15 DAYS LHASA – KAILASH TREK – EBC EXCURSION GROUP TOUR
Region
Sightseeing Tours of Tibet
Duration
15 Days
Min Group Size
2 people
Lhasa Mount Kailash trek and EBC Excursion group tour is a 15 days tour created by Himalayan Social Journey for all those intrested candidate who wants to explore the rich culture of Tibet and the stunning tibetan plateau at the same time. In this journey, you will be traveling to the main city of Tibet; Lhasa to observe the artistic beauty and to observe the unique architecture of the building, monasteries and the statues and monuments. Furthermore, you will be traveling to the Gyantse, Darchen, Sighatse, Saga, Lhatse, Mt. Kailash, Mansarovar Lake and places like Dirapuk. More importantly, these places are completely different than the central Tibet. These places are remote with less population. Hence, the place offers unspoiled beauty with spectacular view of the Tibetan plateau. Also, the major highlight of the trip Mt. Kailash and Mansorovar is absolutely breathtaking. Mt. Kailash is sacred mountain hence has a very important meaning for the people who follow Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Therefore, Mt. Kailash is one of the most visited pilgrimage site in the world. Moving forward into the journey, you will be driving along the Pekutso Lake and you will get to view the gorgeous view of Mt. Everest from the Everest Base Camp. Along with the view of mighty Everest you will also get to see Mt. Makalu, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Cho Oyu and many other peaks.
Outline Itinerary ( 15 Days )
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1
ARRIVAL IN LHASA EITHER BY AIR OR TRAIN AND MEET WITH YOUR FELLOW TRAVELLERS IN LHASA
A short flight into Tibet give you a panorama of the snowy Himalayan ranges or the days of train ride over the high plateau by crossing mighty Thangu la ranges get you to Lhasa with beautiful sceneries along the route, your arrival at the Gonggar airport or Lhasa Train Station will be greeted by our Tibetan guide and driver and transfer to your hotel in Lhasa city, from the airport to Lhasa it is about 60km and it takes less than an hour through the recently built highway, from the train station it is only 25km and it takes about half hour, check in the hotel and may be meet with other fellow travelers, then take it easy for the rest of the day to acclimatize and alleviate the jet lag. Accommodation in Sheraton hotel (Note: If your arrival time is different from others then we will arrange private airport/train station pick up without any additional cost, so please let us know your arrival time and detail information of flights/train)
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2
LHASA ESCORTED TOUR.
Attractions; Jokhang temple and bustling Bakhor street and Sera monastery. Today is the your first day on the high plateau and some of you may have little head ach which is very common for travelers by the high altitude, so drinking enough water and mild activity on the first few days is recommendable. In the morning our guide will meet you at the hotel and take an easy visit to Jokhang Temple in the center of the Old Lhasa city. Jokhang temple is one of the most scared temples in all over Tibet and it is always bustling with earnest local pilgrims since from early days. After that you have time to walk around the Bakhor street which is the one of the most devotional circuit as well as crowded central market of Lhasa, during the old days it is the most famous local market but now it is changed to tourist gift shopping center. The amazing day will ended with a visit to the Sera Monastery, it is built in the fifteenth century by the Jamchen Choji Sakya Yeshi who is disciple of Tsongka pa, few different monastic colleges in Sera is home to several hundred monks from different part of Tibet, the famous Buddhist philosophical debates among the monks are happening every day in the afternoon except Sunday. Continues acclimatize and alleviate jet lag rest of the day. Accommodation in hotel
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3
LHASA ESCORTED TOUR.
