-Xuancheng-Wuhu-Chizhou-Anqing-Huanggang-Wuhan-Jingzhou-Yichang-Enshi-Chongqing-Dazhou-Guang’an-Nanchong-Suining-Ziyang Chengdu-Ya’an-Ganzi-Qamdo-Nyingchi-Lhasa-Shigatse.

Which is the most beautiful parts of the G318 National Highway?

Staring the overland tour on G214 and G318 from Lijiang or Shangrila is the most beautiful Tibet overland tours as you can see beautiful Tibetan villages of different Tibetan regions of Yunnan, Kham and central Tibet. Usually, if your time is quite limited and mainly looking for a Tibet overland tour from Yunnan, then we recommend to start your trip to Tibet from Yunnan. You can fly to Kunming and connect the flight to Lijaing which is just around an hour flight as you can visit one of the most beautiful old towns in Lijiang and the pond of the black dragon and different kinds of ethnic group’s culture.

Driving from Lijiang to Shangrila or known as Gyelthang in Tibetan enroot visit the First Bend of Yangtze River at Shigu and the Tiger Leaping Gorge. In Shangrila, you can visit a beautiful monastery called Songtsanling monastery and one of the most beautiful old towns in Gyelthang including a visit to a beautiful Bazzar with full of colourful Tibetan traditional products.

From Gyelthang, you can continue Yunnan to Tibet overland tour to Deqin county at the distance of around 180km. In Deqin county, you are recommend to spend two nights as you will go to explore Kawa Karpo, the most beautiful snow mountain in the world. The villages in Deqin county are very beautiful and the view of Kawa Karpo snow mountain is extremely beautiful.

Where do you meet G318 National Highway for your Yunnan to Tibet overland tour?

After driving around 500km distance on the G214 national Highway, you will meet G318 National Highway after Deqin county. Deqin county is also another starting point of Yunna to Tibet overland tour where some people start their Tibet overland tour from Chengdu via Kanding, Dartsedo in Tibet, Lithang and then to Deqin county. From Deqin county, you can continue Yunnan to Tibet overland tour via Yanjing town, known as Tsakalo in Tibetan or Tsaka by Naxi ethnic group.

Which is the border town between Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan province?

The official name of Yanjing Township is “Naxi ethnic group Township as there were quite many Naxi ethnic groups but nowadays, most of the population is Tibetans. Yanjing township is under the administration of Mangkang County, Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China” Yanjing is considered as the jewel on the ancient tea-horse road so the Naxi people call it “Tsaka” or salt well, “Tsa” is salt in Tibetan, and “ka” is hole.

It is located at the southeastern tip of the Tibet Autonomous Region, between Mangkang County and Deqin County on the east bank of the Lancang River in the Hengduan Mountains. It is the first stop from Yunnan to Tibet on the Yunnan-Tibet Highway. The average altitude of the town is about 2400 meters. The northeast is adjacent to Batang ccounty located in Sichuan province, the south is bordered by Deqin county in Yunnan province, and the west is connected to Zhayu known as Zayul county in Tibetan, Bitu, and Menkong in Zuogong County, Tibet.

The climate is relatively hot, rich in crops such as barley, barley, corn, and millet, as well as apples, Pears, pomegranates, walnuts, watermelons and other fruits. Yanjing is a magical place in Tibet. Historically, it was the main route of ancient tea-horse road and it was the main place where the Tibetans exchange tea trade and to be transported to Tibet. The cultural landscape of Yanjing Salt Field is now the only surviving artificial original salt-dried landscape on the “Ancient Tea Horse Road”.

From where do you need Tibet permits for Yunnan to Tibet overland tour?

No matter whether you start your trip to Tibet from Kunming, Lijiang or Shangrila and traveling around Yunnan province including Shangrila where it is full of Tibetans, you are not required Tibet permits. You can just travel with your passport and a valid China visa. When you reach Yanjing township, the border between Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan province, you are asked to show your Tibet permits and Tibetan tour guide with a licensed Tibet tourist vehicle. Without those three important things, you are not allowed to travel and to get all those Tibet permits, you must contact local Tibetan travel agent based in Lhasa in a month advance to prepare and make necessary Tibet travel permits for Yunnan to Tibet overland tour.

