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.

What to eat and drink in Tibet during your Tibet tour?

Most of the Tibetan food is completely different from mainland China or other countries in the world. Originally, Tibet did not have variety of food but those of the Tibetan food was completely organic with lots of nutrition but today, since in the lower places of Tibet grows lots of different kind of vegetables like other countries, Tibetan food has devolved into many different kinds of items.

Due to the special geographical location, The higher part of Tibet is not conducive to the normal growth of ordinary plants. The main crops are highland barley, so the main food in Tibet is relatively scarce. Most of the Tibetan food is meat and dairy products.

In Tibet, the main raw materials are Yak meat, mutton, potatoes, radishes and other vegetables. In the olden days, the Tibetan food is Tsampa, made up of roast barley and Yak meat but in the present day, the diet is mainly rice, flour and highland barley. Tibetan Like oil, thick flavor and crisp food, spicy, they commonly used baking, frying, boiling and other methods.

Yak meat and mutton

Tibetan people mainly eat Yak meat, mutton and dairy products. Generally speaking, there is no so much vegetable in the pastoral area. From a single dietary structure, the pastoral area and even the whole Tibet belongs to a high-flat, high protein diet area. It is well known that Yak meat and mutton are high in calories, which help people living in high altitude areas to resist the cold. What’s interesting is that Tibetan people have the habit of eating raw meat. If you go to the houses of local Tibetan people, you will see the dried Yak meat and mutton hanging in the houses or tents. They eat dried Yak meat and mutton with Tsampa as their main Tibetan food.

Tibetan styled Dumpling, known as Momo in Tibetan.

Momo is not only a very popular Tibetan food but also a very important Tibetan food where people serve Momo to their important guests during Tibetan New Year or when somebody invites some important guests to their families. They also serve Momo when Tibetan people are having big party or celebrating some festivals or during wedding festival. There are several different types of Momo. One is a vegetable Momo, second one is a potato Momo and the third one is the Yak meat Momo which is the most popular Momo and consider as one of the best Tibetan food.  

Fried rice with wild Potato, known as Dreisil

Dreisil dish is a Tibetan special dish that people always serve during special occasion such as during Tibetan New Year, Tibetan wedding festival, special religious festivals and ceremony etc and Dreisil is the Tibetan food that people serve as the first dish because it is the symbol of auspiciousness and good luck. The process of making Dreisil is fried rice with butter, sugar and wild Potato. It is also very delicious and very unique.   

Tsampa

Tsampa is the main Tibetan food. The process of Tsampa is to dry and roast highland barley (barley, white , and grind it into flour. This is similar to the fried noodles in the north of China, but the fried noodles in the north are first ground and then fried, while the Tsampa in Tibet is first roast and then grind without peeling.

When Tibetan people eat Tsampa, they usually pour a small amount of butter tea into the bowl first, add some Tsampa , and mix them with their hands until they can be kneaded into a ball. When they eat Tsampa, they constantly knead it in the bowl with their hands. The ball is called “Ba”, which is delivered to the mouth.

Tsampa can make different kinds of Tsampa soup by mixing some vegetables , called “Thuba”. And also can be made some special Tsampa cakes as well. Tsampa is usually eaten for breakfast in the cities like Lhasa and as daily Tibetan food in the villages or remote area. The Tsampa has lots of nutrition and very good for your health.

Tibetan noodle soup

Since Tibet is a high plateau, the weather is very much changeable and usually it is pretty cold, especially during the winter time so noodle soup is a very popular Tibetan food, especially during winter time, in most of the Tibetan families, they serve noodle soup. Nowadays, in all the tea house restaurants, they serve Tibetan noodle soup and it has become kinds of new Tibetan tradition that all the local Tibetans go to tea houses and have noodle soup as their breakfast and drink sweat tea. These kind of tea houses are very similar to the coffee shops in the western countries.

Tibetan local Drinks

All kinds of local Tibetan drinks are indispensable to constitute Tibetan people’s nutritious food. Tibetan drinks include butter tea, sweet tea, highland barley wine, etc. In addition to the main Tibetan food of Tsampa, butter tea is also used as a daily drink. Butter tea and sweet tea are respectively made of butter, milk, salt and sugar.

In Tibet, it is an ancient tradition of the Tibetan people to treat guests with butter tea. Whether you go into the herdsman’s tent, or the farmer’s mud hut, or visit relatives and friends, the host will always make a yellow butter tea for you. When the Tibetans leave the country, relatives and friends come to the farewell party to present a white Khadha, a white scarf and a bowl of butter tea.They wish the travelers have a pleasant journey.

Like butter tea, they are all Tibetan drinks. In terms of taste, the butter tea is salty and the sweet tea is sweet; in terms of raw materials, the butter tea is made directly from tea, salt and butter, and the sweet tea is made from black tea, sugar and milk; the nutritional value of the butter tea is higher than that of the sweet tea, and the sweet tea is more suitable for the taste of tourists.

Another Tibetan drink is highland barley wine which is brewed after highland barley fermentation. It is drunk by men, women, old and young in Tibet, especial during special festivals, so the Tibetans brew a lot of highland barley wine before the festival.

From April to August in the Tibetan calendar, almost all traditional and non-traditional festivals, religious and non-religious festivals are displaced so during those special festivals, Tibetan drink a lot local barley wine or known as Chang in Tibetan. During summer, the people in Lhasa like to go out to have picnic by choosing beautiful and clean green grassland or pasture land where there is stream water and they drink a lot of barley wine. You can find people in groups of three or five, set up tents of various colors, while drinking barley wine, while singing and dancing, showing the charm of Tibetan wine culture.

There is a set of rules for Tibetan people to drink butter tea. Generally speaking, a cup of tea should be filled and serve to the guests. If you don’t want to drink it, don’t touch it. If you drink half of it, and can’t drink it any more, the host will fill the cup with tea. You will put it on the table and drink it again when you leave. This is in line with the habits and politeness of the Tibetan people.

Dairy products

There are many Yak in the nomadic area and more cattle and sheep and more dairy products in the farming land of Tibet. The most common are Yoghurt and milk dregs. There are two kinds of yoghurt. One is cheese, which is called “Da Xiu” in Tibetan. It is made of milk refined from butter. The other is made of milk without butter, which is called “A xiu” in Tibetan. Yoghurt is a kind of food after the scarification of milk. It is more nutritious and easy to digest. It is suitable for the elderly and children.

Milk dregs are the substances left after butter is extracted from milk. After cooking and water evaporation, the rest is milk dregs. Milk dregs can be made into milk cakes and milk blocks.

What to eat and drink in Tibet during your Tibet tour?

The above are some symbols of Tibetan food, especially the Tibetan food that people had in the olden days but nowadays, in the cities of Tibet, you can get variety types of food including continental, western, Tibetan and Chinese so on. If you are traveling to the major cities of Tibet such as Lhasa city, Tsetang city, Shigatse city, Nyingtri city, Ngari prefecture city, Nakqu prefecture city etc, you will get all kinds of food and drinks. You can find lots of Tibetan, Chinese, continental, western restaurants so you can choose any kinds of food and drinks during your Tibet travel. There are different kinds of local Tibetan beer, imported beer, whisky and red wine so there is no point to worry about the meals and drinks during your Tibet travel.

Even if you did not read about the food and drinks in Tibet before you travel to Tibet, your Tibetan local tour guide can take you to the most beautiful and tasty restaurants according to your wishes.

Mt. Kailash Kora is a must when you do Kailash pilgrimage tour or Kailash adventure tour. Mt. Kailash Kora is a Tibetan word which directly means circumambulate or go around a monastery, temple or a sacred mountain or holy lake.

MountKailash is considered as Mt. Meru, which is believed to be the earthly representation of the navel of the world, is situated in the Himalayan region of Tibet. The mountain is described as towering over its environment and being symmetrical in it’s regular shape, like a crystal.

Although we know that the altitude of the summit of Mount Kailash is not the highest on earth. The altitude of Mt Kailash is 6740m ( 221078ft), nothing special in a geographical region with the highest mountain range on earth, the Himalaya. Together with its northwest extension, the Karakorum, it includes all 14 peaks of the earth above 8000m ( 26247ft ).

There are also many mountains more than 7000m ( 22966ft ) in altitude, even in close vicinity of each other . Mt. Kailash is situated a little north of the likewise holy lake Mansarovar and directly south of this lake rises Mt Gurla Madhata ( Tibetan Nemo Nanyin ) to an altitude of 7694m ( 25243ft ) which is the third highest mountain of Tibet after Mt. Shishapangma 8027m ( 26396ft) and Mt Namchak Barwa, 7756m ( 25446ft ).

Not only is Gurla Mandhata 1158m ( 3798ft ) higher than Mt. Kailash, it is also extraordinary shape, standing way above all the mountains in it’s vicinity. However, Mt. Kailash is still believed to be the holiest of mountains and become very popular as it is believed to contact and actually bear the heavens, which sit on top of it. This is a real hub of the earth, which connects the earth to the universe. Besides, it has lots of religious stories and myths that attract the travelers and pilgrims to come to Kailash and do Mount Kailash Kora.

The exact position of Mount Kailash is situated in the far west of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China, PRC. This position is about 100Km ( 63mi ) north of the northwestern edge of the border between Nepal and India and the PRC. Actually, the linear distance to the Tibetan capital Lhasa is 1280Km ( 800mi ), where’s to the Indian Capital New Delhi it is only 980Km ( 612mi ), and to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu is not more than 540Km ( 337mi ).

As a holy Mountain, Mt. Kailash is an object of religious adoration for the main religions of the old Indian and Tibetan cultural region, the Buddhist, Hindus, Bonpo ( the original religion of Tibet prior to Tibetan Buddhism ) and Jains. The largest numbers of followers of to those religions are those for Hinduism, three times more than for Buddhism, altogether around 1.38 billon people so Mt. Kailash is a very important holy site for those religious followers and it is a must for them to do a Mt. Kailash Kora during their Kailash Pilgrimage tour.