Attractions; Potala palace and Drepung monastery Today we will visit the famous Potala Palace, the cardinal landmark of Tibet and the masterpiece of Tibetan architecture, it was first built by 33rd King Songtsen Gangpo in 7th century and later in 17th century rebuilt by 5th Dalai Lama, since then it was home to the Dalai Lama and his government. Walking though the long steps are quite challenging but it is worthwhile to leave your footsteps in the spiritual palace of God of compassion, which listed in the world heritage in 1994. And in the afternoon, we will visit the Drepung monastery, once the world's largest monastery that housed for more than 10,000 monks, it was resident of the Dalai Lama prior to Potala Palace, but several destructions were taken place in different time but still you have lots of things to see by walking through numbers of narrow and twisted lane through the monks apartments is thrilling. Continues acclimatize and alleviate jet lag rest of the day. Accommodation in hotel
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4
LHASA(3600m) - GYANTSE (3900m) - SHIGATSE(3900m), 350 km
Attractions; Yamdrok lake, Mt.Nyechen Kangsar glacier, Gyantse Kubum stupa and Pelkhor Choede monastery. We start drive toward south west, through the zigzag road climb up the Kampa la pass (4700m), from there you will be amazed by the breathtaking glimpse of the holy Yamdrok lake with its turquoise color and snow caped Mt.Nyenchen Khangsar in the distance, then continues drive along the lake for few kilometers get us to the lunch stop at Nagar tse. The rest of the day will be spent enjoying the many magnificent valleys and exquisite Tibetan villages that pass through; en route we will stop at Karo la (5150m) to see the holy mount Nyenchen Kangsar glacier. Arrival at Gyantse, we visit Kumbum stupa and Palkhor Choede monastery, this magnificent multi-door structure is the largest stupa in Tibet, it is not only well known for its architecture but also its old sculptures and paintings all around its inner walls, late afternoon drive to Shigatse which is only 90km. Overnight in hotel
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5
SHIGATSE (3900m) – LHATSE (4200m), 150km
Attractions; Tashi lhunpo monastery and Sakya monastery. Today we will visit Tashi Lhunpo monastery in morning and guide will make his/her time to obtain the ATP permit from the local PSB, Tashi Lhunpo monastery is one of the largest functioning monastery in the western part of Tibet which has more than 600 years of history, it is a different experience by walking with local pilgrims through temples and twisted lanes within the old buildings in the campus. Then drive to Lhatse for the night, en route we will drive off the main road to Sakya monastery which is located in a small village, this area and monastery has a different architectural design and color. Sakya monastery was an important scholastic study center in the 13th century and under the leadership of Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen, Sakyapa ruled Tibet for decades during that period of time. Overnight in hotel.
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6
LHATSE (4200m) – SAGA (4500m), 340km
Today we will drive straight to Saga through a long valley of Brahmaputra tributary, compare to the last few years, the road condition is much better as it is recently reconstructed and paved. Overnight at hotel
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7
SAGA – DARCHEN (5000m), 520km
Attractions: View of Lake Manasarovar and Mt Kailash. Today the thrilling journey across the dry and vast plain with stunning views of great Himalaya in the south and Trans-Himalayan in the north, the moonscape plain of the region is home for sparse lone nomads whose lifestyle remains close to what it has been for centuries, and numbers of plateau wild lives. Different natural landscapes like sand dunes and picturesque mountain views are not only the great beauty of the day but also the holy lakes and mountains. Then we will reach to the Manasarovar Lake (victorious lake) in the late afternoon, which is one of the holiest lakes in Tibet and every year it receives hundreds of hundreds of pilgrims from all corner of Tibetan plateau, India and Russia. The lake is surround by several prominent peaks like Gurla Mandata (7760m). Then we will further drive to Darchen which is the starting point of the Mt Kailash (7762m) trekking, you will also have great view of the Kailash from the front. Darchen is a small nomadic village and now increasing number of guesthouses and restaurants make it more commercial. At your arrival you have plenty of time to explore around the town and prepare for the trekking, you can also hiking around the hills to get physically ready for the trekking. In the afternoon, your guide will arrange others trekking necessities like porters and yaks for your luggage transportation. You can find different restaurants according to your taste or your guide will help you to find some better ones. Overnight at hotel.
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8
1st DAY TREKKING TO DIRAPUK. 20km.
Attractions; the views on the both side of the valley that you are going to trek. Today our trekking start from Darchen and tracing the small trail in the clockwise circuit around the Peak on an average altitude of 4700m. You will encounter numbers of local Buddhist pilgrims doing along your way and several Bon believers in the anti-clockwise direction. After 4hours trek we will reach to Tamdin(4780m) where a nomadic tents serves simple lunch and boil water. From there it is only 4km to Dirakpuk monastery but between this stretches has the some of the best scenery of the entire kora. Dirakpuk was rebuilt in 1985 located on the north side of the Lha-chu River facing to the north face of the Mt. Kailash. Dirakpuk name originally comes from a word Dira that means female yak horn and Puk means cave that in a mythical story says a female yak opened the cave. Overnight at Dirapuk guesthouse
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9
2nd DAY OF THE TREKKING TO ZULTUL PUK(4790m) 18km.