How to get to Nyingchi prefecture from Yanjing township and what you can see on the way?

From Yanjing to Markham county at the distance of around 110km and from Markham county to Pachoe county via Dzogong county by passing several high mountain passes including 77 zigzag roads of the Tsa Kampala pass. After Dzogong county, you will reach Pamda where the Chamdo airport is and from Pamda, there is a junction where you can drive to Chamdo prefecture on the right handside or you can continue Tibet overland tour on the G318 National Highway towards Pachoe county.

After Pashoe county, continue Yunnan to Tibet overland tour via Rawu lake which is the border between Chamdo prefecture and Nyingtri prefecture. Most parts of Nyingtri prefecture is located in a beautiful forest gorge with gorgeous snow mountain including Mt Namchark Barwa and the grand canyon of Yarlung Tsangpo which finally goes into India. On the way, you can visit some Bon monasteries and Bon sacred mountain and the most beautiful Darksum lake and finally by taking Nyingchi to Lhasa highway at the distance of 410km distance, you will reach Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet.

What is the highlight of Yunnan to Tibet overland tour?

The highlight of this trip too many but tell the general things that you can see during this most adventurous Tibet overland tour are different kinds of ethnic groups and their traditional culture and lives, different kinds of region’s Tibetans and their traditional way of dressing, believing, way of talking, dialects etc. The first bend of Yangtse river which is a very important river for the southeast Asian countries. The most beautiful snow mountain of Kawa karpo which is also believed as a very sacred mountain by Tibetans and there are thousands of pilgrims going around Kawa Karpo every year.

Different kinds of old towns in Lijiang and Shangrila and lots of beautiful Tibetan villages and their traditional Tibetan houses, built in different architect styles by depending on the climate of each and every single village’s location. Beautiful salt well in Yanjing, lots of monasteries, beautiful green grasslands with nomads, grazing their Yak and Sheep. Yak is the most sacred animals for Tibetans, especially in the olden days. They used Yak for everything, such as yaks for transportation, Yak for meat, Yaks for making tents etc.

Driving through lots of high mountain passes with a beautiful landscaped of snow mountains, rocky hills, beautiful gorges, dense forest, wild animals, beautiful green fields of Barley and wheat, mastered-seed flowers, gorgeous lakes, ponds, river flowing and full of peach flowers if you come on the right time so Chinese tourists call G318 National highway is the most beautiful overland tour all over China.

Where is the starting and ending point of G214 National Highway?

G214 National Highway starts from Xining, the capital city of Qinghai province and it is one of the biggest Tibetan inhabitant areas where it used to be called Amdo, the north eastern part of Tibet. The ending point of G214 National Highway is ended in Jinhong in Yunnan province and the total distance of G214 is 3256Km. The terrain along the route is complex, and the climate is high and cold. The advantage of G214 National Highway which is different from other national roads is that the whole road presents the best biodiversity, geological diversity, landscape diversity, rich nature and historical culture, unique religious and ethnic customs as you are passing through through the four provinces of Qinghai Tibetan area, Kham area of Tibet Autonomous Region, Yunnan Tibetan area and Sichuan Tibetan area.

Do you need Tibet permits for G214 National Highway overland tour?

Generally speaking, most parts of G214 National Highway is located in those of the three Tibetan areas under Qinghai province, Sichuan province and Yunnan province so all those three provinces are not required any travel permits. You can travel easily with a valid passport and China visa even if you travel to the Tibetan areas of those three provinces. The villages and towns passing during G214 national highway are Kham, the eastern part of Tibet and Amdo, the north eastern part of Tibet.

You can see hundreds of thousands of monasteries if you had enough time during your G214 National Highway Tibet overland tour, vast grasslands, beautiful nomad camps, rich Khampa and Amdo people’s culture and traditions. Beautiful snowcapped mountains, rocky hills, gorgeous lakes, beautiful fields.