For Hindus Mt. Kailash, Kailash Parbat, represents Mount Meru, which by legend is the upholding pillar of the world’s 84000 miles high, where Lord Shiva resides with his consort Parvati. The word ‘’ Kailash “presumably comes from the ancient Indian language Sanskrit and was adopted by the British colonial power. Very likely, in the western world, we owe our knowledge of Mt. Kailash as a holy mountain to this fact. Other holy mountains and other holy sites in Tibet are much less known in the western world. For Hindus, if you have financial basis, Mt. Kailash is the holiest sites that they have to visit once in a life time and Hindus believe trekking around Mount Kailash is another big blessing for their lives. 

Adherents of the pre-Buddhist Bon-religion, the Bonpo, in Tibet were probably the first who lived in this remote landscape and really experienced the holy mountain, which they called Yungdrung Gutseg. Also the name Gang Tise is widely used; however it describes not only the holy mountain but this part of the trans Himalayan chain. For the Bonpo ,the holy mountain is dwells and their founder Tonpa Shenrap descended from the heavens. Among those religions, Bonpo do Mt. Kailash Kora anti-clockwise direction while the other religions are doing Mt. Kailash Kora clockwise direction.

Very interestingly, in the Jain religion, the mountain is called “ Ashtapada”, where Rishabha, their Adinath ( First Lord ), the first of their twenty –four Tirthankaras ( Enlightened Beings ) achieved enlightenment and entered Nirvana, the state of release from all suffering.

Ashtapada is the eightfold path which symbolizes the eight steps on the path to enlightenment. Interestingly, many travellers who embark on the Everest Base Camp Trek often pair it with the Mount Kailash trek to explore both sacred destinations. The satellite view of Ashtapada, with its northern and southern outliers, resembles eight legs, a highly emblematic feature of this holy mountain.

This aspect is something which also occurs in Buddhist mythology. There are mazing iconographic details present in the landscape of the holy mountain. Tibetan Buddhists call the mountain Gang Rinpoche, the Venerable Snow Mountain, which is also apostrophized as the Precious Snow Jewel. For Buddhists, Mt Kailash is the residence of Chakrasamvara ( Demchok in Tibetan ), meaning the circle of bliss which the cycle of rebirths is overcome, in union with his consort Vajravarahi ( Dorje Phagmo in Tibetan ), which is translated as diamond sow. Although this may seem a strange description of a goddess for Westerners, it is not for Buddhists, who regard Her as one of the highest deities on the Highest Yoga Tantra.

The Sikhs, adherents of another Indian religion, call the holy mountain Sumer Parbat, a name which refers to the old Indian scriptures. Although their first Guru Nanak Dev Ji visited Mt. Kailash during the third of his five holy journeys in 1514 to 1518, the holy mountain appears to be of less importance for them.   

Is it important to do Mt. Kailash Kora during Kailash tour?

No matter whether you are tourists or the followers of those above religions, the Mount Kailash trek and Kailash Kora is a must to do during the Kailash tour. All the followers of those above religions try their best to do Mt. Kailash Kora no matter whether the trail is very difficult or very high for them to walk but at the same time it is important to check your health condition when you are in Dharchen which is located to the foot of Mt Kailash and it is the place where you have to stay overnight to prepare for the Mt. Kailash Kora. If you have high blood pressure, serious heart problem or severe high altitude problem, you are not recommended to do Mt. Kailash Kora. Even if you are with a group, consult your local Tibetan tour guide and you would be better to wait your group members in Dharchen while they are trekking around Kailash.

What do we need to prepare before doing Mt. Kailash Kora?

Once you are in Dharchen, you need to tell your Tibetan guide to help you order packed Yak or Yak men for carrying the luggage during Kailash Kora because there is no Jeep able road and vehicles are not allowed to drive around Kailash so it is better to hire animals to carry the luggage and food. You can take the necessary food and clothes with you and the things that are not very necessary can leave with the drivers in Dharchen.

Eventhough you are healthy, it is always better to bring some high altitude medicine or oxygen just incase you have difficulty with high altitude during the trek around Kailash. If your Tibetan travel agent is a professional tour company like Tibet Shambhala Adventure, no need to worry about medicine as Tibet Shambhala Adventure brings high altitude medicine, oxygen and Gamo bags with our Tibetan guide so you are secured to do trekking around Kailash.

How Many days do we need to complete a Mt. Kailash Kora?

In general, the tourists complete a Kailash Kora within two and half days while the Tibetans complete the Kailash Kora within a day. For tourists or the pilgrims from foreign countries including Indians, they need two and half days to complete Mt. Kailash Kora. They start the Kailash trek from Tarpoche ( Sershong in Tibetan ) and trek to Dhiraphuk monastery for the first night. From Dhiraphuk, you will get a great view of the north face of Mt Kailash. The second day of trekking around Kailash is from Dhiraphuk to Zutrulphuk monastery by crossing Drolma la pass and the third day of Kailash Kora is from Zutrulphuk to Dharchen.

How many hours do we need to walk each day of Mt. Kailash Kora and what you can see while trekking around Kailash?

Day 1 of Mt. Kailash Kora: Tarpoche to Dhiraphuk, 5050m( 16568ft )/ 4Km drive/18Km/6-7hrs walk.

The total distance of Kailash Kora is 52km and the first day from Dharchen to Dhiraphuk is around 22Km distance and second day from Dhiraphuk to Zutrulphuk is around 17Km and the third day from Zutrulphuk to Dharchen is around 13km.

The first day of Kailash Kora can be started from Dharchen by walk or drive to Tarpoche which is around 4Km.

Most of the tourists take the Kailash scenic spot bus to Tarpoche and start the Kora from there. If you start the Kailash Kora from Tarpoche, in general, it takes around 6-7hrs but it also depends on how healthy and how fast you can walk in the high altitude so some people might walk faster than the mentioned time and some people might walk even slower than the mentioned time.

Tarpoche is the place where there is a giant prayer flag pole and it is the first prostration point to Mt. Kailash. There are many beautiful and colorful prayer flags surrounding Tarpoche. They are rectangular pieces of fabric ranging from the size of a postcard to a very large size and usually in series of the five colors blue, white, red, green and yellow for the five elements sky/space, air, fire, water and earth respectively.

In Tibet, they are called “ Lungta” ( wind horse ), with a horse or other sacred symbol and prayers printed on them, to be blown by the wind all over the world.

Every year, during Saga Dawa festival, thousands of pilgrims and tourists gather at Tarpoche and there is also a very important religious ceremony, held by the local monks around Mt. Kailash region. The prayer flag of the Giant prayer flags are replaced by new ones and offered lots of prayer flags and raised in the hills by the local pilgrims and tourists as well.

During the Mt. Kailash Kora, after walking from Tarpoche, you can see Choku Gompa on the left side of the valley, located on the hill at 4875m( 15994ft ), the first of the five monasteries ( Gompas in Tibetan ) on the Kailash Kora. It is a climb of more than 100m ( 328ft ) to get here but the magnificent view of Mt Kailash compensates one for the effort to climb here. There are two most sacred and important objects inside the monastery, a white conch shell and a big teapot Naropa. Naropa was one of the most famous Pandits in India, more than thousand years back.

Above the monastery, climbing up the steep rugged rocks of Mt. Nyan-ri, there are two famous caves to be found, one in which Mila Repa used to meditate. Mila Repa was a very famous Tibetan Yogi in the 11^th century who achieved the enlightenment once in his life time and he is also one of the founders of Kagyupa sect in Tibetan Buddhism as well as the founder of Sekar Gutok in Lhodark county near the border between Bhutan and Tibet. Another cave is called Langchen Bephuk, the Elephant Cave, is said that Padamasambhava or ( Guru Rinpoche in Tibetan ) use to meditate in the cave and is said to have buried sacred texts to be rediscovered after centuries.

In the slopes on the other side of the valley, above some old decaying Chortens, there is another cave where the Bon Shaman Naro Bonchung resided when Mila Repa arrived and claimed the Mt Kailash area as a Buddhist pilgrimage site. While continuing Mt. Kailash Kora along close to the sheer cliffs of the Kailash massif, the mountains on the other west site of the valley are called Palaces of Tara, Amitayus and Vijaya and the last one to the north is named after King Gesar of Ling.

There is a long thin waterfall from the vertical cliffs, called the tail of King Gesar’s horse, which can be fanned out by the wind really looking like a horse’s tail. Gesar. Gesar is a legendary Tibetan king, whose heroic deeds are told in a great central –Asian Epos. The cliffs on the east, the Kailash side of the valley appear even more inaccessible with vertical faces of up to 1000m ( 3281ft ) height. One is called Gompo Beng, after the demon, who was converted and became a Dharma protector. The next object that you can see is Guru Rinpoche’s Torma which stands like a guardian at the entrance of a narrow valley cut into the cliffs. Torma is a Tibetan word which is a ritual offering made from flour and butter, usually in conical shape like a sugar cone.

This is the western gate of Mt Kailash , the sheer summit of which is seen above the cliffs. The western face of the mountain is believed to be of ruby. Close by is the second Chaktsal Gang, the second prostration point to Mt.kailash during Kora, indicated by a cairn and prayer flags, where the pilgrims perform prostrations towards the holy mountain. After only a short distance, when the edge of Mt Kailash’s northern face comes into sight, there are some tents where Tibetans sell tea and cookies. This place, about 6Km ( 3.7 mi ) from the Chuku bridge , is called Tamdrin Donkhang at 4882m (16017 ft), the guest house of the protector deity Tamdrin ( Hayagriva in Sanskrit ), a wrathful form of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. Here also is one of the Buddha’s footprint, when he nailed down Mt. Kailash as a protection against being carried away by Gompo Beng, a marked impression in the side of a rock decorated with prayer flags.

After Tamdrin tea house, the Kora path turns in a large curve from a northern to an eastern direction. There is a bridge to the other site of the Lha chu and a path, even a track for a jeep, leading to the Dhiraphuk monastery ( Gompa in Tibetan ) at the altitude of 5050m ( 16568ft ), which was built around a cave with an indentation of a Yak horn. From this Gompa, the view of the north face of Mt Kailash, believed to be made of emerald, is outstanding. There are several guest houses for Indian pilgrims, close to the Gompa, reached at the entrance of the Gangjam Chu valley with a direct view to the spectacular north face of Mt. Kailash. The best and cleanest guest house is on the other side of the Drolma Lha chu valley which is the opposite of Dhiraphuk Gompa. Dhiraphuk Gompa is the second monastery ( Gompas ) on the Kailash Kora and the third prostration point to Mt. Kailash during Kora is from Dhira Phuk Gompa.

