This tour starts from Lhasa and ends in Kathmandu. You will cyclling for the duration of 21 days over Tibetan pleatua which gives you a unique experiences. In this trip you cycling through the world highest mountain passes which would brings many challenges to you yet which could give you true satisfactions of accomplishing it. Imagine yourslef cycling through the breath taking landscape of the roof of the world, mighty Everest and other beautiful mountains.
In this tour you will be visting every tourist attarctions in Lhasa, Shigatse, Gyantse and Mt. Everst base camp to mention few. We will provide you with all the neccessary first aid equipments and vehicles to be safe.
Days | Activities |
---|---|
Day01 | Arrival at Lhasa(3658m) |
Day02 | Sightseeing in Lhasa |
Day03 | Lhasa sightseeing, |
Day04 | Biking around Lhasa |
Day05 | Bike to the foot of Khampa La (4794m, 80 km, 6-7 hrs) |
Day06 | Bike across Khampa La (4794m) to Nagartse (4475m, 72km, 6-7 hrs) |
Day07 | Bike to the foot of Simi La (4330m, 67km, 5-6 hrs) |
Day08 | Bike across Simi La (4375m) to Gyantse (3950m, 35 km, 3-4 hrs) |
Day09 | Tour Gyantse and bike to Shigatse (3900m, 90km 4-5 hrs) |
Day10 | Tour and rest day in Shigatse |
Day11 | Bike to the foot of Tso La (4290m, 106 km, 8-9 hrs) |
Day12 | Bike across Tso La (4500m) to the foot of Gyamtso La (4630m, 70 km, 5-6 hrs) |
Day13 | Bike across Gyamtso La (5220m) to Shegar (4050m, 65 km, 7-8 hrs) |
Day14 | Bike across Pang La (5150m,) to Choesang (4455m, 60 km, 6-7 hrs) |
Day15 | Bike to Rongbuk (5000m, 24 km 3-4 hrs) |
Day16 | Bike or hike to Everest North Base camp (5200m, 8 km each way) |
Day17 | Bike or drive across Pang La (5150m) to Tingri or Hot Springs (4350m, 75 km, 6-7 hrs) |
Day18 | Bike to the base of La Lung La (4555m, 55 km, 4-5 hrs) |
Day19 | Bike or drive across Lalung La (5124m) and Thang La (5200m) to Nyalam (3750m, 87km, 7-8 hrs by bike. |
Day20 | Bike to the last Resort in Nepal (900m, 60 km 3-4 hrs) |
Day21 | Bike or drive to Dhulikhel (1450m, 75 km, 5-6 hrs by bike), drive to Kathmandu (30 km, 1 hr) |
Today you will arrive at the Lhasa airport or train station, where our guide and representative will receive you and there will escort you to the hotel in Lhasa. The journey will take about an hour to reach Lhasa from the airport and fifteen minute from train station. On the way to hotel we encourage the group not to cycle for the first day as it not good for you body since it been not properly acclimatize. After checking in to hotel, it is the rest day for proper acclimatization. We will be staying in Lhasa for next three nights.
Jokhang Temple was builted in 647 by King Songtsen Gampo (r.617-49), and his two foreign wives who are credited with bringing Buddhism to Tibet. The king’s first wife, Princess Bhrikuti (married in the 630s), was the sister of the Nepalese king, while his second wife, Princess Wencheng (married 641), was the niece or daughter of the Chinese emperor. The temple house a sacred image of the Buddha, the Jowo Rinpoche, which Queen Wencheng brought with her from China as a dowry. This statue is still enshrined within the temple and is the holiest object in Tibet.
Potala palace was built by Tibetan king Songtsan Gampo and later rebuilt by fifth Dalai Lama. It was the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas until peaceful libiration in year 1959. Its builted on a rocky hill overlooking the city of Lhasa, the Potala Palace has a sturdy fortress-like appearance. It contains more than a thousand rooms spreading over an area of 1,300 feet by 1,000 feet. The stone walls are 16 feet thick at the base, but more finely constructed (without the use of nails) in the upper stories. The Potala Palace is made of two main parts, easily distinguished by their color: the Red Palace and White Palace. The two are joined by a smaller, yellow-painted structure that houses the sacred banners hung on the exterior for the New Year festivals. The rooms inside the palace are identified by numbers as well as names.