Where is the starting and ending point of Qinghai Tibetan Highway?

Qinghai Tibetan Highway is started from Xining, the capital city of Qinghai province and ended in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region. The total distance of Qinghai Tibetan Highway is around 2100Km and the driving distance in Qinghai province is around 1400km and around 700km is in Tibet Autonomous Region.

What you can see during your Qinghai Tibetan Highway overland tour?

You can see beautiful monasteries, huge green grasslands, lots of Tibetan and Mongolian nomads, beautiful Qinghai lakes ( Kokonor lake by Mongolian and Tso Ngonpo by Tibetan ), the most beautiful Kunlun mountain ranges, Tanggo la mountain pass at the elevation of over 5000mts above sea level, beautiful Nyenchen Thangla mountain ranges and lots of beautiful Tibetan nomad camps, black Yak-made nomad tents and beautiful villages.

Do you need Tibet travel permits for traveling through Qinghai Tibetan Highway overland tour?

For the parts of Tibetan area in Qignhai province, you are not required Tibet travel permits but you are required to have Tibet travel permits during your Qinghai Tibetan highway overland tour once you are entering in Tibet Autonomous Region where there is a small county called Amdo county which is the border county between Qinghai province and Tibet Autonomous Region, located to the foot of Tanggo la mountain pass. It is the same process getting Tibet permits as Yunnan to Tibet overland tour that you need to ask your local Tibetan travel agent to prepare Tibet permits in a month advance as you need several different kinds of Tibet travel permits.

Is G219 National Highway planning to open to tourists?

G219 National Highway is planning to open to tourists soon and many parts of G219 is driving to many villages and towns which are bordered to India, Bhutan, Nepal, Ladhak, Sikkim, Pakistan etc so you need special Tibet travel permits to travel through G219 National Highway. All the roads of G219 has been constructed and most parts of the road was paved too.

Where is the starting and ending point of G219 National Highway?

G219 is started from Kashgar in Xinjiang in the western parts of China and ended in Guanxi province. The total distance of G219 National Highway is around 10065km and it is the longest National Highway in the world.

How many Kilometers of G219 National Highway that can cover in Tibet Autonomous Region?

The distance of G219 in Tibet is 3486km and it is started from Tsawalong township in the far eastern part of Tibet, bordered to Yunnan province. Tsawalong township at the altitude of 1700mts above sea level with a beautiful Yangtse river gorge and river bend, green forest and beautiful Tibetan villages. If we drove from Tsawalong to Yunnan border, there is around 48km distance and on the way, you can visit the heart of Mt kawa karpo and V shape bend of the Yangtse river scenic spot. From Tsawalong to Zayul county is 211km and on the way, there is a nomadic town called Mouru village with a beautiful scenic spot. On the way, you will pass by several different kinds high mountain passes with average elevation of over 4600mts above sea level. Zayul county is at the elevation of 2340m above sea level and it is a nice place to spend over night in order to acclimatize. From Zayul county.

Will there be another option for Yunnan to Tibet overland tour once G219 is opened to foreign tourists?

So in the future, if this part of the G219 is opened, it will be another great option of Yunnan to Tibet overland tour as Tsawalong and Zayul county are located in a very low altitude places which is perfect to acclimatize to the high altitude slowly rather than driving to the high altitude quickly.

From Zayul county, you can drive to Rawu lake and join the G318 National High way and continue Tibet adventure tour till Nyingchi and from there, you can drive to Jindong town where there is a junction to continue to Lang county or drive to Yumei town on the left side. Yumei town is bordered to India and it is a beautiful border town through two big mountain passes and beautiful green grassland of nomadic area. From Yumei county, you can continue Yunnan to Tibet overland tour to Tsetang via Longtse county by visiting Lhopa ethnic group on the way.

After Tsetang, if you still want to follow the G219 National Highway, then it goes through Chonggye county, Tsomei county, Lhodark county, bordered to Bhutan and continue to Gyantse, Shigatse, Everest, Kyirong, Saga, Baryang, Mansarovar lake, Guge Kingdom, Rutog county, Yecheng and finally to Kashgar.