Why the monastery is called as Dhiraphuk?

When Gyelwa Gotsangpa, a monk resident of Gossul Gompa at lake Mansarovar tried to explore the pilgrim path around Mt. Kailash in the years 1213-1217, he was surprised by a thunderstorm and had no protection from it. There appeared a dri, a female Yak, walking to a cave, and Gotsangpa followed her and found shelter. The dri made the indentation in the rock with her horn and disappeared. She was an emanation of the Lion-faced Dakini ( Senge Khandroma in Tibetan ) who protects a pass of the Inner Kailash Kora.

When Gyelwa Gotsangpa continued his exploration of the Kailash pilgrimage path, he did not know which of the high passes he could tackle. A pack of 21 wolves appeared and ran up the valley towards the Drolma La. Gotsangpa followed them and found the path to the Drolma La. The wolves, however disappeared into the Drolma Rock. They were emanations of the 21 Taras. 

Is it worthy to spend two nights at Dhiraphuk Gompa?

If you had enough time, it is highly recommended to spend two nights in Dhiraphuk because on the first day, you trek to Dhiraphuk from Tarpoche and the second day, you can trek to the base of the north face of Mt Kailash. The north face of Mt.Kailash is called Charansparsh by Indians and many of the pilgrims and tourists also call Inner Kora but this might be wrong because inner Kora is either the trail through Kangdro Sanglam or the trail in side of Gyangdark monastery, located above Dharchen.

The entire distance of the trekking to the north face of Kailash from Dhiraphuk is around 4km distance which will take you around 4 hours and the average elevation is above 5000m. On the way during your trek to the north face of Mt. Kailash, you can see beautiful flowers and small plants. Most of those flowers and plants can be used for making Tibetan traditional medicine. Some of the plants and flowers are very beautiful.

You can reach very close to the north face of Mt. Kailash and you can even touch the Mt. Kailash so it’s also called touch Kailash. The scenery around is extremely beautiful with a great view of Mt Kailash. Many tourists and pilgrims believe that you can achieve a great blessing if you can touch the Kailash but without taking this one day trek, you don’t get a chance to touch the Kailash so it is recommend to spend two nights in Dhirpahuk and have a day excursion to touch the foot of the Kailash.

Spending more days at Dhira Phuk Gompa is another interesting to explore more around the north face of Mt. Kailash.

If you spend more days around Dhira Phuk Gompa, there is a chance to explore more around the north face of Mt. Kailash. Not only trekking to the north face of Mt. Kailash to touch the north face of Mt. Kailash and get a deep blessing from Kailash but can also trek further to the right hand side of the north face of Mt. Kailash where the three beautiful mountain peaks, called as Rigsum Gompo in Tibetan are located. The mountain of Rigsum Gompo are the symbols of the Manjushri, Vajarapani and Avalokteshvara.

It is a very beautiful day trek from Dhira Phuk Gompa to Rigsum Gompo mountain and one of the most beautiful mountain peak next to Mt. Kailash is the Manjushri. You can trek almost all the way to the peak of the Manjushri and will get a surprising and extremely beautiful view of Mt. Kailash and the entire valley of Mt. Kailash Kora between Tarpoche and Dhira Phuk Gompa. If you had enough time, you could spend between three to four days around Dhira Phuk to explore those beautiful mountains and the north face of Mt. Kailash.

Day 2 of Kailash Kora: Dhiraphuk to Zutrulphuk, 4835m ( 15863ft )/ 17Km/7-8 hrs.

The climbing path starting below Dhiraphuk Gompa zigzags up to a plateau at the altitude of 5200m ( 17060ft ), passing the entrance of the Polung Chu valley, which runs parallel to Gangjam Chu valley towards Mt. Kailash, another view to the northeast corner of the mountain opens. The third valley to the east, about 3km (2 mi ) distance from Dhiraphuk Gompa, leads to the Khandro Sanglam la,5675m (18619 ft) the pass of the lion –faced Dakni belonging to the inner Kora.

Again the path gains altitude in a zigzag to the next plateau and reach a sky burial called Silvatsal ( Cool Grove ), named according to one of the eight great Charnel grounds ( Sky burial in Tibet ) in the Hindu culture. In the pilgrims’ meditation, this is the place of the death and Tibetans believe if you lie down on the ground of this sky burial and meditate as if you are dead and imagine all the sufferings that one face when one will stay in the intermediate state ( Bardo in Tibetan ) the state of up to 49 days between death and rebirth after someone dies.

After the sky burial, there are still around 3Km ( 2mi ) to reach Drolma la pass, the path leads to the next plateau of 5400m ( 17717ft ) where there are two rocks forming a small tunnel are called the “ Sin-testing stone”. Tibetan pilgrims try to crawl through this tunnel, carefully watched by their fellow pilgrims. This is much fun and if one can crawl through the tunnel between the two rocks, it is believed that the person does not have sin but if one gets stuck in the tunnel, it is believed that his Karma is loaded with many sins.

The path then climbs the last ascent to the Droma La pass at 5660m ( 18570 ft). Shortly before the pass, there is a big rock next to the path, the Drolma Rock which is much worshipped by the Tibetan pilgrims and smeared with butter, on which money is stuck and decorated with prayer flags. This part of the Kailash Kora trail is the most difficult part as in the one hand, the altitude is already very high and in the other hand, the path is very steep and difficult to walk through the boulders and small rocks.

After spending 2-3 hours steep climb, finally reach to the top of the Drolma La pass, almost throughout the year, there is snow on the top of the pass and you walk over the snow when you reach the top and the pass is covered all over with thick layers of prayer flags and is the place of rebirth for pilgrims. At this altitude, it is not only the spiritual culmination but also physically the highest point they reach. All exhaustion is overcome with the happiness and pride at having reached this summit of their pilgrimage.

Although the Kailash is not seen from the top of the Drolma La pass, many Tibetan pilgrims perform prostrations in the direction of the mountain. Others place a picture among the prayer flags of beloved ones or those who died recently or they sit down and whisper prayers. 

If you don’t have a serious altitude problem, it is recommend to spend some time on the top of the Drolma La pass and enjoy the moment of the success of the most difficult part of Mt. Kailash Kora and then start the descent from the windy pass.

Among boulders, the path steeply zigzags down from the pass. To the right side of the trail, there is the Gaurikund ( Thugje Chenpo Tso in Tibetan ), a glacial lake at the altitude of 5567m ( 18264ft ), both Tibetans and Hindus believe it is a very sacred lake. High above the path on the right side there is a cliff at the side of Mt. Sharma Ri which pilgrims call the Ax of Karma. The descent continues steeply and if there is snow on the path, it is extremely slippery.

After around 3Km ( 2mi ) steep down, finally reach Lham Chu valley, in which the Kora covers the east side of Mt. Kailash and there is a Tibetan campsite at the altitude of 5235m ( 17175ft ). Here you can get tea, water and some cookies. There is a footprint of Milarepa nearby but without a local guide who can show you the cave, it is difficult to find. If someone is really tired and have altitude problem, from here you can call a jeep from Dharchen for emergency cases only. After around 2Km ( 1.5 mi ) walk down the valley, the third prostration point of Mt Kailash is reached, where the east face of Mt. Kailash, made of Lapis Lazuli, looms over the hills. This is the exit point of the path at 5118m ( 16791ft ) where people come through the Khangdro Sanglam La pass.

Although it is easy walking in the slightly descending Lhamchu valley, the next 6Km ( 3.7 mi ) seem to stretch longer and longer, until the Topchen Chu joins the Lham chu from the east, and the river is now called Dzong Chu. After another 1.5Km ( 1mi ) the Zutrul Phuk Gompa at 4835m ( 15863ft ) is reached. Zutrul Phuk is the third Gompa on the Kailash Kora.

Zutrul Phuk designates the cave of miracles performed by Milarepa during the competition with Naro Bonchung. The two competitors were running the Kora, Milarepa in clockwise direction, Naro Bonchung counterclockwise, as the Bonpo do. When they met at this place, heavy rain forced them to look for a shelter. The rock plate Milarepa split with his hand to use as a roof was too heavy for Naro Bonchung, so Milarepa had to hold it himself with his head and one hand while putting other rocks under it as support. Then he temped it with his feet from the top of the plate. The plate with Milarepa’s hand imprint on the lower side and his foot imprint on top of it can be seen at Zutrul Phuk Gompa, the monastery built around this miraculous cave ( Tibetan Zutrul means miracle )

Day 3 of Mt. Kailash Kora: Zutrul Phuk Gompa to Zongdo

At Zutrul Phuk Gompa, a path starts which leads up the hills behind the Gompa into the Gedhun Lha Chu or ( Ganden Lha Chu ) valley via Gevo La and Shapje La to the Gyangdark Gompa. The conventional Kora crosses the Gedhun Lha Chu, a river named “the urine of Mt. Kailash” a short distance beyond the Zutrul Phuk Gompa.

For the next 6.5 ( 4 mi ) the Mt. Kailash Kora leads in a southwest direction along the Dzong Chu until the valley opens into the Barka plain at the fourth prostration point to Mt. Kailash. During today’s easy walk down the valley, there are more footprints and other sacred points marked with prayer flags. At the last part of this walk, there is a flat area close to the Dzong Chu, the Dakini Dancing Ground. Above the path is Trangser Trangmar, slope with golden and red sand, where King Gesar shot a Drong ( a wild Yak ) and the blood stained the golden sand red. There are also sands of other colors, malachite green and black, brown and ochre. All the tourists or pilgrims often prefer to complete the Mt. Kailash Kora at Dzongdo and take scenic spot buses back to Dharchen at the distance of 3.5Km ( 2mi ).  

How can you trek to Nandi Kora?

Apart from normal Kailash Kora, there is a couple of different Kailash Kora and among them, Nandi is one of them. At Mt. Kailash, there is a so-called inner Kora, which however does not lead around the holy Mountain but around an outlier in the southeast, the Nandi ( Neten Yelakzung in Tibetan ) at the altitude of 6000m ( 19685ft ). The Buddhist understands it as the landing place of the Buddha with the 500 Arhats, where it is sacred to the Hindus, who understand this mountain as a bull ( Nandi in Sanskrit ), the riding animal of God Shiva. Therefore, this path is more appropriately named Nandi Kora, instead of “inner Kora of Mt. Kailash”. It leads into the south face of Mt.Kailash , where there are the thirteen Chortens ( Serdung Chuksum in Tibetan ) and over the adjacent pass Charok Phurdod La pass at 5806m ( 19049ft ) between Mt.Kailash and Nandi.