Today will probably be the first biking day in Tibet. We visit the Drepung monastery and Norbulingkha in the morning and we will be visiting the Sera monastery in the afternoon. Your entire travel will be within 10 km radius of the hotel and our guide will be cycling with you too.
Drepung monastery was founded in 1416; on the outskirts of Lhasa was once Tibet’s largest and most influential monastery, with over 10,000 monks. Today, Drepung houses about 700 monks and attracts pilgrims and visitors from around the world. Drepung is especially known as the site of the annual Shoton Festival, with its dramatic unfurling of a giant Thangka painting on the hillside. It was the home of the Dalai Lamas before the Potala palace was built in the 17th century. Resembling a heap of white rice from a distance, it was dubbed “Monastery of the Collecting-Rice” in Tibetan. The first floor of the Assembly Hall holds a striking statue of Dalai Lama XIII, magnificently lit by filtered sunshine and pungent yak butter lamps. Readings of the scriptures are often held here at midday, during which novices race one another to fetch tea from the kitchen for their elders. To the left (west) of the Assembly Hall is the kitchen, where butter tea is prepared and donations are accepted. The most revered image at Drepung is a 15m (49-ft.) tall statue of the 8-year old Maitreya Buddha (the future Buddha), designed by Tsongkhapa and housed on the third floor of the main building. Visitors are offered holy water; to receive it, cup your right hand above your left, take a sip, and splash the rest on your head. Several courtyards in the forest around the monastery are used by the monks for debating the sutras (Buddhist scriptures). The winners of the debates can take a test to earn the senior degree of Geshi.
Norbu Lingka (means “The Jeweled Park”) is a palace and surrounding park in Lhasa, built from 1755. It served as the traditional summer residence of the successive Dalai lamas, Norbulingka is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a unique representation of Tibetan architecture. Norbulingka Palace is situated in the west side of Lhasa, a short distance to the southwest of Potala Palace. Norbulingka covers an area of around 36 hectares (89 acres) and considered to be the largest man made garden in Tibet. Norbulingka Park is considered the premier park of all such horticultural parks in similar ethnic settings in Tibet. During the summer and autumn months, the parks in Tibet, including the Norbulingka, become hubs of entertainment with dancing, singing, music and festivities. The park is where the annual Shun ton or ‘Yoghurt Festival’ is held. Norbulingka consists of several palace complexes, such as the Kelsang Potrang, Tsokyil Potrang, Golden Linka and Takten Migyur Potrang built for different Dalai lamas. Each palace complex is divided into three sections – the palace section, the section in front of the palaces and the woods. Norbulingka both reflects the ethnical, religious features of the Tibetan people and embodies the architecture style. It is of great cultural value and was listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2001 as an extension of Potala Palace
Sera monastery is one of the great Gelugpa school of learning centre and famous debate session of monks on Buddhist sciences of philosophy, metaphysics, psychology and epistemology .The history of Sera monastery is strongly connected to master lama Tsongkhapa (1357-1419).
Gyantse is a small agricultural town is at 13, 050 ft above sea level and is famous for its wool carpets and palkhor choide chorten. The Palkhor Monastery built in 1427, is notable for its superb Kumbum (10,000 images)stupa, which has nice tiers and, according to the Buddhist tradition, 108 chapels. The lower tiers contain excellent murals.
A Kumbum (“One hundred thousand holy images”, is a multi-storied aggregate of Buddhist chapels in Tibet . It forms part of Palcho monastery. The first Kumbum was founded in the fire-sheep year 1427 by a Gyantse prince. It has nine lhakangs or levels, is 35 metres (115 ft) high surmounted by a golden dome, and contains 77 chapels which line its walls. Many of the statues were damaged during the Cultural revolution but have since been replaced with clay images, though they lack the artistic merit of the originals. The 14th century murals showing Newari and Chinese influences, survived much better.
Tashilhunpo Monastery literary means Heap of glory, founded in 1447 by Gedun Drup the First Dalai lama is a historic and culturally important monastery next to Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet. The monastery is the traditional seat of successive Panchen Lmas, the second highest ranking Tulku (reincarnation) lineage in the Gelungpa tradition. Panchen Lama had temporal power over three small districts, though not over the town of Shigatse itself, which was administered by a dzongpön (prefect) appointed from Lhasa.