Since Tibet is a vast land, probably much bigger than entire Europe if we combine all 5 different provinces and autonomous Regions of Tibet if you had enough time, Tibet is the best place of self-driving or making adventure over landing tour such as Yunnan to Tibet overland tour, Chengdu to Tibet overland tour, Qinghai to Tibet overland tour or Gansu to Tibet overland tour or from Lhasa to Kashgar overland tour etc. You can get plenty of different kinds of Tibet overland tours with the most fantastic landscape and various different kinds of ethnic culture and religion, nomadic and farmer’s lives, beautiful green grasslands, snow mountains, plenty of lakes and ponds, wild animals and different kinds of birds and flowers that you can enjoy during your Tibet overland tour. 

A Complete Tibet travel guide

Tibet or the land of snow is located in the southwestern region of China. A question of how to travel Tibet has always been a difficult issue for the tourists who don’t know well about Tibet or how has never been to Tibet before.

For the last 20 years, Tibet has become a dreamed destination for millions of tourists no matter from outside of China or from mainland China, especially after the Covid 19 because Tibet is the only place in the world that does not have a single case of Coronavirus.

Tibet is located on a vast high plateau with an average altitude of more than 4000 meters. Tibet is known as the “ Roof of the World ’’ The entire high plateau of Tibet are Qinghai Tibetan plateau, Sichuan Tibetan plateau known as Kham, Gansu Tibetan plateau known as Amdo, Yunnan Tibetan plateau known as Horse Trading Route and Tibet Autonomous Region Tibetan plateau, known as Utsang.

Tibet Autonomous Region covers an area of 1.2284 million square kilometers which accounts for about 1/8 of the total area of the country and at the end of 2018, the permanent population of Tibet Autonomous Region was 3.4382 million. Tibet is bordered by Xijiang to the north, Sichuan to the east, Qinghai to the northeast and Yunnan to the southeast.

How to travel Tibet from Europe?

There is not any direct flight to Tibet from Europe so the only option how to travel Tibet is you can get to Tibet from Europe through different cities in mainland China. Tourists can fly to any kinds of cities in mainland China and from there, they can take a direct flight to Lhasa. The most popular airline route to fly to Tibet is via Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xian, Chongqing and Chengdu. Among them, Chengdu is the easiest way to travel to Tibet because there is a direct flight from Amsterdam and Frankfurt to Chengdu and from Chengdu to Lhasa, there are more than 50 daily flights. Chengdu is also the shortest flight route to Tibet.

How to travel Tibet from USA?

There are many travel routes from USA to Tibet via many cities in mainland China such as the tourists can get to Tibet via Beijing, get to Tibet via Shanghai, get to Tibet via Guangzhou, get to Tibet via Chongqing, get to Tibet via Xian and get to Tibet via Chengdu. The most convenient and easiest way to travel to Tibet is via Beijing as there are many direct flights from USA to Beijing. From Beijing to Lhasa, there are two daily flights and one is the direct flight to Tibet and another one is via Xian to Tibet. The tourists can also take Qinghai highway train from Beijing to Lhasa which takes around 41 hours to get to Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet.

How to travel Tibet from Asian countries?

There are also many different ways to get to Tibet. If the tourists are traveling to Tibet from Singapore, it is recommended to fly to Chengdu and from Chengdu, they can travel to Tibet directly. If the tourists are traveling to Tibet from Malaysia, it is also recommended to get to Chengdu and from Chengdu, they can directly fly to Lhasa. If the tourists are traveling to Tibet from Thailand, it is recommended to travel to Tibet via Kunming and from Kunming, they can get to Tibet directly. If the tourists are traveling to Tibet from Indonesia or Philippine, it is recommended to travel to Tibet via Chengdu. 

If the tourists are traveling to Tibet via Nepal, it is recommended to fly to Tibet from Kathmandu. The tourists can fly to Nepal and from Nepal, they can directly fly to Lhasa, the most beautiful sunny city of Tibet. There are plenty choices of flights to Nepal from Europe or USA and from Kathmandu to Tibet, there is a direct daily flight which is just one hour flight over the most beautiful view of the Himalayan Mountains.