How and when you can trek across Khandro Sanglam, known as inner Kora?

An alternative to the Drolma la, the pass of Tara is the path over a steep glacial slope to the Khandro Sanglam ( A short cut and secret path of Dakini ). Dakini is a sky-walking deity. Dakini is one of the female deities which are known as important helpers or consorts in Tantric Buddhism. The lion-faced Dakini is an especially powerful leading Dakini. This secret Dakini path does not lead all around Mt. Kailash, it only covers part of the distance of circumambulation of Kailash. It is treated as very special path, not open to the general pilgrim. Understanding the more or less, circular normal Kailash Kora as the Mandala of Mt. Kailash, these paths lead inside into the Mandala, which is understood as the residence of the deity, to which the holy site Mt, Kailash is assigned. From this it becomes obvious that the pilgrim must collect considerably more merits before being allowed to walk the tracks of these paths of the Inner Kora.

The pilgrims or tourists are only allowed to walk over Khandro Sanglam as long as one did 12 times of Mt. Kailash Kora already. Once someone does twelve times walk around Mt. Kailash Kora, one has the merits or right to walk over the trail of Khandro Sanglam.

What if someone cannot do twelve times of normal Mt. Kailash Kora but really wants to walk over the pass of Khandro Sanglam? According to the Mt. Kailash Kora, it is believed that Mt. Kailash Kora is as the circular of the Mandala and crossing over the Khandro Sanglam is something like walking over the Mandala without opening the door of the Mandala so it is believed that pilgrims should complete twelve circumambulation of Mt.Kailash on the normal Kora and when the pilgrims do thirteen times of circumambulation of Mt. Kailash Kora, it is believed that the door of the Mandala is opened and you can walk across the pass of Khandro Sanglam because Khandro Sanglam is considered as the access into the Mandala.

If the tourists or pilgrims don’t have time of doing twelve times of Kailash Kora, one can take the opportunity of just doing one time Kailash Kora during horse Year. The elements given to the animal of the year define five cycles of twelve years, a way to count cycles of sixty years. The is another way of calculating the merits of the Kailash Kora in the horse year, whereas it is said to be worth twelve times the merits of the Kailash Kora, which means that a Kora in the horse year counts as if the Kora would have been performed in each year of the twelve year cycle so when one does a Kailash Kora in the horse year, one can walk over the Khandro Sanglam pass.

When is the best time to do Mt. Kailash Kora?

In General, the Mt. Kailash Kora can be done from the end of April until the end of October. During these period of the time, usually, there is neither heavy snow fall on the path of Mt. Kailash, nor heavy rainfall as well. There might have some snow on the trail of the Drolma La pass in around end of April and beginning of May or end of October but you could still do the Mt. Kailash Kora except it is a bit colder than usual time.

The best time to do Mt. Kailash Kora is between end of May until mid-July and from the end of August until mid-October. During this period of time, usually, there is neither snow nor rainfall so it is the best blue sky weather most of the time and it is highly recommend to visit Kailash by this time.

What do we need to bring for Kailash Kora?

Here are some suggestions of what to bring for the Kailash Kora, given by Tibet Shambhala Adventure according to our many years’ experience of organizing Kailash tours.

1. Comfortable wind & water proof jacket
2. Comfortable wind & water proof trekking pants
3. Water proof rain coat
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 10-15°C if you camp during Kailash Kora
18. Micro spikes (optional) If there is no heavy snow around Kailash 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.  Blister &first aid kit:

Cold medicine,

Sore-through medicine

Headache medicine

High altitude medicine

Antibiotic

Amoxicillin

Gau Yuan An- very good high-altitude medicine made in Tibet

Antibioaxy blister Pads,

Under wrap,

Wrist brace,

Knee brace,

Adhesive bandages

Medical Tape- Lightweight, breathable surgical tape for blisters and cuts. 

Nitrile Medical Gloves- To prevent cross-contamination in case you need to examine someone.

Antiseptic or Alcohol Wipes- – Cleaning wounds.

Butterfly Closure Strips (3)

Dressing/Gauze – Sterile non-stick absorbent; for larger wounds.

Triple Antibiotic Ointment – Sample size tube.

Hand Sanitizer – Repackaged in a mini dropper bottle

Antihistamine Tablets (3) – For bites and allergic reactions.

Duct tape-tiny roll. Handy for any and all repairs

Antiseptic Applications – burn treatment application

Small Utility Tool – Which has knife, scissors and tweezers; e.g. Swiss army classic knife

Sewing Needle – Use dental floss for thread.

Safety Pins (2) – For slings fashioned from clothing.

Tiny Whistle – Check the sternum strap of your backpack; chances are you have one without knowing.

Mt. Kailash Kora Map

 

Different sacred mountains around Mt. Kailash

New Kailash Northern route tour with Guge Dawa Dzong

There are different programs of Mt Kailash tour including a program starting from Lhasa to Kailash and back to Lhasa or Kyirong to Kailash and back to Kyirong or Hilsa to Kailash or back to Hilsa etc but to have a very unique and adventurous Kailash tour program is quite rare.

Where did you start a New Kailash northern route tour with Guge Kingdom via Dawa Dzong?

During this difficult time of Covid 19, we took a Mt Kailash tour by ourselves instead of resting. We started our Mt Kailash tour from Lhasa on 6^th July 2020, driving along the Kyichu and Yarlung Tsangpo river, surrounded by some beautiful Tibetan villages, driving through Gyantse, Shigtase which are the most important cultural sites of western Tibet.

We continued our new Kailash northern route tour through Sangsang, Saga, Mansarovar lake, Mt Kailash, Purang county, Tirthapuri, Dawa Dzong, Tholing, Guge Kingdom, Changtse, the best Tholing scenic spot in the western part of Tibet, Tashigang monastery, Ngari prefecture, Pangong tso lake, Rutok Wujiang village, Kailash northern route through Gegye, Gertse, Tsochen, Nima, Bangga counties, Namtso lake, Damxiong county and finally to Lhasa.  

What we can see on the way between Lhasa and Shigatse when you travel to Kailash from Lhasa?

After passing by Kyichu, which starts from Nyenchen Thangla mountain range and Yarlung Tsangpo valley which creates by the Yarlung Tsangpo, know as Brahmaputra River, starts it’s source from Mt. Kailash, we drove through Kampala pass at the elevation of 4974m. The weather is very nice, sunny with blue sky and the scenery is extremely beautiful from the top of the pass. All the tourists when they start their Kailash pilgrimage tour from Lhasa, they go through this route and take photos of the Yamdrok lake from the top of Kampala pass.

What we can see before reaching the top of Kampala pass during our Mt Kailash tour?

During the travel to Mt. Kailash from Lhasa, we stopped at a scenic spot before reaching Yamdrok lake. while we were driving through the zigzag roads of Kampala pass during our Kailash pilgrimage tour, there are some beautiful animals, owned by local people including a very cute mountain goat, big Tibetan traditional nomad dogs and Yak. You can take some nice and cute photos of those animals but it is better to ask the locals before you take photos because they charge a little bit of money for photos. It is always better to ask before showing your action so that you won’t get bad experience during your Mt Kailash tour.

Tibet is a very beautiful place and it has lots of beautiful scenic spots including snow mountains, beautiful lakes, monasteries and temples as well as very kind and friendly people that you can see during your Mt Kailash tour but sometimes, people might not be interested in behaving like a real Tibetan if you did not ask him or her to allow you to take photos.

 

What we can see from the top of Kamapa La pass when we travel to Kailash from Lhasa?

Driving continuously up to the top of Kampala pass, we got a very beautiful view of Yamdrok lake and Noijin Kangsang snow mountain, located to the west of Yamdrok lake near Nakartse county. The height of Noijin Kangsang snow mountain is 7206m and it is one of the most difficult snow mountains to climb. Going through Yamdrok lake and Kampa la pass is a must during your Kailash tour and it is one of the highest snow mountains during Mt Kailash tour apart from Mt. Everest.

 

What we can see after Nakartse county during our Mt Kailash tour?

After having a great view of entire western part of Yamdrok lake, continue driving along the Yamdrok lake and enjoy seeing the most beautiful view of Yamdrok lake from your car’s window.

After Nakartse county, we stopped at Karola glacier which is just after crossing Karola pass at the elevation of 5050m above sea level. The glacier with a very beautiful white Tibetan stupa in front of it is extremely beautiful. At the same time, you can also see a small herder’s camp at the foot of the glacier with Tibetan Yak and sheep. Visiting Karola glacier and Noejing Kangsang snow mountain is one of the interesting things to have during your Tibet tour and all the tourists who travel to Mt. Everest Base Camp, Tibet to Nepal overland tour or travel to Kailash from Lhasa always stop here for photos.

 

After spending around 15 minutes of taking photos and seeing the glacier of Noijin Kangsang snow mountain, we drive down the valley towards Gyantse through Simila pass at the elevation of around 4200m. From the top of the pass, you will see a reservoir, looks like a small beautiful lake. This is the only lake made by men that you see during the Mt Kailash tour.

Visit Gyantse town is a must during your Mt Kailash tour but not recommend to spend a night in Gyantse.

Reaching Gyantse, the most least influenced of modernization and a beautiful fertile land of Tibet, visit Palchoe monastery and Kubum Pagoda stupa which has around six hundred years history is highly recommended during Kailash travel.

If you like to have an entire view of Gyantse town including Palchoe monastery and Kubum Pagoda stupa, it is a good idea to climb to the top of fortress in Gyantse, known as Gyantse Dzong in Tibetan. Gyantse Dzong is located on a rocky hill in the center of Gyantse town and it has several hundred years of history. If your dream is to have beautiful view of every parts of Tibet during your Kailash travel, it is highly recommend to climb to the top of the Gyantse Dzong where you can get a great view of entire Gyantse town.

The old town of Gyantse is worthy to visit and walk around. You can meet lots of local people, riding horse carts like in the olden days and most of the shops in the old town of Gyantse sell different kinds of Tibetan traditional clothes, furniture, ornaments etc.

