10 Days Chengdu Lhasa Kathmandu Overland Tour by Train

Ni hao and welcome to Chengdu, the hometown of the Giant Pandas! Whether you arrive by flight or by train, your local tour guide will meet you at the airport or train station and escort you by private vehicle to your downtown Chengdu hotel. The rest of the day will be free for you to explore on your own or stay In and rest up from your trip.

Accommodation: Overnight in Chengdu

Chengdu has three famous features as a major Chinese city – the Giant Pandas, its ancient history, and a leisurely pace of living. For the first day of your tour, we will get to experience all three of these features. First, we’ll visit the lovely Giant Pandas at the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base & Breeding Center, which is the number one must-do thing in Chengdu. We will pick you up early in the morning from your hotel and drive about 30 minutes to the panda base to see giant pandas as they are being fed, playing with each other, climbing trees, etc. There are many different enclosures for pandas of different ages, from baby pandas to 1-year old pandas to teenage pandas and older. Beautiful tree-lined walking paths lead you from one enclosure to the next so it’s an enjoyable morning spending time with the pandas.

After meeting the pandas, we’ll visit the sacred Wenshu Temple, which is hidden in a peaceful location right in the middle of modern Chengdu. This temple is the most popular Buddhist temple in the Chengdu region. With its beautiful, traditional and ancient architecture, the atmosphere is very calm and quiet, with some people praying, right in the midst of a busy and modern urban city. The grounds have a small garden and the monastery is very colorfully decorated, making it a fascinating place to visit.

After the Wenshu Temple, we will experience the leisurely pace of the life of the locals at Renmin Park and Jinli Street. Renmin (People’s) Park is where the locals go for a relaxing walk, to meet friends or have a cup of tea. Jinli Street, by contrast, is a street mainly for tourists but it does offer a view of the way things were in ancient times. You can wander along this traditional old street to absorb the special atmosphere of Chengdu while tasting the local snacks, watching street performers, etc.

After today’s tour, we will transfer you to the Chengdu train station and help you get on board your train to Lhasa, which departs at 21:37 (9:37 p.m.). This train will travel 3,600 kilometers through southwestern China via Lanzhou and Xining, then crossing over the Qinghai – Tibet Plateau and arriving in Lhasa at 09:55 the morning of the third day. Although it is a long journey, you will be able to see and experience much that most normal travelers never have the opportunity to do as you travel along the world’s highest railway while enjoying the endless snow-capped mountain scenery and rare wild life right outside of your train’s windows.

Today’s trip notes:
1) It’s best to arrive at the Chengdu train station at least 45 minutes before your train’s scheduled departure time, so we will have you there around 20:50 (8:50 p.m.) Ticket and Tibet Entry Permit check to board the the train starts about 30 minutes before the train departs.
2) It is a good idea to take some food, snacks and drinks for the long train journey.

Accommodation: Overnight on the train

Today you will be traveling along the tracks of the world’s highest altitude train line – the Qinghai – Tibet Railway. Taking the train to Tibet is certainly a slower way to travel than by flight, but you will get to witness thousands of kilometers of some of the most stunning plateau landscapes in the world.

Today’s trip notes:
1) There is access to outlets for battery charging on board the train, but you will want to make sure that you have a proper socket adapter;
2) Only Chinese-style food is available on board the train, including breakfast, boxed lunches and self-selected meals in the dining car.

Accommodation: Overnight on the train

As you awake in the morning you will find that the train is traveling across the vast Nagchu Grasslands on it’s way into Lhasa. From Nagchu, it will take about 4 hours to arrive at your final destination on this long train journey – Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

After arriving at the Lhasa Railway Station at around 9:55 a.m., your local tour guide will greet you to escort you by private car to your hotel in Lhasa. The rest of the day will be free for you to explore the local area and acclimatize yourself to the air, temperature and high altitude of Lhasa.

Tips for High Altitude Acclimatization:
1) Go for a leisurely walk in the fresh high altitude air, but avoid any strenuous activity after your arrival.
2) It's better to avoid taking a bath to avoid catching a cold.
3) Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration, and eat some fresh fruit.4) Get plenty of rest.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

Start your exploration of Lhasa today with a visit to a world-famous landmark - the Potala Palace, widely regarded as one of the most beautiful examples of architecture in the world. Climb up the palace along zig-zagging stone paths alongside the white and red walls to the top of the palace where you can gain a greater appreciation of the exotic Tibetan-style buildings as well as for a great view of Lhasa's entire urban area. After admiring the sweeping outside views, explore the inner spaces of the Potala Palace to find the stately chapels and learn more about the fascinating history of this special place.

From one historic landmark to another, your next stop will be at the Jokhang Temple, considered as the spiritual heart of Tibetan Buddhism. Every day thousands of pilgrims come from all over Tibet and other places to the temple to worship the Buddha. The Jokhang Temple is also known as the "House of Buddha" because it houses the precious Jowo Rinpoche, a life-sized (1.5 meter/5 feet) image of the Shakyamuni at the age of 12.