If the tourists are traveling to Tibet from Australia, they will have to fly to mainland China first and then fly to Tibet. According to today’s flight schedules, it is recommended to fly to Chengdu which is closer to Tibet but there are more direct flights to Shanghai, Guangzhou and Zhengzhou from Australia and if the tourist fly to those mentioned cities from Australia, they can easily connect the next flight to Tibet.

How to travel Tibet from England?

There are direct flights from London to Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing but all those cities in mainland China are far from Tibet so it is better to fly to Chengdu even if there is not a direct flight to Chengdu from London. The tourists can fly to Amsterdam from London and then fly to Chengdu directly. From Chengdu to Tibet, there are plenty of daily direct flights and it is just two hours flight.

How to travel Tibet from Hongkong and Macao?

It is very easy to travel Tibet from Hongkong or Macao because both of these two cities are very close to mainland China and if the flight cost is reasonable, again it is recommended to fly to Chengdu from those two cities and from Chengdu, they can fly to Tibet easily.

How to travel Tibet from Taiwan?

If the tourists are traveling to Tibet from Taiwan, the best way to get to Tibet is to fly from Taiwan to Xiamen city in mainland China and from Xiamen to Chengdu or Chongqing and from there, they can fly to Tibet directly. 

How to travel Tibet with a complete Tibet travel guide?

If you are planning to travel to Tibet, your first preparation is to have a valid passport which means at least your passport with the validity of more than 6 months. After that, of course, you need to look for a right Tibetan travel agency which means the local Tibetan tour company which must have been registered under the administration of Tibet Tourism Bureau and has all the related official licenses to be able to help you to arrange your Tibet trip and Tibet travel permits.

Once you find a right Tibetan travel agent, you need to tell the agent where you like to go in Tibet and ask the travel agent to design a nice Tibet tour program for you. Make sure that you will include all the places in your program that you would like to travel in Tibet because Tibet is a completely different travel destination than other European or US cities as you need necessary Tibet permits for your trip and your Tibetan travel agent should put all the places in the Tibet permits. Besides, you also need a Tibetan tour guide who can accompany you while you are doing tour in Tibet. Without a tour guide, you cannot enter the scenic spots or cross the checkpoints on the way.

To prepare your Tibet permits, it will take two to four weeks depending on where you are traveling in Tibet. It is always recommended to book your Tibet tour in one or two months advance so that you and your local Tibetan travel agents will have enough time to prepare all your Tibet permits and other necessary Tibet trip bookings.

How is the facility of your Tibet travel?

Language guides: Since the tourism industry has become one of the most important imcome industries in Tibet, there are more different language travel guides available. You can find English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and Mandarin speaking guides.

Accommodation: For the last 20 years, Tibet has got a huge development and in all the cities and hot destinations of Tibet travel, you can get very good hotels including five stars and luxury resorts. Food: In all the big cities where you are traveling, you can find very nice and fancy restaurants where you can get continental food. In those of the remote areas, you can get clean Tibetan and Chinese restaurants as long as you don’t mind trying local food during your Tibet tour.

Transportation: Since the roads in most parts of Tibet have been paved and there is a very good condition of the road, nowadays, most of the tourists vehicles are comfortable mini vans, vans or buses. If you require to have car or 4*4 or cruisers, you can also book but in the one hand, it is not necessary to have it with such a good condition of the road and in the other hand, it is costly.

Scenic spots and the toilet facility: Nowadays, most of the scenic spots in Tibet are running under the standard of the Chinese government scenic spot management and most of the scenic spots are clean and providing western flashing toilet.

Tibet travel condition during Coronavirus

During Corona virus, Tibet travel condition is only dependent on domestic and local based tourism in Tibet. Even though in Tibet, we can move and act like normal, the Tibet travel condition is in a very poor situation that we can only receive some domestic tourists to Tibet and the number of domestic tourists have been dropped more than 50% comparing to the previous years. Besides, there is not a single foreign tourists which is allowed to travel to Tibet because of the severe situation of the Corona virus, spread in the western countries. The entire regional financial condition has become very difficult and the business of every industry except the construction site, has very much been dropped down and many people are losing their jobs.