If you like to walk more during your Mt Kailash tour, it is recommend to go to visit Palchoe monastery and Kubum Pagoda stupa by walking as you are passing by the street of the old town of Gyantse which takes you around 20 minutes to get to the monastery by walk.

After Gyantse, we continue our Mt Kailash tour and drive to Shigatse, the second largest city of Tibet. The distance between Gyantse and Shigatse is 90km and nowadays, it takes you around one hour only because the road condition is extremely good, especially the highway after Bainang county. Shigatse is the important place to stop over when you travel to Kailash or to Everest base camp.

Can we visit a Tibetan family on the way during our Mt Kailash tour?

We stopped in a Tibetan family on the way in order to have a better and more authentic experienced Kailash trip program for the clients during their Tibet tour after the Covid 19 is over. The Tibetan family is located after around 20Km drive from Gyantse near Drongtse monastery. Drongtse is the second largest monastery in Gyantse town.

We were welcomed by the family and all the members of the family are very friendly and kind. They offered us Tibetan traditional tea, Barley beer, different kinds of Tibetan traditional snack. We can see the real life of Tibetans living in the farming land and enjoying their rich, happy and beautiful life.

The way of their dressing, way of their living, way of welcoming to the people into their family, how the Tibetans treat a guest who come to visit a family. At the same time, we can also see those who are wearing beautiful Tibetan traditional clothes and offering Tibetan tea or Tibetan food to their guest in a very polite way.

The house of this Tibetan family is a two story high and the furniture in the houses are beautifully designed in Tibetan traditional style and the wall is beautifully painted in Tibetan traditional style too with different kinds of flowers and other drawing. Many of the furniture including the cushion are made of wool.

The architecture of the house is in a real Tibetan traditional styled two stories high and it was built by rocks, rabbles, wood and mud. The outside of the building is extremely beautiful and white washed along the walls. All the frames of the window is black and they said this black color can keep inside the house cool when it is hot and warm when it is cold.

The prayer flags onto the rooftop are extremely beautiful and they said that the prayer flags are displayed with new prayer flags during Tibetan New Year in order to wish a good luck for the New Year and to get good luck and auspiciousness for all the members of the family and their loved ones. Visiting a Tibetan family can make Mt Kailash tour more authentic and unique.

Do we have to take the old road to Shigatse from Bainang county when we travel to Mt. Kailash from Lhasa?

During our Mt Kailash tour, we don’t necessarily have to take the old route from Bainang county to Shigatse. We can take a highway to Shigatse after Bainang county. 

We continued our journey towards Shigatse and just after Bainang county, we saw a sign board to go to Shigatse Heping airport which is a high way, built recently.

Heping airport was built 30th October 2010 and it has become one of the most important airports in Tibet for the tourists who go to Kailash two times. They did not have to go to Lhasa for their second time and instead, they can fly directly to Shigatse from Chengdu and drive directly to Mt Kailash from Shigatse.

The distance from Bainang county until we get to the next sign board of the highway to the airport and to Shigatse is 7 Km and from there to Shigatse is 18Km. The road condition between Gyantse and Shigatse is very good and we can drive over 100Km per hour.

What we can see in Shigatse when we do Mt Kailash tour from Lhasa?

We reached Shigatse very quickly because of a very good road condition. It has been for a while for me since I did not go to Shigatse. I found Shigatse got a big development and the city has been extended to the east and south, much bigger than before. Another surprising thing about Shigatse is that the city has become very clean and more beautiful.

If the tourists fly to Shigatse direclty from Chengdu for their second or third time Mt Kailash tour, Shigatse is an important place to acclimatize to the high altitude and we recommend to spend two nights in Shigatse. The tourists can have a visit in Shigatse in the morning and a short excursion to Shalu monastery in the afternoon which is around 25km distance from Shigatse.

Eventhough it is the crucial time of Covid 19 in other parts of the world, Tibet still acts like normal since there is not any single case of Corona virus so we saw a lot of Tibetans and domestic tourists are visiting Tashi Lhunpo monastery, one of the six largest Gelukpa sect monasteries in Tibet and it is the seat of the Penchen Lama. During Tibet Nepal overland tour or Mt Kailash tour from Lhasa, visiting Tashi Lhunpo monastery is a must.

If you arrive in Shigatse on a right time, you will also see Thangka displaying festival. When you plan your Mt Kailash tour, it is very important to look for a professional Tibetan travel agent like Tibet Shambhala Adventure so that they will design you a very good Mt Kailash tour program including those famous festivals in Tibet.

 

What we recommend to visit in Shigatse during your Mt Kailash tour?

If you stopped in Shigatse during the Kailash pilgrimage tour , it is always recommend to go to the old market of Shigatse which is located to the foot of Shigatse fortress ( Dzong in Tibetan ). You can see different kinds of Tibetan traditional items including souvenirs and local Tibetan products. Even if you don’t buy, it is always very interesting to see local Tibetan products as they are so beautiful and unique.

Is it important to include Gyantse and Shigatse during your Mt Kailash tour?

When you take a Mt Kailash tour, starting from Lhasa, visiting Gyantse and Shigatse is a must visit places during the Kailash tour since you can see lots of interesting things on the way including the most beautiful and historical sites of Palchoe monastery, Kubum Pagoda stupa and Tashi Lhunpo monastery. They are the most important sites to visit during Tibet tour.

Nowadays, is it important to spend a night in Gyantse during the new Kailash northern route tour?

Since the road condition is extremely good on the way to Kailash, especially the road condition between Lhasa and Shigatse via Gyantse is extremely beautiful and nice so there is no point for you to spend a night in Gyantse during your Mt Kailash tour because you can reach Shigatse easily including a visit to Yamdrok lake, Palchoe monastery and Kubum Pagoda stupa so we recommend to drive to Shigatse directly especially, when you take a New Kailash northern route tour with Guge Kingdom via Dawa Dzong so that you will get more time to explore around Kailash, Guge Kingdom, Ngari prefecture and Purang county.

Is accommodation better in Shigatse than in Gyantse during Mt Kailash tour?

Regarding on the accommodation during the Kailash tour, it is far better accommodation in Shigatse than in Gyantse and you can get plenty of options to choose the hotels in Shigatse including many 4* hotels. During our new Kailash northern route tour, we stayed in Jomo Langzom hotel, located in the center of Shigatse. The rooms are big, nice and shower is available for 24 hours so it is good.

 

 

Is there a 5* hotel available in Shigatse during Mt Kailash tour?

So far, the best available hotel in Shigatse is 4 star hotels but according to old Shigatse hotel’s up-grade, the original Shigatse hotel was completely destroyed and now they are building a new hotel. They said the old Shigatse hotel is going to be displaced by a new Hilton in Shigatse which is under construction.

Once this new Hilton is ready, we will get a facility of 5 star hotel on the way to Mt Kailash after Lhasa. We will definitely update to our dear guests about this up-coming Hilton in Shigatse as it is a very important Tibet travel news for our clients who travel to Mt Kailash from Lhasa.

How many passes we drove through from Lhasa to Shigatse during our Mt Kailash tour?

We drove through three high mountain passes, including Kampala pass at the elevation of 4794m, Karola pass at the altitude of 5200m as the highest mountain pass during our Kailash travel between Lhasa and Shigatse. The third highest pass is Simila pass at the altitude of 4200m above sea level.

How to travel to Kailash and Mansarovar in one day from Shigatse?

We woke up by around 5.30 in the morning and continued our Mt Kailash tour at 6.00 Am from Shigatse. The road condition for today is very good and our aim is to drive to Purang county from Shigatse at the distance of over 1200km. We reached Mansarovar lake and Kailash by around 17.50 and continued to Purang county and reached there by around 19.30 but for the tourists and pilgrims, we don’t recommend to drive that long in a day because in the one hand, you don’t get much time to enjoy the scenery and in the other hand, you really need very good 4*4 land cruisers to drive like that if you want to finish Kailash trip in a shorter period of time.  

What we can see and how many high mountain passes between Shigatse and Saga during our Mt Kailash tour?

We drove through Tongsa la pass at the altitude of 4000m just after we left Shigatse city. On the way, we will see some beautiful Tibetan villages and their traditional Tibetan houses. We drove through Tsola pass at the elevation of 4500m and enjoy seeing colorful and beautiful Tibetan prayer flags on the top of the pass. We continued towards Saga via Lhatse county.

Lhatse county is located at the altitude of 4018m above sea level and it is a very important junction where people travel to Mt Kailash and another way is to go to Mt Everest Base Camp and to the Kyirong border between Nepal and Tibet. The people in Lhatse county live on farming and they also rear cattle, sheep, Yaks and cows. The living standard of the people in Lhatse county is quite good.

After Lhatse checkpoint at 318 friendship highway, we left the friendship highway which is the way to Kyirong border, the border between Tibet and Nepal and took 219 Tibet highway which is the main highway to travel to Mount Kailash. The road condition is still the same and it is very good.

The next county seat that we encountered is Ngamring county at the distance of 70Km and the scenery is quite similar. We drove through Ngamring pass at the altitude of 4500m and could see a small beautiful lake on our left hand side. Ngamring county is the starting point of western Tibetan plateau and you will begin to see Tibetan nomad camps and wild animals during the Mt Kailash tour.

From Ngamring county, continued our Mt Kailash tour by crossing several mountain passes until we reached Sangsang town. The distance between Ngamring county and Sangsang town is 40Km.

We passed by Ngamring small pass at 4520m just after Ngamring county, second pass called Bangla pass at 4710m and Gala pass at 4783m. On the way, we can see a beautiful small monastery on our right hand side, looks like a retreat, called Riwo Tasang Gon. It is a very sacred Nyingmapa sect monastery and there are monks who are doing meditation in the monastery all the time.

 If you had enough time during the Mt Kailash tour, it is recommend to have a short Tibet trek to the monastery from the road. The monastery is located on a small hill in the middle of nowhere and it is around 45 minutes’ walk to go there and come back.

The scenery between Ngamring county and Sangsang town during the Mt Kailash tour is very beautiful. It is a vast grassland, dominated by Tibetan nomad camps and their Yak and sheep, grazing on those beautiful green grasslands. We took our breakfast in Sangsang town and found out that the best hotel in Sangsang is Sangsang Nesang hotel which has over 50 rooms with shower and toilet attached. The altitude of Sangsang is 4587m above sea level.