Attractions; the once and only chance of challenging to cross the Dikpala (5000m) and Dormala (5600m) next to Dikpala Today is the most challenging part of the trekking where we will cross two passes, though there are not too steep but the altitude make is more tiring and slow, after we cross Dikpala (5000m) & Dormala (5600m), the passes are remarked by heaps of prayer flags and cairns, It is worthwhile to spend some minutes on the pass to view and relax, as you are right backside of the Mt. Kailash and offers great view of the holy peak. Then we will climb down into the long valley and stop lunch at Shabjay Dakpo nomadic tent for lunch. Zuktul puk monastery (4790m) also calls the miracle cave that is built by two religious figure Milarepa and Naro Bonchung. And still you can see the footprint and handprint of Milarepa inside the cave. Overnight at Zultul Puk guest house
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10
LAST DAY TREKKING AND DRIVE TO LAKE MANASAROVAR. (12km trekking and 80km drive).
Attractions; close view of the Manasarovar lake and Thuktso lake. Today is an easy day trek to complete the circuit and your driver will pick you up from Tashi Do (which is also called as Dzongsar). Then continues drive to Lake Manasarovar and overnight at guesthouses near the lake.
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11
TRACE THE ROAD BACK TO SAGA
Today we will trace the road back to Saga for the night. hotel
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12
SAGA – EBC (5150m).
Attractions: Rongbuk monastery and Mt. Everest base camp. Today we will drive straight to EBC by driving along the Pekutso Lake, you will have a picturesque of Mt Shishapama and other peaks of mighty Himalayans too. Continues drive towards south-east, from Old Tingri you will amaze the spectacular Himalayan Ranges and its mighty peaks beyond 8000m, Mt.Makalu (8463m), Mt.Lotse (8516m), Mt.Everest (8844m) and Mt.Cho Oyu (8201m) from Left to right, drive off the main road and head into the valley to the south to the day’s destination - Everest Base Camp located near the Rongbuk valley. Rongbuk is the highest monastery in the world and it consist both monks and nuns. Rongbuk monastery guesthouse or tent.
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13
EBC (5150m) – SHIGATSE, 350km.
After we enjoy the sunrise view of the Mt Everest, we will gradually drive back to Shigatse through the friendship highway, you will have beautiful hot shower at the hotel and rest. Overnight at hotel
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14
SHIGATSE – LHASA, 450km/300km
Today we will drive back to Lhasa, in the afternoon you have some time to explore around the town and buy some gifts for your family and friends at home. Accommodation in hotel
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15
LHASA AIRPOR/TRAIN STATION SENDS OFF.
Today our guide and driver will send you to the airport or train station and it is time to say your good bye and depart to your next destination. Before your departure, we will appreciate if you can spend a short time to evaluate our services either by filling the feedback form or simply send us an email.
Include
- All necessary travel permits to Tibet;
- Entrance ticket fees for all the sight spots listed in the program;
- Private transportation in Tibet:
- Private guide: English speaking local Tibetan guide;
- Oxygen cylinder for the group;
- Lodging and meals for guide and drivers;
- First aid kit;
- Liability travel insurance;
Exclude
- Travel insurance covers trip cancellation and emergency evacuation(recommended);
- Expenses of a personal nature (alcoholic beverages, laundry, phone call, etc.);
- International and domestic flight/train.(Note: we accept flights and train tickets bookings in advance);
FAQ's
You can get a visa in Kathmandu airport upon your arrival at USD 30 (or equivalent in other major currencies) for a 15 days visa, USD 50 for a 30 days visa and USD 125 for a 90 days Multiple visas, and you can also extend it later on if you wish. They have newly installed technology (visa machine) which makes it no longer necessary to have a passport photo. Important! Please bring 3 photos for your trekking permit, TIMS and for others.
Besides trekking packages and tour operation, we arrange international air tickets to the major airports of all over the world. Himalayan social journey travel agency is the one-stop travel solution company; we offer all travel related product at the best possible rates with excellent services.
Please keep this thing in your mind that there are some airport touts and scam artists who take advantage of tourists. They might offer to carry your luggage and they want a large amount of money. Sometimes they intimidate our drivers and even take away their signs. Anyway...if you want someone to help you with your luggage you can give them NOT MORE THAN 1 - 2 DOLLARS. This is a small hassle that tourists sometimes face upon arrival at the airport. Do not stress about this but just be aware not to give more than a few dollars for their luggage handling if you choose to take someone's services. Nepalese in general are very kind and hospitable people.