The last stop for today's Lhasa exploration is Barkor Street, the wide, circular street that surrounds the Jokhang Temple. Local residents enjoy walking on the street, completing several circuits around the temple as a daily tradition of pilgrimage. The street also has many small shops selling a wide variety of traditional Tibetan goods, religious items and handicrafts.

Tips for today's tour:
1) There are 1,080 steps to the top of the Potala Palace, so it's best to take it slowly to avoid high altitude sickness.
2) Taking photos is not allowed inside the Potala Palace.
3) Most of today will be spent outside, so please bring a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses and some water with you to protect yourself from the more intense sun at the higher altitude.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

After breakfast at your hotel, we will visit the beautiful Norbulingka Palace and Park, the location of the former summer palace of the Dalai Lamas from the 1780s up until 1959. It features the famous Potrang, the private palaces of former Dalai Lamas built in the grandiose style of traditional Tibetan architecture.

After visiting the palaces and park at Norbulingka, we will travel around 5 kilometers to the western outskirts of Lhasa to visit the Drepung Monastery. The word "drepung" in Tibetan language means "prosperity". Since its establishment in 1416, Drepung Monastery has served as one of the most important Buddhist monasteries in Tibet. During its prime, more than 10,000 monks lived and studied in the monastery. Throughout its history, many important and famous Tibetan leaders studied at this monastery, including the Dalai Lamas. Accordingly, Drepung Monastery is also respectfully known as the “Mother School of Dalai Lamas”.

In the afternoon, we will escort you on to another famous monastery in Lhasa - the Sera Monastery. Sera Monastery is famous for its spectacular “Buddhist Debates”. As a daily routine, the monks gather in a courtyard, and debate on the various Buddhist doctrines with exaggerated gestures, which is thought to be helpful in facilitating a better comprehension of the Buddhist philosophy to attain higher levels of study. After enjoying the "Buddhist Debates", we will take you back to your hotel with the rest of the day and evening to relax or explore on your own.

Tips for Proper Etiquette While Visiting Monasteries
1) For clothing, shorts and/or bare shoulders are not allowed.
2) Hats and sunglasses should be removed before entering the chapels.
3) Taking photos is usually not allowed inside the chapels.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

Today we will have an long but incredibly scenic drive from Lhasa to Shigatse by way of Gyantse. Enroute we will travel over the Gampala Pass (elevation 4790 meters) and get a great view of the holy Yamdrok Lake (elevation 4400 meters). This lake is surrounded my massive snow-capped mountains and in the distance you’ll have a spectacular view of the holy Mt. Nyenchen Khangsar (elevation 7191 meters), the tallest mountain near Lhasa.

We will drive in a westerly direction along the lake towards Gyantse, the third largest city in Tibet after Lhasa and Shigatse. Once in Gyantse we will visit the mysterious Pelkor Monastery and see the Gyantse Kumbum (multi-storied aggregation of Tibetan Buddhist chapels), the largest such structure in all of Tibet. After leaving Gyantse, we will drive another 90 minutes on to Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet. Here we will vist the Tashilunpo Monastery, the historic seat of Tibet Buddhism’s second highest incarnation, the Panchen Lama.

Accommodation: Overnight in Shigatse

After obtaining the necessary Alien Travel Permit (required to visit the area around Everest) from the local government office, we will leave Shigatse to drive on to Lhatse. Lhatse is a small Tibetan town where we will have lunch and take a short break from the drive. After lunch we will move on to Shegar, and if the weather permits, we will have a great view of Mount Everest in the distance along the way.

It will be a long 4 to 6 hour drive on to Rongbuk Monastery, but enroute we will see some fantastic scenery, including traveling over one of the highest altitude passes in Tibet at Pangla Pass (elevation 5050 meters) where we can get a great view of five of the highest mountain peaks in the world. Upon arrival we can tour the Rongbuk (Rongphu) Monastery of the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism – the highest altitude monastery in the world at an elevation of 5000 meters above sea level. After visiting the monastery, you may want to trek the 4 kilometers on to the base camp, or we can also travel there by eco-van. Depending upon the season, we will stay overnight at the Everest Base Camp or the Rongbuk Monastery Guesthouse.

Accommodation: Overnight at Rongphu Guest House

Early in the morning we will enjoy the sun rise on the top of Mt, Everest; After that our tour we will drive back to the main road(318 national high way) to Gyirong Port. On the way you still have the chance to get a last glimpse of the Mt.Everest and the Himalaya mountains. Mt. Everest: Located in the Himalayas ranges of the border between Tibet and Nepal, Everest is also called Qomolangma or Chomolungma. It raises 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level, it is the main peak of Himalayas and the world's highest mountain. The Everest is covered by snow all the year round, when sun shines on the mountain, the summit of the mountain seems like the pyramid covered by the sunlights, offering a spectacular view.

Accommodation: Ovenright in Gyirong

In the early morning, you will cross the border - Gyirong Port, our service ends at the border.

Accommodation: None