Prior to the construction of the highway to Mt Kailash, lots of tourists spend a night in Sangsang and camped in the grassland but nowadays, there are very less tourist who stop over in Sangsang since they can reach Saga easily from Shigatse in a day as the entire road was paved.

 

What is the distance from Sangsang to Saga and how many mountain passes and how beautiful the landscape in between is during Mt Kailash tour?

Sangsang is the starting point of the real adventure of Mt Kailash tour and it is a beautiful and vast grassland plateau. Sangsang town is the junction to go to Mt. Kailash and another way is to go to Dangra Young Tso lake. Dangra Young Tso lake is one of the most beautiful lakes in Tibet and it is one of the second largest lakes in Tibet. Around the lake, there is a beautiful snow mountain called Mt. Targo and you can reach the snow mountain by driving from Sangsang directly or from Tongmon county in Shigatse.

After Sangsang, around 20km drive, Lhade Karpo monastery is on your right hand side and it’s good to walk to the monastery on the hill. If the Kailash tour has enough time, visiting those monasteries on the way and do some short meditation is another paradise during Mt. Kailash pilgrimage tour.

The next junction is at 22 road maker station at the distance of 110km from Sangsang town. From there, you can decide to take Kailash northern route or Kailash southern route tour. If you take 219 road continuously, you are taking Kailash southern route and if you left the main road and are going to take your right-side road, then you are going to travel to Kailash through Kailash northern route which means, you are traveling through Tsochen, Gertse, Gegye counties and then to Ngari prefecture respectively and finally drive to Mt. kailash from Shiquanhe.

From 22 road worker station, there is still 70km to Saga. After Sangsang , the first pass is Kodola at 4990m and the highest pass between Sangsang and Saga is at 5070m.

Just before reaching Saga, we crossed the last pass between Saga and Lhatse is at 4831m above sea level. We finally reached Saga located at the Yarlung Tsangpo river bank with the elevation of 4470m above sea level. Saga is a very important stop over county when the tourists or locals who travel to Mount Kailash. The tourists who got Mt Kailash from Nepal border also spend a night in Saga in order to acclimatize to the high altitude.

Nowadays, there are around 5 good hotels and around 10 other small hotels and guest houses in Saga so most of the time, you can get accommodation booked easily but if you want to book the best hotels in Saga, we recommend to make the reservation a week before since there are lots of tourists during the peak season of Mt kailash travel.

 

What we can see between Saga and Zhongba county when we travel to Kailash from Lhasa?

We stopped for petrol in Saga and then continued our Mt Kailash tour. Just after Saga county, the first pass that we drove across is Tatsel la pass （ཁྲ་ཚལ་ལ in Tibetan）at the elevation of 4797m and if the weather is clear, we can see beautiful rocky and snow mountain on our right hand side.

After around 20Km drive from Saga county, we can see Ringsong Rinyur monastery on the right hand side in old Saga and another monastery called Dargyeling monastery on the right hand side. If you are camping between Saga and Zhongba county when you drive from Kailash to Saga, it is recommended to camp at Dargyeling monastery. It is a very beautiful campsite and you can have a beautiful and quite night in the western Tibetan plateau during the Mt Kailash tour.

We continued our Mt Kailash tour by passing second pass after Saga, called Togyela at the elevation of 4920m and finally reached old Zhongba with a small beautiful monastery. We drove into new Zhongba which is the present county seat and need to drive around 3km in the right hand valley to reach the county seat. We had nice Tibetan styled lunch in Zhongba county.

Old Zhongba is a very important place for Indian pilgrims who do Mt. Kailash pilgrimage tour to stop for their tea break and toilet time. Nowadays, there is a newly constructed building for the Indian pilgrims, built by Tibet Tourism Bureau for the tea break and resting during their Kailash pilgrimage tour. For the local Tibetan pilgrims and tourists, it is also interesting to stop in old Zhongba because there is a beautiful and small monastery that they can visit in old Zhongba county.

 

What is the distance from Zhongba to Kailash and what can we see on the way during our Kailash northern route tour?

 After Zhongba county, we were driving through a vast grass land and on the way to Mt Kailash, we passed by some beautiful small desert. We drove through another mountain pass at the elevation of 4760m and while we were driving down the valley, the landscape is very beautiful dominated by a huge western Tibetan plateau, surrounded by snow capped mountains, beautiful green grassland, exotic desert land and beautiful lakes. It is another paradise for the tourists who like to take photos during Mt Kailash tour.

The distance between Zhongba county and Baryang town is 90km and we drove along the Brahmaputra river. There are 200Km more from Baryang to Mansarovar lake and Mt. Kailash.

Continuously drove through the vast plateau of western Tibet, seeing different kinds of wild animals, beautiful Tibetan nomad camps and many Tibetan nomads who are grazing Tibetan Yak and sheep. Such kind of landscape is tremendously beautiful, unique and fantastic that you can only see during Kailash travel.

The highest pass that we drove through during our Mt Kailash tour is Mayumla pass at the altitude of 5211m which is even higher than Everest base camp. Before reaching Mansarovar lake, we encountered another lake called Duktso means poison lake on our left hand side. From Duktso lake, we will reach Mansarovar lake pretty easily. The road condition for today is also very good and there is no speed limit so we can drive over 120km per hour and it is the most beautiful part of during our Kailash travel.

 

When can we see the Mansarovar lake and Mt Kailash for the first time when we travel to Mt. Kailash from Lhasa?

Reaching Chaktsalkang which is the first view point of Mansarovar lake and Mount Kailash. Just after checkpoint, when your car is driving towards Chaktsalkang, the first time of seeing Mansarovar lake and Mt Kailash is the most exciting moment during the Kailash journey.

When we saw Mansarovar lake and Mount Kailash at our first site, it was just a paradise, Nothing else can be described. After over a 1000km distance drive in a day, when we saw Mt Kailash and lake Mansarovar, we were just overwhelmed and couldn’t explain how beautiful, energetic and spiritual feeling that we had in our spirit.

The Mansarovar lake is as beautiful as it was before and Mt Kailash is as great and mysterious as before. The prayer flags at Chaktsalkang is still extremely beautiful which gives us more peace, spirituality and comfort in our soul where we can feel the real blessing of Mt. Kailash and Mansarovar lake.

 

What is the distance from Mansarovar lake to Chiu Gompa and from Chiu Gompa to Purang county?

After having a great time of taking photos and enjoy seeing the most beautiful view of Mansarovar lake and Mt Kailash from distance, we continued to Chiu Gompa at the distance of 30Km. From Chiu Gompa, you will get another fantastic view of Mansarovar lake and Mt Kailash. We continued to Purang county from Chiu Gompa at the distance of 80Km and spend our night in Purang county.

During your Mt Kailash tour, visiting Chaktsalkang, Chiu Gompa and Tarpoche is a must because from all those three places, you will get different kinds of excellent view point of Mt Kailash and Mansarovar lake.

Purang is one of the most beautiful and comfortable county seats in Ngari prefecture. The actual altitude of Purang county is 3980m above sea level and it is one of the lowest places in the Kailash region. We can see trees and fields in Purang county. There are a couple of most sacred monasteries and temples which have thousand years history and contains a lot of relics including the statue of Jowo in Korcha monastery ( Korchanath by Hindu people )

Purang was a trading town in the olden days between Nepal and Tibet and now it is the administrative center of Purang county under Ngari prefecture. Nowadays, it is one of the important borders between Nepal and China Tibet for both tourists, Indian pilgrims and trades who want to do Kailash pilgrimage or Kailash trek. Purang is also the place where it has many famous river sources of Himalaya including Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra river ( Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan ) and Karnali river, known as peacock river.

From the county seat of Purang, there is 16Km distance to Khorzhak monastery (also written Korchak monastery ) located in Khorzhak town at the elevation of 3730m. Khorzhak monastery is a very old and historical Buddhist monastery in Tibet and it is also believed by Hindus and called as Kojanath for both town and the monastery by Indians. It is recommended to visit Khozhak monastery during Mt Kailash tour.

We drove further down to the Sher border located at 3650m and the driving distance is 30Km. Sher border is the place where usually our tourists come to Kailash by trekking throughout the west Nepal or the tourists or Indian pilgrims who want to exit the border between Tibet and Nepal from Purang county after the Kailash travel.

Purang is a very important place for the tourists or Indian pilgrims who are sick from high altitude during the Kailash tour and could not do Mt Kailash Kora. When they have bad headache or feeling bad from high altitude, it is recommend to drive to Purang county because the altitude between Dharchen or Mansarovar lake and Purang county is over 1000m different so as soon the tourists or pilgrims drive down to Purang county from their Mt Kailash tour, the next day,, they will feel better or they can go to hospital too because Purang county is the closest county seat from Mt Kailash where there is a better hospital facility during the Kailash trekking.

 

How is the accommodation facility in Purang county of Kailash region?

There are two very good hotels and some basic hotels and guest houses in Purang county. The newest and best hotel is Purang Yincheng Shengtai hotel and the second best hotel is Purang Himalaya hotel. Both of the hotels have shower and restaurants. Some of those basic hotels do also have shower but they only provide hot water during a specific time so Purang county is one of the richest and best conditioned county seat entire Kailash region.

What we can visit around Purang county during the Kailash travel?

There are three very nice and historical monasteries in Purang county. The most sacred and oldest monastery is Khorzhak monastery which has many old statues and relics that have very long history. When the tourists travel from Simikot to Kailash to do Kailash trek, it is always recommended to visit this monastery.

The second monastery is Gokung monastery, built on a cliff overlooking Purang county. When you visit the monastery, you need to climb through steep ladders. There are some beautiful caves and meditation rooms. The third monastery is Shepeling monastery, located on a small hill, overlooking Purang county. The monastery was rebuilt into the present site. In the olden days, they said there were also Dzong within the monastery. Purang is also one of the most cultural and historical site to visit during your Kailash journey.

 

 

Can we have a good view of Mt Kailash, Mansarovar and Rakshastal lake when we drive to Tarpoche near Mt. Kailash from Purang county?