Some major currencies (USD, AUD and EURO) are accepted for both visas and in general. There are plenty of ATM's in both Kathmandu and Namche and credit cards are accepted in limited shops and many restaurants. Please note that only Nepali rupees are accepted on the trek.
Generally, the orientation meeting is scheduled in the Kathmandu hotel at 4 or 5 pm and this will be informed by our representatives after your arrival. The tour starts with an orientation meeting and ends up after the scheduled trip after the breakfast.
If you plan to arrive early or depart late please make sure you make extra hotel arrangements by contacting [email protected] And if you'll be spending extra time in Nepal please let us know. We will book your extra night accommodation at same trip hotels
For each tour date, there will be several separate groups. Each group will have a maximum of 14 people with its own experienced English speaking guide. During the trek, there will be a suitable number of porters to carry your luggage.
The cost of our trip is based on a twin-sharing basis so there will be two people accommodated in each room for the duration of the tour. If you prefer private accommodation or you are a solo traveller, you'll find the option for "single supplement". Additional cost will be applicable as a Single Supplementary Charge for the single room during the trip.
No refund will be made for 20% deposit amount in case of cancellation of trip for any other else reason. Having paid the full amount of any trip, you will get your money back but still, cancellation charge (20%) is invoiced to you. And for the voucher holders, since you have purchased the voucher from the deal companies, we have to follow their cancellation policy. But for both the conditions, we are flexible to postpone your trip in any later days. Written notification of your cancellation should be made to cancel any trip.
Sometimes travellers are unable to finish the scheduled trek due to the various reasons or they ended up not completing the trek/tour for health or personal reasons. In this case please realize that we cannot offer you any refunds for unused days on the tour/tour. You have to understand that our costs are the same as we have an obligation to pay our guides and porters for the time they have committed.
All the breakfast during your trip is included but the lunches and dinners are not except welcome dinner in the first day at the local restaurant. Meals during Kathmandu stay and trekking days cost from $5 to $8 per item depending on what you choose to eat.
There will not be any problem for vegetarian, most of the lodges serve vegetarian meals. We always recommend our clients to eat vegetarian meals to avoid food poisoning, eating heavy meals and non- vegetarian meals at a high altitude is not really safe for the stomach.
You have to manage yourself for the drinking water. There are two good options for having proper drinking water during the trek. You can bring water purification tablets or fill your bottle for a nominal fee from the recognized and regulated "pure water" stations along the trek. As the alternative, you can also easily purchase bottled water at the lodges. The bottled water costs USD 2$ - 4$ per litre. It is very important that you drink at least 3 litres of pure water daily during the trek.
The width of Nepal is only about 200 km on an average, but within this short distance, the altitude of the land rises from 60 m up to 8,848 m. Hence the weather depends upon the altitude of the place in Nepal. However, in general, Nepal has four climatic seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
Spring starts from March to May. The temperature of this season fluctuates between 20C to 30C (68F to 86F). Summer starts from June last to August. These are also the monsoon months with occasional evening-thunderstorms and hot temperature. Autumn starts from late September and ends by November. During this period, the climate is generally dry and mild with temperature fluctuating between 20C to 30C (68F to 86F). Winter starts from December until February. The mornings and evenings are very cold while the afternoon is pretty sunny. The temperature during these months rises from 10C to 20C (59F to 68F). At higher altitudes, it is cold during the winter months.
The trip hotel in Kathmandu does provide free storage services. So you can store your luggage and clothing that are not required for the trekking and you can collect it after your Trek and Tour.
There are telephones in some villages along the trekking routes from which you can make international calls. All our guides carry local sim cards both Nepal Telecom and N-cell in order to update the whereabouts and situation of our every client. You may pass the number of our guide to your family for the callback or you can make a call from the guide’s mobile and pay him directly for the international call too. Also, we have kept a satellite phone at Dingboche, which has a poor connection to the network of phones. Our guides use it during the case of emergency and also clients can use them by paying its rental fee. During the tour there will be easy access for International cal through cyber and communication Center. You will get Wi-Fi connection too in some of the places in the mountains for the extra cost.
Remember to bring TWO and THREE pin travel adapters! You can also buy the adapters in the supermarkets or electronic shops in the Kathmandu. Our guide can help you with it.