Tibet Autonomous Region is trying it’s best to try to push forward the development of Tibet and try to create more new jobs to the people who are losing their jobs, especially to the Tibetan students who were just graduated and looking for a new job. Tibet Tourism Bureau has been trying it’s best to continue to develop domestic tourism in Tibet and trying to push the Tibetan tour companies to produce more unique and authentic Tibet tour products to the domestic tourists and local Tibetan people.

The Corona virus is a global disaster and it is something that we human beings did not expect to happen in the world of the 21^st century. As 21^st century is the most well-known century of the science and technology and it is also the time of the universe where people have become the richest from the point of financial side. Human beings have also become the most powerful sentient beings in the world that it is supposed to be the human beings who can kill any kinds of animals and eat them, no matter whether they are flying in the sky or moving on the earth, destroy any kinds of nature, no matter river, ocean, tree, grassland or mountain so it seems like human being is the number one in this universe and feel so proud of being the king for the last 20 years without considering the well-beings of the other sentient beings.

But it is just a huge wonder why this Covid 19 hits the entire world of the human beings very badly no matter whether the countries who are very much developed with the science and technology or the countries who are in a poor condition, the Corona virus is spreading equally to all those countries. Why the world still could not find a solution even if the Covid has been more than 11 months spreading all over and killing so many innocent people? Where do the technology and science hide?  

Does Tibet have cases of Coronavirus and how Tibet travel condition is during severe Coronavirus in mainland China?

Tibet has been extremely lucky so we have a very happy and proud answer is that Tibet does not have a single case of Corona Virus from local people. When the Coronavirus was badly spreading in mainland China, a tourist from Hubei province in mainland China traveled to Tibet in the end of January during Chinese New Year holiday. Just after he arrived in Lhasa, he had the symptom and had to admit the hospital, and finally recognized that he got Coronavirus. Suddenly, Tibet travel condition has become very different and serious that is to make sure all the tourists should leave Lhasa as soon as possible.

This single patient was treated in the Lhasa people’s number second hospital and after around 18 day’s treatment, he was cured and returned home.

During his Tibet journey on the train from Hubei province to Lhasa, there were many other local Tibetans and Chinese who live in Lhasa, traveled to Tibet with him on the same train but none of them were infected which is a surprising news and something that did not happen in other parts of the world. Usually people get infected if they traveled together with a patient of Coronavirus. After this tourist went back to mainland China, Tibet did not have a case of Coronavirus any more.

However, Tibet has been closed to all tourists for more than 2 months in order to make sure to have a safe and healthy lives to the local Tibetans during the severe Covid 19. Tibet Autonomous Region does not want to have this bad virus and effect to the life of the locals and their daily activities. After around two months, the situation in mainland China was getting better and Wuhan was also opened to the other cities of China and Tibet Autonomous Region was also slowly opened to the domestic tourists and Tibet travel condition during the severe Coronavirus was getting better. Till now there is not a single case of Coronavirus in Tibet so Tibet has become the safest travel destination in the world during the pandemic period.

Why Tibet Does not have a single case of Coronavirus?   

As I am a local Tibetan, living in Lhasa and have worked in Tibet travel business for 20 years. I have come through a difficult time of Tibet travel condition and tough business during Sars in 2004 but have never gone through such a difficult time of our business during this severe Coronavirus. However, I have witnessed that Tibet did not have a single case of both of those two virus even if we had people traveling to Tibet from other provinces of mainland China.

The other name of Tibet is called a pure land or holy land, is it because of Tibet as being a pure land or holy land so that we did not have Coronavirus or Sars? Majority people consider that the Coronavirus has transferred to human bodies from wild animals or insects. The original disease of this virus is supposed to have come from people who ate different kinds of wild animals and insects and many people believe it is the result of cause and effect which was taught in Buddhism more 2000 years back. Is it because Tibetans don’t eat wild animals or different kinds of insects so that Tibet did not have Coronavirus?