After breakfast, we left Purang county and drove towards Tarpoche ( Sershong Darchen in Tibetan ) at the distance of 115Km from Purang county. Sershong is the place where there are colorful prayer flags and a giant prayer flag pole which has been displaced by new ones every year during the Kailash Saga Dawa festival. Thousands of local Tibetans including important Tibetan monks gather in Sershong every year during Kailash Saga Dawa Festival and change the prayer flags and do a big religious ritual ceremony. At the same time, there are full of tourists and Indian pilgrims too for doing Kailash Kora during this special Kailash Saga Dawa festival.

On the way, we had a great view of Rakshastal lake ( Nganglark Tso in Tibetan ), standing at the altitude of 4575m and the Mansarovar lake ( Mapam Yumtso in Tibetan ) standing at the altitude of 4590m. While we were driving nearby Chiu Gompa, we got a fantastic view of Mt Kailash in the distance.

The colorful giant prayer flag ( Tarpoche ) just standing in front of the west face of Mt Kailash , surrounded by thousands of different kinds of colored prayer flags, raised by the pilgrims, coming from different regions of Tibet and the tourists from all over the world for doing Kailash trek. Above Tarpoche, there is a mountain of 500 Bodhisattva and above that sacred mountain is the mountain seat of of the God of wealth, Zampa la in Tibetan. There is also a sky burial in Tarpoche where the local people in Ngari region use this for the sky burial. During your Mt Kailash tour, you might see Tibetans with dead body for the sky burial but not recommend to make photos of the dead body which is not good for the family of the dead people.

 

 

How can we drive to Tirthapuri & Guru Gyam via exploring the source of Sutlej River during the Kailash tour?

From Tarpoche, we continued our Mt Kailash tour and drove towards Tirthapuri. After around 20km drive from Tarpoche, we saw a small road on our left side to Dulju Gompa at the distance of 14km from the main road. Dulju Gompa is a Nyingmapa sect monastery and it has over 1300 years history so it is the most historical monastery in the Kailash region.

If we drove further to the south at the distance of around 15Km, we reach the source of Sutlej river. Many of our second or third time visitors to Mt Kailash, they like to explore the Sutlej river. When the tourists did not get enough time to travel further to Guge Kingdom, but still many tourists or pilgrims like to extend their travel to Tirthapuri during the Kailash trek because Tirhapuri is another historical and important pilgrimage place in the Kailash region.

Continued our Mt Kailash tour towards Guge Kingdom and Tholing. We directly drove to Tirthapuri at the distance of 31Km on a durt road. The road condition is quite good so even a mini van can also drive this way to Tirthapuri.

We had a short visit to Tirtapuri monastery and continued our Kailash adventure tour to Guru Gyam monastery at the distance of 13Km. Guru Gyam monastery has a very long history and it is a Bon monastery which preserved a lot of antiques and relics of the monastery with more than thousand years history. The most important object of the monastery is the statue, made of stone with thousands of years history. From Tirtapuri on wards, the road condition is really good.

After finishing Mt Kailash Kora, it is recommend to do a short excursion to Tirthapuri and Kyunglung Guru Gyam as Kyunglung Guru Gyam is the head quarter of Shangshong Kingdom and Shangshong kingdom was a very large kingdom until the Tibetan King Songtsan Gampo reunited Tibet in the 7th century so it is very worthy to visit Guru Gyam during your Kailash pilgrimage tour.

 

 

 

Can we travel to Tholing and Guge Kingdom via Dawa Dzong during the Kailash northern route tour?

The good news that since 2020, we don’t have to drive back and forth to the main road between Mt Kailash and Ngari prefecture from Guru Gyam when we drove to Tholing. What we could do is we can directly drive to Tholing from Guru Gyam monastery by taking the most adventurous and mysterious route of Dawa Dzong so we could just do a loop tour around Tholing instead of taking the same road for two times like before which is the road from Mt. Kailash to Tirthapuri and then to Tholing and back to Tirthapuri from Tholing through the same road . 

Previously, the road through Dawa Dzong was very bad but since this year, the road between Guru Gyam to Tholing via Dawa Dzong was completely paved and wide so even if there are many mountain passes, it’s easy and safe to drive to Tholing via Dawa Dzong and the scenery along the way is fantastic. Driving to Tholing via Dawa Dzong is a dream for many of our old customers who already did Mt Kailash tour and we think this will be a very important and nice loup tour of Mt Kailash and Tholing in the future.

Just after Guru Gyam, we continued our Kailash journey and started driving through our first zigzag pass at the elevation of 4520m and passed by a small village and a monastery called Choelung, we again crossed our second pass at 4741m. After the pass, we saw a sign board that shows another way to the south to go to Lagnyi Tso lake at the distance of 90Km. After that we drove through our third mountain pass at 4933km and drove down, reached the fourth pass at 4536m, fifth pass 4530m, and sixth pass at 4521m so this is the real road of adventure during Mt Kailash trek and it is the paradise of Tibet adventure tour.

Just after sixth pass, we reached the ruins of Dawa Dzong and the village nearby. Dawa Dzong was a very important and famous Dzong in the olden days and it had monastery called Dawa Dongpo monastery, caves and the Dzong. There is a village called Dawa Dongpo village. In the olden days, Dawa Dongpo Dzong was one of the riches Dzongs in Kailash region as people say that there are lots antiques that people could find from under ground and consider the antiques that come from Dawa Dongpo village are the most expensive and the best quality ones.

After Dawa Dzong, we continued our Mt Kailash tour and crossed the seventh pass at 4488m, eighth pass at 4510m, 9^th pass at 4508m, 10^th pass at 4444m. When were climbing our last pass between Gurugyam and Tholing, we stopped at Malang scenic spot viewpoint. From there, we can get one of the best view of the Tholing landscape. If you had enough time, it is recommend to include Tholing and Guge Kingdom in your Mt Kailash tour.

 

 

How is the road condition to Tholing via Dawa Dzong that we took from Mt. Kailash?

Just after Malang scenic spot viewpoint, we continued our Mt Kailash tour by crossing the 11^th pass which is the last pass between Guru Gyam and Tholing through Dawa Dzong. The distance from Guru Gyam to Dawa Dongpo Gompa and it’s ruins of Dawa Dzong is 110km and from Dawa Dzong to the junction to go to Guge Kingdom and Tholing monastery or Tsaparang county is 115Km. From the Junction to Tsaparang county on your right hand side is 10Km and the Guge Kingdom on your left hand side is 8Km.

Since there are many mountain passes, climbing up and down too many times, it is better to start a bit earlier from Mansarovar lake or Dharchen to Tholing if you took the road via Dawa Dzong. The mountain passes that we took are not the same as the other mountain passes that we took between Saga and Kailash because Dawa Dzong and Tholing area are located in a Tholing gorge so the mountain passes are more steep eventhough they are not very high comparing to other mountain passes in Ngari but the scenery between Guru Gyam and Tholing through Dawa Dzong is extremely beautiful and unique so we recommend to do this route if you go further to Tholing and Guge Kingdom after your Mt Kailash tour.

 

 

How is the accommodation facility in Tholing and Guge Kingdom during your Mt Kailash tour?

Sofar, the best hotels are Tholing Chengbao and Guge hotel. Both of these two hotels have very good rooms, shower for 24 hours available. The breakfast is Buffet. There are also a few other smaller hotels which also provide shower and toilet attached but they are small hotels so for a bigger group of Mt Kailash tour, it is always recommend to use Chengbao or Guge hotels. Below the Guge Kingdom, there is a neighborhood of Guge town and there are around 15-20 families who run family guest house. They are clean and do have public shower so it is also nice to have family stay in order to get more authentic experience of your Mt Kailash tour.

When is the best time to see the sunrise view of Guge Kingdom and Tholing landscape during the visit to Mt. Kailash?

We woke up by around 6.30 Am and drove to Guge Kingdom at the distance of 18Km. We reached at the foot of Guge Kingdom by around 7.00 Am and the light already came during that time. The best time to have a very good sunrise view of Guge Kingdom and Tholing landscape is by around 7.50 in the morning so what you can do is you directly drive to Guge Kingdom early in the morning, enjoy the sunrise view of Guge Kingdom and Tholing landscape and then back to hotel and have breakfast. To enjoy the view of the sunrise of Guge Kingdom and Tholing landscape is one of the most beautiful part of your Kailash travel.

 

 

Can we visit Changtse village and Changtse Tholing scenic spot when you travel to Mt. Kailash from Lhasa?

We drove directly to Changtse from Tholing through the newly paved road at the distance of 70Km. The road condition is very good and the scenery of Tholing is extremely beautiful. After around an hour drive, we reached Changtse scenic spot. It is a fantastic place to see the most beautiful landscape of Tholing. It is more beautiful than the one in Tholing gorge. Changtse gorge is the most beautiful scenery of the Tholing entire Ngari region. It is highly recommended to include in the program of your Kailash and Guge Kingdom tour.

 

After visiting Changtse, can we directly drive to Namru and then to Shiquanhe ( Ngari prefecture ) in order to continue Kailash northern route tour?

After Changtse, we continued our Mt Kailash tour by crossing three very high mountain passes, the first pass is at 5385m, second pass is at 5247m and the last pass is at 5329m above sea level. The scenery on the way is completely changed from Tholing landscape into a green grassland and high plateau pasture land.

On the way, we saw some beautiful landscape of Tholing, marvelous snowcapped mountain and green grassland, beautiful nomad camps and flock of Yak and sheep, grazing on the beautiful grassland and hot spring at Namru. From Changtse to Namru is 87Km and from Namru to Shiquanhe is 72Km. The road all the way from Tholing to Shiquanhe via Changtse and Namru is completely paved. This is a newly paved road between Tholing county and Shiquanhe so it is a good plan if you include this route in your Kailash trip.

 

 

During our Mt Kailash tour, can we drive directly to Tashigang monastery near the border to India?

After 18km drive from Namru on the way to Shiquanhe, there is a road on our left hand side just before reaching Gunsa airport ( Nagri Kunsha airport ) is the junction to go to Tashigang monastery and from the Junction to Tashigang monastery is 71 Km and the road is paved all the way.

The scenery on the way is extremely beautiful and different from Tholing area. Just before reaching Tashigang monastery, there is a very beautiful pasture land with some small ponds.. The Yak and Sheep are being grazed on this beautiful green grassland. It is extremely beautiful with green grassland, blue sky and black Yak in the middle of nowhere. Tashi Gang is one of the borders that is very close to Indian border. If you had time during Kailash trip, it is recommend to drive here.