It’s difficult to give an exact amount of money that you should bring. Costs will vary according to how much you want to spend for shopping and where and what meals (lunch & dinner) you want to eat. Trekkers find that around $20 (for lunch & dinner) a day is reasonable for the trekking days. You may have to pay for Wi-Fi, electricity and hot showers too (up in the mountains during the trek). Hence allocating the allowance for each day accordingly would suffice.
- Daypack (rucksack)
- Backpack (a porter will carry it) Recommended size: about 50-litre capacity (10-12 KGS per person) if you are travelling with a friend you can share one pack between the two of you.
- Well-worn hiking boots or shoes
- A pair of sandals
- Sleeping Bag (HSJ will provide if you do not have your own)
- A one-litre hard water bottle to be filled up along the trekking trail
- Warm jacket Light-weight cotton clothing
- Waterproof jacket (a fold -away windcheater is fine)
- Light sweater
- Bath towel
- Sun hat
- Sunglasses
- Sun cream
- Knee supports (optional for the downhill portions of the trek)
- Trekking pole
- Water purification (Himalayan Social Journey will provide
- water purification tablet)
- Small First-aid-kit (Himalayan Social Journey will also provide one)
- Headlamp (preferable) or Flashlight (torch)
- Camera
- Loose stomach and nausea medicine
- Toiletries for the trek (toilet paper, soap, Towel shampoo etc...)
If you have purchased a voucher from any deal company, please come in contact with us with the voucher code (redemption code) so that the voucher can be redeemed on time. Since we need time to purchase your domestic air ticket and make other arrangements, kindly confirm your spot with your suitable date at-least 2 months prior to the commencement of the tour. Your booking on a particular tour date is subject to availability of spots. You can redeem you voucher through this link too : https://hsj.com.np/voucher-redemption
If you plan to arrive early or depart late please make sure you make extra hotel arrangements by contacting [email protected] And if you'll be spending extra time in Nepal please let us know. We will book your extra night accommodation at same trip hotels, Hotel Holy Himalaya , Himalayan Suite Hotel, Hotel Mulberry, Aloft Hotel, and Gokarna Forest Resort for your convenience.
If you would like to book extra activities such as Paragliding (100pp), Bungy jump (70pp), Mountain flight (USD 180pp), Heli Tour (USD 800pp –based on 5pax) Bhaktapur Sightseeing many more programs. You can book by contacting us at [email protected] For longer excursions such as Bhutan, Tibet, India, and any other treks also, we can help but please contact us immediately at [email protected]
For the trek, we'll have one porter for two people as per group size. The porter will carry 12-15 kg per person luggage during the trek. You need to carry your day pack to keep your personal belongings such as wallet, camera, water bottle, dry snack, headlight, gadgets, etc. The safety and concerns of our porters is our collective responsibility. We take our responsibilities towards them and their safety concerns strictly. On your part, please carry only things that are of absolute necessities.
A general rule of thumb for tipping is USD 50-60 for guide and porter if you are fully satisfied with their service. So we suggest you allocate a minimum of USD 50 for tipping. This is just a guideline and you may tip whatever /how much you think is appropriate for the services rendered which made your trek a memorable one.
If you are considering to donate, School supplies (pens, notebooks, coloured pencils, etc...). These gifts can be directly turned over to our company when you arrive in Kathmandu. And we will manage them to distribute through our proper channels.
As for your the need of much of your trekking clothes and tour supplies and gears, they can be easily purchased in Kathmandu near our hotel at good prices. Bring hiking boots/shoes from your country. The Nepali ones are not recommended. Your guide will assist you to get anything you may need here.
We are committed to providing the best services which will give you a once in a lifetime journey. We perform our duties honestly & seriously to make your journey very smooth & pleasant. However, the entire programs in Nepal are conducted strictly under the rules and regulation of their policies. So in this case, we will give options to choose a different itinerary for an enjoyable holiday. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us.
The sleeping bags we provide are of good quality. They help you sustain the colder climate in Nepali mountains up to -25 degree Celsius of temperature. However if you need the one of your own, you can buy one here. Your guide shall assist you to get it here. Keep the track of the weather forecast of the area and pack your clothes accordingly. This would help you be prepared for the type of weather Nepali Mountains are accustomed to.
The size of the duffel bag that we provide is 60-70 liter.
Yes, you will have free access to the power in the city areas however with your ascends to the mountain and as you climb to higher altitudes, extra charge would be applicable for the use of power supply or wireless internet connections.
Extra prices:
- Instant Online Booking
- Privacy Protected
- Guranteed Departure
- Group Discount Available
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