Many people in mainland China believe why Tibetans are not effected by Coronavirus is because Tibetans don’t kill wild lives, don’t eat insects, besides, Tibetans believe in Buddhism with a compassionate heart. Is it because of being compassionate to other beings?

Many people also talk about why Tibet does not have Coronavirus is because Tibet has many monasteries and lots of old and very sacred statues including the images of Buddha Shakyamuni, blessed by Buddha himself during his life time and thousands of monks praying every day so it is because of the blessings of the old temples, monasteries, sacred statues of different Buddha and holy monks who give blessings to Tibetans.

As being a local Tibetan, I believe there must have a relation to those of the above mentioned questions regarding on why Tibet does not have Coronavirus and I think probably, there might be another reason that Tibetans’ lungs are much stronger than the people who live in lower altitude places so that the Covid cannot hit and effect. How would you answer to those above questions?

How is the Tibet travel condition during Coronavirus?

We have been working mainly for foreign tourists who travel to Tibet and have served more than several million foreign tourists to assist them to travel to Tibet during those last 20 years but 2020 year, because of this bad Covid 19, we don’t have a single foreign tourist who are allowed to travel to Tibet even if Tibet does not have a single case of the Corona virus. It is because of the continuous spread of the bad Coronavirus in the western countries.

Tibet is a beautiful country and it is one of the most wanted travel destination in the world. Every year, there are millions of millions travelers, traveling to Tibet from different countries in the world and normally, by this period of the time, you can see lots of western tour groups, traveling around the Potala Palace and Jokang temple in Lhasa, trekking to the Everest basecamp and adventuring to the holy Mt Kailash but there is not a single foreign tourist that you can see because of the Covid.

Since Chinese government worked very hard to get rid of the Covid 19, Tibet travel condition is getting better and better and there are more and more domestic tourists are traveling to Tibet. As the Chinese national holiday and Mid-Autumn spring festival is coming soon, many of the hotels begin to have busy booking and picking the business up.

Is it safe to travel to Tibet during Coronavirus era?

As earlier mentioned that entire Tibet does not have a single case of Coronavirus, Tibet is of course the safest place to travel during this Coronavirus era. There are more and more domestic tourists are traveling to Tibet and since many domestic tourists cannot travel abroad, Tibet has become the hottest travel destination now.

In the future, if the worldwide travel is opened, I think Tibet is the first travel destination where people can travel safely without worrying to be infected from Coronavirus since Tibet has never had Coronavirus from the beginning of Coronavirus until now. The tourists should not worry from anything. Tourists can eat wherever they want to and they can sleep wherever they want to. Tibet is a very safe place to travel. During Coronavirus era, Tibet is the only place where you can see people walking in the street, or shopping mall, eating food in the restaurant, watching movies in the cinema hall without wearing mask.

When is Tibet travel condition better and Tibet travel business returns to normal?

As long as Covid 19 is over in the western countries, Tibet travel condition is better and slowly Tibet will pick it’s travel season. Even if Tibet does not have a single case of Coronavirus, if the situation of the Coronavirus is not getting better in the other parts of the world, Tibet cannot pick it’s travel peak season business. Tibet Tourism Bureau and all the people who work in Tibet tourism industry hope that the Coronavirus will be slowly disappeared in the end of 2020 year and can bring Tibet travel business back in around may 2021 so let’s all pray that the Covid 19 will be gone soon from our universe and everyone can travel like before without any restriction.

After Covid 19, is Tibet travel condition and Tibet travel permit process same as before?

It has been a long time that all local Tibet travel agents and the people who are working in Tibet travel industries cannot work as before and their income has dropped very much than before. Many of them are waiting to be able to return to their career so as soon as the Coronavirus is over, Tibet Tourism Bureau will immediately allow foreign tourists to travel to Tibet and will remain the same process of Tibet travel permits. The duration of obtaining Tibet travel permit will be easier and shorter than before as Tibet Autonomous Region is working very hard to shorten all the permit process including Tibet travel permit.