 

Is it worthy to visit Tashigang monastery during our Kailash northern route tour?

Most of the tourists don’t go to Tashigang monastery when they do Mt Kailash tour because it is very far and not familiar to other tourists but it is a very interesting place to visit and the monastery has a long history with lots of old statues and relics that we can see even in the present day. From Tashigang monastery to Shiquanhe is 90Km. We took a loop way to Shiquanhe and on the way, we saw the ruins of Rala Karmar Dzong, built by Kyide Ngima Gon with more than thousand year’s history. There is a very beautiful picnic place and we had our lunch at the picnic place. The ruins of Rala Karmar Dzong is just infront of the picnic place.

We reached Shiquanhe in the early afternoon. If you like to continue your Kailash adventure towards Kashgar, then you can drive further to Rutog county at the distance of 124Km and further to Yecheng at the distance of 1052km from Shiquanhe.

In Shiquanhe, there is not much to do since it is a new city but it is a good place to take a rest in a comfortable hotel with nice shower after a long Kailash tour. After dinner, you are recommended to have a short walk along the Shiquanhe River as the view of the Shiquanhe city is beautiful in the night time.

 

 

How is the accommodation in Shiquanhe ( Ngari prefecture ) during the Kailash tour?

Nowadays, the accommodation facility in Shiquanhe is far better than before and the best hotels are Ali Da Jiudian ( Ngari grand hotel ) and Shangshong hotel. They provide 24 hours hot water and the breakfast is also quite good eventhough most of the items are in Chinese styles.

In the rooms of Ngari grand hotel, they also have oxygen attached and if you are in the need of emergency of taking oxygen, you can ask the reception to provide the oxygen, and take it from your room. They charge according to the hours that you use.

There are some other nice and standard hotels which also provide shower and toilet attached and the rooms are clean enough. The accommodation in Shiquanhe is already very comfortable and it is nice to spend a night there to take good shower and relax during the Kailash trip.

 

How far is it from Shiquanhe to Rutog county in the Kailash region?

The distance from Shiquanhe to Rutog county is 124Km and it takes you around one hour and thirty minuets. The road condition is very good and it is the way to go to Kashigar and Urumqi after your Kailash travel. Between Shiquanhe and Rutog county, we crossed a high pass called “Lamila at 5130m。In Tibetan, if we directly translate Lamila into English, it means no pass. Why it’s called Lamila is because the pass is kind of flat , neither need to climb a mountain nor need to drive through zigzag road. It is just a kind of flat mountain pass that’s why it is called Lamila pass but the altitude is pretty high already comparing to the mountain passes in the Tholing region.

 

What can we see around Rutog county when you make Mt Kailash tour?

Rutog at 4313m is a county seat in Nagri prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of People’s Republic of China located near the border between India and China Tibet. There is a beautiful Gyawo snow mountain in Rutog and Maka grassland. We can visit Bangong Tso which is a very beautiful lake and at the harbor of the lake, we can see beautiful birds flying above the lake. During your Mt Kailash tour, it is a good idea to include Bangong Tso if you had enough time to explore.

The Bangong Tso lake covers an area of 604 square Kilometers, from which of China is 413 square Kilometers, accounting for about 68.5%, the Indian-controlled Kashmir area is 191 square Kilometers, accounting for about 31.5%. The east-west length is about 150 kilometers, and the north-south average width is about 4 Kilometers. Bangong Tso is one of the most beautiful scenic spots after Mansarovar lake. It is also interesting for the tourists to see another half part of the lake who already went to Ladahk and saw half part of the Bangong Tso lake from Ladhak.

In Rutog, we can visit a very beautiful monastery located on a small hill near the beautiful grassland of Rutog county. The monastery is called Lhundrup Choeding monastery at 4311m. It is a Gelukpa monastery and it was a branch of Sera monastery in Lhasa. The main object of the monastery is the statue of Maitreya and there are many old statues which have more than hundreds years of history. There is a ruins of a castle ( Dzong in Tibetan ), built during the time of Shangshong but it was completely destroyed during the cultural revolution.

 

Can we explore a unique flower land in Rutog county?

If we drove further to the southwest of Rutog county along the Bangongtso, we reached Wujiang village. We continued our Mt Kailash tour to explore a beautiful flower land to the further southwest.

After driving around 35km distance from Wujiang village, crossing one of the highest mountain passes at 5365m, we reached a beautiful flower land at the altitude of 5168m, dominated by beautiful Tibetan nomad camp, surrounded by beautiful snow capped mountain. On the way, you can see beautiful flowers, grassland, high mountain passes with a great view of snow capped mountain.

Once you reached the campsite, you can take photos of the most beautiful flower land, green grassland, snowcapped mountain, nomad camp with Yak. It is one of the most beautiful natural landscapes that we saw during our entire Mt Kailash tour.

 

How to take Kailash northern route tour from Ali?

We started our Mt Kailash tour at 8.00 in the morning from Ali and today’s goal is to drive over 1200Km distance to reach Nima county as the road condition is very good. We drove through high mountain passes, western Tibetan plateau, inhabited by beautiful wild animals and Tibetan nomads and lots of beautiful lakes on the way between Ali and Nima county. It is the start of the Kailash norther route adventure tour and we felt like we were driving in the middle of nowhere.

The distance from Ali to Gegyai county at 4522m is 168km and from Gegyai county to Gertse at 4439m is 357Km. The landscape between these two counties is very beautiful and can feel the real plateau of the western Tibetan region.

If we took a direct Kailash northern route tour, we could drive from Gertse county to Nima county directly instead of driving to Tsochen but today why we took the way to Tsochen from Gegyai is because we wanted to visit Tashi Namtso and Dangra Yutso. Tashi Namtso is located in Tsochen county while Dangra Yutso is located in Nima county of Nagqu prefecture. Driving like this is the big adventure of Kailash norther tour.

During our Kailash northern route tour, there are around 5 small lakes Between Gegyai and Gertse and another big lake after Gertse towards Tsochen is Dongtso at the distance of 146Km, after that, we reached Dawa tso at 4671m at the distance of 50Km from Dongtso.

 Before reaching Tsochen, we crossed a pass called Tsoshong la at the elevation of 5080m, and again another small pass at 4920m pass, we finally reached Tsochen county at 4676m. The total distance from Gertse to Tsochen is 317Km on a very good paved road. Tsochen county is a very important stop over place when you do Kailash norther route tour, no matter whether you drive clockwise direction of the Kailash tour or anti clockwise direction of the Kailash tour.

 

 

Can we visit Tashi Namtso and Dangra Yutso lake during our Mt Kailash tour?

After driving around 3Km towards Nima county on the main road from Tsochen county, we drove right on the dusty road to Tashi Namtso lake at the distance of 38Km. Tashi Namtso lake at 4613m is the third largest lakes in Tibet Autonomous Region and it is 53.5Km long from east to the west, 26Km wide from north to south. We found Tashi Namtso is one of the most beautiful lakes in Tibet and highly recommended to take camp at the lake side for a night.

 

How to get to Dangra Yutso lake near Nima county in Nakqu prefecture?

Continued our Kailash norther route tour and from Tashi Namtso to Dangra Yutso is 85Km distance and the road is under construction so within one year, it will be a new paved road. Tashi Namtso and Dangra Yutso lake is the borderline between Nakqu prefecture and Ngari prefecture and it is the important joint of Mt. Kailash norther route tour.

Dangra Yutso lake, also known as Dangratso is located in Nima county at the elevation of more than 4,600 meters on the northern Tibetan plateau with an altitude of 4530m. Dangra Yutso is believed as a very holy lake by the Primitive Bon Religion in Tibet and it is considered as the largest lake for the worship of Bon religion and the third largest lakes in Tibet. It covers an area of 1,400 square kilometers, is 70 kilometers long and 20 kilometers wide.

Just after driving around 15Km distance from Dangra Yutso lake, we reached Shana village with a new paved road and then continued our Kailash tour through Wenbu town, then the next village with a big monastery called Dangchong, surrounded by Denchung lake and Denchung monastery. Just after monastery, we climbed a pass at the altitude of 4923m and finally reached Nima county. Nima county is the place where there is full of big and small lakes and it is the biggest area of no man land in Tibet. If you had time of around 20 days to do Mt Kailash tour by exploring a real no man land in Tibet, then doing a Tibet trip through Nima county and Tsochen and all the way to Kailash is a perfect Kailash travel route.

 

How to get to Lhasa from Nima county during Kailash northern route tour?

Near by Nima county, there is a beautiful lake called Taktse tso and after around an hour drive from Nima county, there is another lake called Jagoe tso at 4571m. We continued our Kailash journey and after around 144Km drive from Nima county, we could also see a sign to go to Shenta county. Shentsa is another bigger county in Nakqu prefecture next to Nima county.

After driving 167Km distance, we reached Selingtso at 4564m. Selingtso is the largest lake in Tibet and the second largest saltwater lake in China. After crossing a pass called Tsomula pass at 4728m, we reached Banga county at the altitude of 4707m. The total distance from Nima county to Banga county is 329Km with a very good paved road and from Banga county to the junction where we could drive to Damxiong and Nakqu prefecture is around 20Km distance. Here we can choose whether you want to extend Kailash tour throug Nakqu or finish the Kailash tour via Namtso lake and Damxiong county which is under the administration of Lhasa city.

From the Junction to Damxiong county is 181Km and to Nakqu prefecture is 208Km. The road condition from the junction to Namtso lake is very good and on the way, we crossed three mountain passes, the first pass with a beautiful view of a lake is at 4735m, second pass is at 4856m and the last pass is at 4880m where you could see Namtso lake. During the big Kailash norther route adventure tour, it is always recommended to include Namtso lake.

After crossing Lagenla pass, we reached Damxiong county and from Damxiong county, we continued our Mt Kailash tour towards Lhasa at the distance of 200Km. After around 20Km drive from Damxiong county, we reached a junction where we could drive to Lhundrup county at the distance of 132Km which is located to the north east of Lhasa city. On the way during our Mt Kailash tour from Damxiong county to Lhasa, there were quite many nomads, standing by the road and selling yellow mushroom as it is the period of harvesting yellow mushroom in Tibet.